10-10-2003 Ministerial Round Table Meeting on Knowledge Societies Continues Today at UNESCO
"There must be ample scope for intellectual and ethical debate and for the expression of public preferences in the building of knowledge societies" said UNESCO Director General Koïchiro Matsuura when opening yesterday the Ministerial Round Table Meeting "Towards Knowledge Societies" at the Organization's Headquarters in Paris.
09-10-2003 (Moscow) ICT for Higher Distance Education in Sub Saharan Africa
Next week starts at the University of South Africa in Pretoria a training course on Information and Communication Technologies for Higher Distance Education Usage in Sub Saharan Africa. The five-day meeting is aimed at preparing the participants for a nine-week online training course on "ICTs in Distance Education" on the basis of the IITE WWW Distance Education Platform (DEP).
08-10-2003 Ministers Will Discuss “Knowledge Societies” at UNESCO
Government ministers and deputy ministers will exchange ideas and experiences about the potential of ICT to boost development when they gather at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on October 9 and 10, as part of the 32nd session of the Organization’s General Conference.
07-10-2003 Building Capacities of Young Digital Creators
"Sound of Our Water" is the title of an online training course to familiarize teachers with the possibilities of ICTs for building creative and communication skills of their students. The course that is presently led by the website development team of the Media Lab, University of Art and Design in Helsinki, Finland is part of UNESCO’s Young Digital Creators Programme.
06-10-2003 Communication and Information on Agenda of UNESCO’s General Conference for Three Days
The Programme and Budget for 2004 and 2005 of UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector is on the agenda of Commission V of UNESCO’s General Conference, which starts its three-day session today in Paris under the chair of Abdulwahab Bouhdiba of Tunisia.
03-10-2003 UNESCO Promotes “Knowledge Societies” to Maximize Impact of Communication Technology
Two standard-setting instruments concerning information and communication technology are to be submitted to UNESCO’s Member States for adoption during the 32nd session of the Organization’s General Conference (September 29 to October 17): one on multilingualism in cyberspace and access to the internet and the other on the preservation of digital heritage.
02-10-2003 (Bangkok) New ICT for Education Website Launched by UNESCO Bangkok
The UNESCO Office in Bangkok announces the launch of a new version of its ICT for Education website, replacing the old site with more user-friendly, easier to search databases and web-pages, up-to-date and comprehensive content; and a more attractive look and design.
01-10-2003 Building Knowledge Societies: A UNESCO Exhibition
An exhibition on the theme "Building Knowledge Societies" is currently on display in UNESCO's Headquarters in Paris and online on the Organization's website. The exhibition is an initiatory journey into the world of knowledge and the benefits that ICT can bring to its creation, sharing, transmission and preservation.
30-09-2003 (Moscow) UNESCO Information System for Information Technologies in Education (ISITE)
UNESCO's Moscow based Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) recently launched an information system that will promote the activities of Member States in applying ICT in education. The project aims at evaluating national action plans and policy documents on the application of ICT in education.
29-09-2003 Valdas Adamkus to be named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Knowledge Societies
Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania from 1998 to January 2003, will be named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Construction of Knowledge Societies at a ceremony to be held in the presence of the Chairman of the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas), Arturas Paulauskas, at UNESCO Headquarters on September 29 at 6 p.m.
WSIS Process to Continue with Another Preparatory Meeting in November
Delegates preparing for the World Summit on the Information Society later this year have agreed on a set of concrete targets to help bridge the digital divide between developed and developing countries.
24-09-2003 Un Names Journalists’ Training Programme in Honour of Staffer Killed in Baghdad Attack
The United Nations has decided to rename its annual training programme for young journalists in honour of Reham Al-Farra, one of the staff members killed in last month’s terrorist bombing of the UN’s headquarters in Baghdad and the first female daily political columnist in her native Jordan.
23-09-2003 "Washington Post" Publishes Article on IPDC Project in India
“Community Radio Gives India's Villagers a Voice” is the title of the article by Rama Lakshmi published on 17 September in The Washington Post. It features India's first independent community radio initiative in the millet- and tomato-growing village in the southern state of Karnataka. This initiative was implemented under the UNESCO IPDC project «NAMMA DHWANI Community Radio».
22-09-2003 Prince Claus fund is launching a cultural emergency aid fund following the looting of Iraq’s cultural heritage
On 26 September 2003 the Prince Claus Fund will launch a cultural emergency aid fund called the Cultural Emergency Response. This initiative was triggered by the news of the recent looting of cultural heritage in Baghdad (Iraq). The aim of the Cultural Emergency Response is to provide emergency aid to international cultural heritage that is damaged and threatened by war or natural disasters so as to prevent further loss. Each disaster will be assessed in terms of immediate needs; this will involve both local and international expertise and networks.
20-09-2003 (New York) UN ICT Task Force Enndorses Global e-School Initiative
Recognizing that education is key to achieving development, the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force on 13 September endorsed its Global e-School and Community Initiative, aimed at bringing ICT solutions to secondary schools, as well as communities in the developing world.
19-09-2003 (Almaty) Strengthening the Development of Distance Learning Networks in Central Asia
The UNESCO Office in Almaty announces the publication of a 100 page analytical report entitled "Strengthening the Development of Distance Learning Networks in Central Asia" that was prepared by a working group at the International University of Kyrgystan, a focal point of UNESCO's Moscow-based Institute for Information Technologies in Education.
18-09-2003 Telecentre HelpNet AfricaWorkshop Opened in Maputo
The establishment of a helpdesk for sharing information and advice on community multimedia telecentres is on the agenda of a workshop that opened on Monday in Maputo, Mozambique. The meeting, with more than 20 participants from Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, is organized by IDRC and the Informatics Centre of the University Eduardo Mondlane, with UNESCO's support.
17-09-2003 Pooling Traditional and New Technology Resources for Community Development in Jamaica
One week ago, Roots FM Innercity Community Radio and the Zinclink Cybercafe, two entities of Mustard Seed Communities, an urban community development NGO in Kingston, Jamaica, became the hub of a novel learning activity in pooling their traditional and new technology resources together to develop a Community Multimedia Center.
16-09-2003 Momentum Builds for World Summit on Information Society
The third meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on the Information Society (September 15-26) began with commitments from more than 40 Heads of State and Government to attend the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society to be held in Geneva, 10-12 December 2003.
15-09-2003 Peace Building in Sri Lanka. Computer Equipment for Tamil Newspapers
Three Tamil newspapers published in Jaffna, in Northern Sri Lanka received computer equipment the project “Strengthening Good Governance and Democracy through the development of Media in Northern Sri Lanka” that is implemented by UNESCO with funding by the Danish Government.
12-09-2003 Tuning on Community Voices
A UNESCO supported community radio workshop, organized by femLINKPacific, will close this week in Suva, Fiji. The two-week event has brought together representatives of civil society organizations and participants from Ministries of Youth and Women in the region to better understand community radio.
11-09-2003 UNESCO Condemns Assassination of Journalists in the Philippines
The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, yesterday condemned the recent murder of three journalists in the Philippines: Juan “Jun” Pala on September 6, Rico Ramirez on August 20, and Noel Villarante one day earlier.
10-09-2003 (Paris) UNESCO implements sub-regional project on ICT for South Eastern Europe
International experts will meet on 12-14 September in Skopje, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to discuss the main features of a new sub-regional project Information and Communication Technologies for the Development of Education and the Construction of a Knowledge Society for South Eastern Europe.
09-09-2003 (New Delhi) IPDC Funds for Women Workshop on Advanced Computer Assisted Reporting
Women journalists from 13 Asian and Pacific countries attended a two-week "Advanced Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR)" course at the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) in Kuala Lumpur. An article with impressions from the workshop that was funded by UNESCO's International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) is now on WebWorld.
08-09-2003 Preparations of World Summit on the Information Society Speed Up
Universal access to information, access to education, freedom of expression and cultural diversity are the four principles for future knowledge societies that are at the heart of UNESCO’s message to the third meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS PrepCom-3), to be held in Geneva from 15-26 September 2003.
05-09-2003 Cyberspace Recommendation and e-Heritage Charter on Agenda of UNESCO's General Conference
UNESCO’s General Conference, the Organization’s supreme governing body that meets every two years, will hold its 32nd session from September 29 to October 17 at Headquarters in Paris. One of the high points of the event, on October 1, will be the return, after 19 years, of the United States of America to UNESCO as its 190th Member State.
04-09-2003 Kuala Lumpur Forum on ICT and Gender Adopts Declaration for WSIS
More than 300 participants from around the globe gathering at the "Forum on ICTs and Gender: Optimizing Opportunities" in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur end of August stressed the importance of ICT as a tool to promote women's empowerment, rights and dignity and full participation in the information society.
03-09-2003 New Printing Plant for Independent Press Opens in Serbia and Montenegro
A new printing plant for the private, independent media in Serbia and Montenegro will open this month in Belgrade. The project, which is coordinated by UNESCO and supported by funds from Denmark, France, Germany and the European Union will give the independent newspapers and weeklies a long-awaited possibility to compete with other print media on an equal footing.
UNESCO Plans Media Assistance in Iraq
Iraq needs a real public service oriented broadcaster that can provide the population with credible news. This is one of the results of a joint UN and World Bank needs assessment mission to Iraq in August, in which UNESCO was represented by Christina Dahlman. “The need for assistance is urgent”, she says.
01-09-2003 (Paris) Twenty-Three New Collections Proposed for Insciption on Memory of the World Register
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and documents pertaining to slavery in the Caribbean are among the 23 documentary collections from 20 countries selected for inscription on the Memory of the World Register of library and archive material during a three-day meeting of the International Advisory Committee (IAC) of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme in Gdansk, Poland, that ended Saturday.
