In Focus

UNESCO and its partners are organizing events worldwide to promote the rights enshrined in the Declaration.

UNESCO is commemorating World AIDS Day 2008. UNESCO’s Director-General is urging countries to take action to address the HIV and AIDS knowledge gap among young people. UNESCO offices from Almaty to Yaoundé are organizing a wide range of activities.

In the area of science, UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector mainly focuses on the promotion of scientific knowledge through media and on ensuring knowledge creation, acquisition and sharing through ICT.

The UNESCO Courier publishes an interview with Ian Wilson, President of the International Council on Archives, who promotes digitization and free access to archives, which can play a crucial role in the fight against human rights violations.

27 October is World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, a day for reflecting on the power of film, television and radio to transmit ideas and information and to nurture dialogue among communities around the world.

On 29 October 2008, Koïchiro Matsuura opened an international symposium on ‘Freedom of Expression: Development, Democracy and Dialogue’.

Visit information materials related to UNESCO's activities in the area of communication and information: publications, documents, communication materials, databases and software.

An exhibition of paintings by Japanese artist Atsué Imayoshi depicting the great Japanese literary work, The Tale of Genji, opened at UNESCO. The theme of Genji has served as a source of inspiration for generations of writers and artists. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, the Internet version created for UNESCO website is reaching out to each one of us.

UNESCO develops, maintains and disseminates, free of charge, information and data processing tools in order to give access to key technology for development to the users who otherwise could not afford it.

Through World Environment Day (5 June), the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment. Several UNESCO's activities in the area of communication and information aim to enhance this awareness.

The meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, from 19 to 23 May 2008, will be an important occasion to enhance multistakeholder participation in the implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society Action Lines.

UNESCO’s Information for All Programme (IFAP) invites practicing information professionals to apply for the workshops which will be organized by 11 teaching institutions around the world before the end of 2008.

Teacher shortage, insufficient training and policies needed to tackle these challenges are the emphasis of World Teachers’ Day on 5 October 2008. ICT can play an important role in educational reform. UNESCO set up a project aimed at improving teachers’ practice through ICT.