Korean National Commission Collaborates with Four Caribbean and Latin American National Commissions to Develop and Manage Websites
The Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU) and four National Commissions for UNESCO in the Latin American and Caribbean regions have been collaborating to develop websites, aiming to share information about the activities and experience of National Commissions more widely. Through such information sharing, they hope to increase communication between National Commissions and to enhance the visibility both of individual National Commissions and of UNESCO generally.
For the last three years, KNCU has been implementing the Website Development Project to assist fellow National Commissions to create their own websites and to increase their capacities to manage those websites, since the number of National Commissions with functioning websites remains limited. The project was first implemented in the Pacific Region, in 2013, followed by the Caribbean region in 2014. In 2015, the project is being implemented in the Latin American and Caribbean regions, with four National Commissions participating: Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago.
Starting from April, KNCU dispatched step-by-step guidance materials to help participating National Commissions to organize their website structure and produce website content. Thanks to the active participation and contributions made by each National Commission, the new websites were created by the end of August.
From 27 to 29 August, KNCU and the Jamaica National Commission for UNESCO (JNCU) co-organized a Training Workshop in Kingston, Jamaica. This collaboration between KNCU and JNCU followed the success of last year’s workshop, which was also held in Kingston. While the Guatemala National Commission was unfortunately unable to attend, the workshop participants included representatives from each of the other participating National Commissions (Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago), along with two youth representatives selected by JNCU to participate as part of its initiative to give local youth opportunities to experience the work of UNESCO.
During the workshop, the website managers from the participating National Commissions (who were all National Commission staff members with no prior experience of website management) learned how to maintain their Commission’s website. The workshop consisted of lectures on various subjects, including how to use WordPress and how to edit multimedia content, such pictures and videos, for upload to a website, as well as practical sessions allowing participants to put into practice what they had learned in the lectures.
This year, for the first time, bilingual websites have been created under this project – in both English and Spanish. The websites were initially created in English, but participants were able, during the course of the workshop, to begin the process of translation into Spanish.
KNCU will continue to collaborate with the participating National Commissions until the end of this year, answering technical inquiries and assisting them with improving their websites. The new websites will be online in a few months, once all necessary information has been uploaded and final technical checks have been completed.
* This Project is funded by the Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea.
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