25-11-2004 (Almaty) Digital Migration of Audiovisual Archives in Central Asia
Some 20 experts from national audiovisual archives, main broadcasting organizations and national committees of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme in Central Asia are expected for a two-day training workshop on digital preservation of audiovisual archives in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 29 and 30 November 2004.
24-11-2004 (Paris) International Friends of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Met in Egypt
Friends of the “Bibliotheca Alexandrina” met last month in Alexandria, Egypt, for the second time since the new Library of Alexandria was officially inaugurated in October 2002. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina “Friends” Associations - more than 35 world-wide - help to promote and contribute to the success of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina through donations, publications, conferences and fund-raising.
23-11-2004 (Paris) Director-General Condemns Murder of Philippines Journalists Gene Boyd Lumawag and Herson Hinolan Voicing Alarm at Increase in Casualities
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the shooting in the Philippines of Gene Boyd Lumawag, a photographer with the MindaNews news service on November 12 and of Herson Hinolan, manager and commentator of Bombo Radiyo radio station the next day. He also voiced concern over the lack of safety in which journalists carry out their work in many parts of the world.
23-11-2004 (Paris) Partnership for Building the Arab Information Society
Representatives of the 13 member states of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), intergovernmental organizations and civil society are presently meeting at the Second Regional Preparatory Conference for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Damascus, Syria looking at “new partnership for building the Arab information society”.
19-11-2004 (New Delhi) Mongolian Radio and TV Heading towards Public Service Broadcasting
Mongolia’s National Radio and Television Service (MNRTV) is facing major challenges as it emerges from 70 years of government control to become an editorially independent public service broadcasting organization.
18-11-2004 (Geneva) Global Regulators to Focus on Licensing in Era of Convergence
International Telecommunication Union’s Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) will take place on 8–10 December 2004 in Geneva. A major objective of this year’s conference is to achieve consensus on ways to promote the development of low cost access to broadband and Internet connectivity, which is of particular importance to the developing world.
17-11-2004 (Paris) UNESCO and Microsoft Sign Cooperation Agreement to Help Bridge the Digital Divide
Microsoft today joined the coalition of major private sector partners supporting UNESCO’s global strategy to draw on information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve education, social and economic development worldwide.
17-11-2004 ITU Holds e-Government and Internet Protocol Symposium in Dubai from 22 to 25 November 2004
The e-Government and Internet Protocol (IP) Symposium for the Arab States Region will address practical issues aimed at fostering the development of e-government in the region. It will also provide a forum for sharing experiences and discuss policy aspects of the management of Internet DNS (Domain Name System) and IP (Internet Protocol) addresses.
16-11-2004 (Paris) Learning Outside the Classroom in Namibia
The traditional model of education is known as a classroom with four walls and a teacher. Over the years this image has changed. In a vast country such as Namibia with a relatively low population of only 1.8 Million inhabitants the task of building schools has met many setbacks. Open as well as distance learning have proven to be viable alternatives.
15-11-2004 (Paris) UNESCO at Southern African International Film and Television Market (Sithengi)
The UNESCO stand at the 9th Southern African International Film and Television Market (Sithengi), that will be held this week in Capetown, South Africa, showcases the Organization’s latest audiovisual projects: the E-Platform, Africa Animated! and the Reel Intercultural Dialogue series.
12-11-2004 (Paris) Initiative B@bel and Script Encoding Initiative Supporting Linguistic Diversity in Cyberspace
Efforts continue to add N'ko, a script used by the Manden people of West Africa, to the international character encoding standards Unicode and ISO/IEC 10646 through a project of the University of California Berkeley's Script Encoding Initiative that is supported by UNESCO's Initiative B@bel.
10-11-2004 (Paris) UNESCO Donates New Mobile Broadcast Unit to Timbuktu’s Radio Stations
When the locust plague first hit Timbuktu in Mali, the town’s four radio stations immediately used the suitcase radio donated by UNESCO in 2001 to mobilise townspeople and villagers against the desert insects that destroyed a significant percentage of Mali’s crops in 2004.
09-11-2004 (Paris) Intel, UNESCO to Develop Guidelines for Worldwide Teacher Technology Training
Intel Corporation and UNESCO agreed today to collaborate on the development of a model curriculum or syllabus to improve the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in classrooms worldwide.
09-11-2004 (Paris) Timbuktu Manuscripts Project Continues with Preservation Study Tours
UNESCO renews its commitment to the Timbuktu Manuscripts Project, an initiative to preserve the unique literary heritage of the Malian city of Timbuktu, by sponsoring a two-week study tour in France of renowned Malian scholars, Mohamed Gallah Dicko, from the Ahmed Baba Institute, and Moctar Sidi Yahia, from the Private Library of Alwangari.
08-11-2004 (Paris) International Debate on Internet Governance Gains Momentum
With the first meeting of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) forthcoming and the launch of the WGIG website earlier this month, international debate on governance mechanisms of the Internet gains momentum. UNESCO will continue advocating the principle of “openness” in the debate.
05-11-2004 (Brasilia) An Inside Look at Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas
Using the web to foster social inclusion in Rio de Janeiro’s low-income urban settlements, the so-called favelas, is the idea behind the Viva Favela website, an innovative communication experience of Viva Rio, a UNESCO supported non-governmental organization.
04-11-2004 (Paris) UNESCO Condemns Murder of Dutch Filmmaker Theo Van Gogh
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura has condemned the murder, in Amsterdam on November 2, of journalist Theo van Gogh, who had directed approximately 20 documentary films.
04-11-2004 (Paris) Press Conference with UNESCO Director-General and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura and Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates will give a press conference at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France on November 17 (Room II, at 11.30 a.m.) following the signing of a Cooperation Agreement.
03-11-2004 (Paris) Director-General Voices Outrage at Escalating Attacks on Media Professionals in Iraq
The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura today expressed outrage at the killing of an unprecedented number of journalists in Iraq over the past week and reiterated his grave concern over the heavy tribute paid by media professionals in Iraq.
03-11-2004 (Paris) Slave Trade Archives on Agenda of UNESCO Meeting in Cuba
Archivists from 11 countries will meet this month in Cuba to discuss new perspectives for the consolidation and extension of UNESCO’s Slave Trade Archives Project, an initiative to safeguard the documents related to slave trade and slavery within the framework UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme.
02-11-2004 (Paris) UNESCO Sponsored Research Finds WWW Fracturing Into Language Communities
Recent research carried out by Aston University, United Kingdom, for UNESCO shows that the WWW is fracturing into language communities and looks at the question whether the WWW is a medium which is encouraging language diversity at all levels.
29-10-2004 (New Delhi/Bangkok) Asia Pacific Information Network Focuses on Information Literacy at Beijing Meeting
Thirty participants from seventeen countries in Asia and the Pacific met last week for the second session for the Asia Pacific Information Network (APIN) at the Institute for Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC) in Beijing, China, highlighting the important role of information literacy in the region.
28-10-2004 (Paris) Conference on Legal Information Opens Today in Minsk
A two-day International Scientific and Practical Conference on “Information Technologies and Law (Legal Informatization – 2004)” looking at access to legal information opens today in Minsk, the capital of the Republic of Belarus, under the auspices and with the financial support of UNESCO.
27-10-2004 (Paris) UNESCO Condemns Murder of Bangladeshi Journalist Shahid Anwar
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the murder, on October 24, of Bangladeshi journalist Shahid Anwar, assistant editor of the Daily Asian Express, and voiced concern about the increasing frequency of such killings in the country.
27-10-2004 (Monrovia) Liberian Media Law and Policy Reform Conference Ends with Ambitious Plan of Action
A national conference on Media Law and Policy Reform in Liberia adopted last Saturday an ambitious plan of action to guarantee press freedom in the country. The final conference statement called upon the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) to continue working with all involved stakeholders. UNDP and UNESCO welcomed the country’s roadmap for free press.
26-10-2004 (Beijing) Transforming the Digital Divide into Digital Opportunities for Rural Populations
ICT are powerful tools to give voice to marginalized groups in rural areas when used appropriately. This was the main finding of the discussions of the more than 70 international experts who participated in a UNESCO sponsored conference on “Transforming the digital divide into digital opportunities for rural populations” in Baoding, China from 17 to 19 October 2004.
25-10-2004 (Paris) UNESCO Condemns Murder of Belarus Journalist Veronika Cherkasova
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the assassination of Veronika Cherkasova, a journalist for the independent Belarus newspaper Solidarnost, in Minsk on October 20. Mr Matsuura also voiced concern over reports of widespread attacks on freedom of the press in the country in recent months.
25-10-2004 (Paris) Archives Training for Kyrgyzstan National Broadcast Corporation
Managers and staff of the archives and technical departments of the National Broadcast Corporation of the Kyrgyz Republic (SNBC) were earlier this month trained in modern methods and technologies of sound archiving in order to support SNBC in its move to preserve its sound archive also for the next 50 years.
22-10-2004 (New Delhi) femTALK 89.2fm Mobile Women's Community Radio Stakeholders Consultation in Suva
femLINKpacific (Media Initiatives for Women) a women's media NGO based in Suva, which in May this year launched a mobile women's community radio initiative using a "suitcase radio" will be staging a community radio stakeholders consultation in Suva, Fiji Islands, from 9 to 11 November 2004.
21-10-2004 (Paris) UNESCO Condemns Assassination of Philippines Radio Journalist Eldy Gabinales
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura condemned the murder on Tuesday of Philippines radio commentator Eldy Gabinales and reiterated his deep concern about the number of journalists killed in the country.
