Member States elect Walter Fust as new Chairman of the IPDC Council
26-03-2008 (Paris)
Walter Fust
© SDC
The Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) elected new bureau members today at its 26th session at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The thirty-nine members of the Council nominated Mr Walter Fust (Switzerland) as the Chairman of the Bureau, and Afghanistan, Tunisia and Venezuela as Vice-Chairs.
Other members elected to form the Bureau are Namibia, the Russian Federation and the United States of America, with Mr Mamadou Koumé of Senegal appointed Rapporteur.
Walter Fust is the fifth Chairperson to preside over the IPDC Council since its inception in 1980. Mr Fust has been Director-General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) since 1993. He is also Chairman of the Board for the Global Knowledge Partnership, a network dealing with knowledge, information and communication technologies (ICT) for development cooperation, and an acitve member of the Steering Committees for the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development and for the Development Gateway Foundation. Fust serves on the board of the Diplo Foundation and the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC), both of which are based in Geneva.
Mr Mamadou Koumé, IPDC Bureau Rapporteur, is Director General of Agence presse sénégalaise, the Senegalese press agency in Dakar.
The recent resolution A/RES/62/111 A - Information in the service of humanity “Information in the service of humanity” adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its 62nd session on 17 December 2007 urges all countries, organizations of the United Nations system and others concerned to “provide full support for the International Programme for the Development of Communication of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which should support both public and private media.” During the last biennium, the IPDC supported 113 projects in 66 countries to the tune of more than 2,600,000 US dollars.
The IPDC Bureau meets annually to appraise, select and approve funding for media projects. The Bureau also acts as a jury for the selection of the winner of the IPDC-UNESCO Prize for Rural Communication. Funding of 78 new project proposals will be considered by the Bureau during its next meeting, due to be held from 23-25 April 2008.
Walter Fust is the fifth Chairperson to preside over the IPDC Council since its inception in 1980. Mr Fust has been Director-General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) since 1993. He is also Chairman of the Board for the Global Knowledge Partnership, a network dealing with knowledge, information and communication technologies (ICT) for development cooperation, and an acitve member of the Steering Committees for the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development and for the Development Gateway Foundation. Fust serves on the board of the Diplo Foundation and the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC), both of which are based in Geneva.
Mr Mamadou Koumé, IPDC Bureau Rapporteur, is Director General of Agence presse sénégalaise, the Senegalese press agency in Dakar.
The recent resolution A/RES/62/111 A - Information in the service of humanity “Information in the service of humanity” adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its 62nd session on 17 December 2007 urges all countries, organizations of the United Nations system and others concerned to “provide full support for the International Programme for the Development of Communication of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which should support both public and private media.” During the last biennium, the IPDC supported 113 projects in 66 countries to the tune of more than 2,600,000 US dollars.
The IPDC Bureau meets annually to appraise, select and approve funding for media projects. The Bureau also acts as a jury for the selection of the winner of the IPDC-UNESCO Prize for Rural Communication. Funding of 78 new project proposals will be considered by the Bureau during its next meeting, due to be held from 23-25 April 2008.
Related themes/countries
· Afghanistan
· Russian Federation
· Tunisia
· Switzerland
· United States of America
· Venezuela
· Namibia: News Archive
· News Archives: 2008
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