In Focus

More and more of the world's cultural and educational resources are being produced, distributed and accessed in digital form rather than on paper. However, digital information is subject to technical obsolescence and physical decay.

HIV/AIDS is a social issue. It involves every human being. Communication and information can help to HIV/AIDS understanding and prevention.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) can contribute to the construction of true knowledge societies based on the sharing of information and incorporating all socio-cultural and ethical dimensions of sustainable development.

UNESCO places a high value on mutual understanding, tolerance and a respect for the rights of individuals to a cultural identity and self-determination. Its ICT4ID project aims to foster the creation of local content reflecting the values of indigenous peoples.

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in and for education is rapidly expanding in many countries and is now seen worldwide as both a necessity and an opportunity.

The Information for All Programme (IFAP) will help to implement the Recommendations of UNESCO’s World Report “Towards Knowledge Societies”. An open thematic debate during the next Meeting of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council the programme in September 2006 shall contribute to specify the developments relating to each of the six out of ten recommendations that are relevant to IFAP.

UNESCO promotes freedom of expression and freedom of the press as a basic human right, through sensitization and monitoring activities and fosters media independence and pluralism as prerequisites and major factors of democratization by providing advisory services on media legislation and sensitizing governments, parliamentarians and other decision-makers.

Libraries and archives are essential to the free flow of ideas and to maintaining, increasing and spreading knowledge. Their focus is on content, not format, as human knowledge has been recorded on different medium: stone, paper, film, videotape, DVD.

UNESCO is celebrating its 60th anniversary over 60 weeks, with each week devoted to a theme. The week of 29 May-4 June is dedicated to Distance Learning.

World Information Society Day is celebrated each year on 17 May to help making the Internet a global facility for all people and to raises awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other ICT can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide.

On 3 May the world observes World Press Freedom Day. For UNESCO, freedom of expression and information is a fundamental human right.

Women's ability to take advantage of ICT is dependent on conductive policies, an enabling environment in their countries to extend communications infrastructure to where women live, and increased educational levels.

The world's nearly 6,000 languages were celebrated on International Mother Language Day (21 February), an event aimed at promoting linguistic diversity. This year’s theme was devoted to languages in cyberspace.

UNESCO assists developing countries in strengthening their communication capacities by developing independent and pluralistic media and improving media access to ICT.

UNESCO is emphasizing the concept of “knowledge societies”, which stresses plurality and diversity. An important element of this concept is multilingualism and participation for all the languages in cyberspace.