Certificates of Recognition were awarded to 147 Filipino nurses, healthcare and nursing home personnel by Magister Sonja Wehsely, Executive City Counselor for Public Health and Social Affairs at the Vienna City Hall (Rathaus Wien) on 20 September 2010.

As the Guest Speaker during the awarding ceremony, Ambassador Lourdes O. Yparraguirre praised the awardees for the dedication and hard work that they have given to their profession, with many of them having had served the Austrian health sector for 30 years or more.  Amb. Yparraguirre also thanked the Austrian government for welcoming the Filipino nurses in the 1970’s, many of whom have become outstanding Filipino-Austrians.

From the small group of nurses from the Philippines more than three decades ago, the musicians who came to Vienna on scholarship grants in the late 60’s and the Filipinos working in the United Nations Offices in Vienna, the Filipino community today has grown into one with a potential to be an effective channel for enriching the cultural make-up of its adopted country, and deepening the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Austria.