08-06-2005 (Paris) TV Producers Training HIV/AIDS In Benin
Eleven young television producers representing eight countries in Francophone West Africa embarked on a pilot networking and television programme exchange project yesterday in Cotonou, Benin.
08-06-2005 (Paris) Director-General Condemns Assassination of Bangladeshi Journalist
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the assassination on May 31 of Golam Mahfuz, the editor of the daily newspaper Comilla Muktakantha, in Bangladesh and voiced concern over an increase in attacks on media professionals in the country.
07-06-2005 (Jakarta) Radio Nikoya Banda Aceh Is Back On Air Again
After five months of waiting, the people of the city of Banda Aceh can now listen to Radio Nikoya again. The radio, that was completely destroyed by the tsunami on 26 December last year, was officially re-launched on Tuesday, 31 May 2005 with the support of UNESCO.
06-06-2005 (Paris) Workshop Launches New ICT Partnership in Mali
"We welcome the opportunity to use this research methodology – for the first time in Africa – as we think that it will be an important tool in providing better access to new information and communication technologies,” said Monsieur Adama Kansaye, the prefect of Koutiala, during the inauguration of a workshop on ethnographic action research. “We hope in particular that it will improve the access of women to these technologies in the course of fighting poverty.”
03-06-2005 (Paris) Director-General Condemns the Killing of Lebanese Journalist Samir Kassir
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura condemned the killing in a car-bomb attack in Beirut this week of Samir Kassir, a prominent Lebanese journalist, symbol of press freedom and freedom of expression in his country.
03-06-2005 (Paris) UNESCO Launches Palestine Women’s Resource Center
UNESCO and the Palestine Ministry of Women’s Affairs have signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the establishment of a Palestine Women’s Resource Center (PWRC).
02-06-2005 (Paris) Conference on ICT and Creativity Opens in Vienna
Today opens in Vienna, Austria, a two-day conference on “ICT and Creativity. Strategies for a Better Information Society”, focusing on the nexus between content, creativity, diversity and knowledge in the information society. UNESCO, whose Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura will address the Opening Ceremony together with the Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, is one of the sponsors of the event.
01-06-2005 (Paris) International Advisory Committee of Memory of the World Programme to meet in Lijiang (China), June 13 to 17
UNESCO and the State Archives Administration of China will host the 7th meeting of the International Advisory Committee of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme in Lijiang (China) from June 13 to 17. During the meeting, the Committee will review requests by Member States of UNESCO to inscribe documentary heritage properties on the Memory of the World Register.
01-06-2005 (Paris) Website to Foster Citizens’ Media Dialogue Launched
A website entitled “Citizens Media Dialogue”, that is aimed at helping citizens’ media associations to facilitate citizens’ participation in society through quality electronic media, particularly public service broadcasting, community radio and multimedia centres, is now available at http://www.wiredet.com/cmd/
31-05-2005 (Paris) Educational Service of Afghanistan Gets Own Radio and TV Frequencies
Afghan broadcasting authorities have just reserved a TV and a radio FM frequency for Educational Radio and Television service to open a dedicated channel specialized in educational broadcasting. This concession was facilitated by UNESCO in the framework of a $2.5 million project funded by the Government of Italy for the upgrade and rehabilitation of distance education services in Afghanistan, and under which transmitters suitable to go on air in the given frequencies will shortly be provided.
31-05-2005 (Paris) Afghan Radio-TV’s Journalists get Internet and Newsrooms in Kabul, Herat, Mazar and Kandahar
National Radio Television of Afghanistan (NRTA) newsrooms with TV production equipment and Internet in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Kandahar were inaugurated on 24 May 2005. The newsrooms were created as part of an Italian-funded UNESCO project to support TV public broadcasting in post-war Afghanistan.
31-05-2005 (Paris) Public Service Broadcasting: a Tool for Reconciliation and Democratization in Countries in Transition
Public Service Broadcasting has a particular role to play for national reconciliation and in the transition process towards democracy. This was one of the main conclusions of a Panel debate on Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) in Countries in Transition organized in May 24 in Paris by UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector on the occasion of the inauguration of the Italian-funded and UNESCO-provided TV newsrooms at the Radio Television of Afghanistan.
30-05-2005 (Paris) Training Women Journalists in the Gulf
In reply to the growing need of women journalists in the Gulf region to use effectively ICT for their professional development, the UNESCO Chair for Communication Technology and Journalism for Women of the Dubai Women’s College, recently organized a three-day training programme for twenty-two Arab women journalists and educators from the United Arab Emirates.
27-05-2005 (Paris) Mozambican President Opens New Community Multimedia Centre in Chokwe
President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique will cut the ribbon at the new Community Multimedia Centre (CMC) in Chokwe later today, 27 May, as part of UNESCO’s CMC scale up initiative for 20 such centres across the country, combining community radio and telecentre facilities. Also present at the opening ceremony will be the head of the UNESCO Maputo office, Mr Benoit Sossou.
27-05-2005 (New Delhi) New UNESCO Supported Training Programme in Information Management Presented in India
A new training programme in Information Management was inaugurated on May 9th at the University of Mysore, in Bangalore. Chaired by Vice Chancellor Shashidhara Prasad, the ceremony included a key note speech by Susanne Ornager, UNESCO and programme presentation by Shalini R Urs, and Course Coordinator.
26-05-2005 (Paris) IPDC/UNESCO Prize for Rural Communication: Call for Nominations
Nominations are now open for the IPDC-UNESCO Prize for Rural Communication, which is to be awarded for the tenth time. The IPDC-UNESCO Prize, consisting of a sum of US $20,000 is awarded every two years. This year deadline for submission is 1 October 2005.
25-05-2005 (Wellington) Pacific Professionals Explore Freedom of Expression in Cyberspace
Exploring Freedom of Expression in Cyberspace was the focus of an internship of media and information professionals that just concluded in New Zealand. The week-long programme was sponsored by UNESCO’s Regional Office in New Delhi, India and organised by the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO.
24-05-2005 (Paris) Expert Meeting on Exceptions to Copyright Hosted by UNESCO This Week
A meeting on exceptions to copyright, which will also address copyright issues in the digital environment, will take place on 27 May 2005 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. It is one of a series of French-German meetings on copyright that UNESCO organizes in collaboration with the Institut de recherche en propriété intellectuelle Henri-Desbois and the Max Planck Institut.
23-05-2005 (Paris) UNESCO Calls for Proposals of Architectural Design of its Stand at WSIS in Tunis
UNESCO calls upon architects and designers to propose a design of its stand at the World Summit on the Information Society, in Tunis, Tunisia, from 16 to 18 November 2005. UNESCO’s stand will be located in the “Partnership and financing quartier” or “Inclusive Access” area of the ICT 4 all Exhibition at the Kram Conference centre.
23-05-2005 (Paris) UNESCO Condemns Murder of Afghan Music Presenter Shaima Rezayee
The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today condemned the assassination of Shaima Rezayee, a former music programme presenter on Afghanistan’s private Tolo TV station.
23-05-2005 (Paris) Making Governmental Public Domain Information Accessible in Latin America
Experts from eight Latin American countries will start end of this week in Peru’s capital Lima a two-day meeting to look at the practical implementation of UNESCO’s “Policy Guidelines for the Development and Promotion of Governmental Public Domain Information”, that was published in 2004.
20-05-2005 (Paris) Panel Debate on Public Service Broadcasting
Musa Marufi, President of the Afghanistan’s newly created radio and television regulating authority, and Italy’s Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Margherita Boniver, will be among the participants in a panel debate on public service broadcasting in countries in transition. The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, will open the panel, which will take place at UNESCO's Paris Headquarters on May 24.
20-05-2005 (New Delhi) Women Look at State of Democracy and Role of Media in India
Media plays an important role to make citizens aware of their rights, said the participants of an all women seminar on the “State of Democracy and Role of Media” that was held from 2 to 4 May 2005 in Behror, in the Indian State of Rajasthan, to coincide with the celebrations for World Press Freedom Day 2005.
19-05-2005 (Paris) Director-General condemns assassination of Iraqi journalists Najem Abed Khodair and Ahmad Adam
The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today condemned the killing of Iraqi journalists Najem Abed Khodair and Ahmad Adam and voiced outrage at the brutality of attacks on media professionals in the country.
19-05-2005 (Paris) Press Freedom Workshops in the Caribbean
A first event in a series of workshops on ethical practices, journalism training and management of press freedom in the Caribbean was recently held in St George’s, Grenada, in collaboration with the Eastern Caribbean Press Council. The event, that marked World Press Freedom Day, was supported by UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).
18-05-2005 (Paris) ICT and Capacity Building Conference Concluded at UNESCO
More than 200 participants in Paris and in twelve video conference centres around the world participated last week in the conference “ICT for Capacity-Building: Critical Success Factors”, that UNESCO and the Club of Rome organized as one of the thematic meetings of the World Summit on the Information Society.
17-05-2005 (Paris) UNESCO and FAO Launch Training CD-Rom on Digitisation for Librarians and Laymen
UNESCO and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization are launching the “Digitization and Digital Libraries” module to teach librarians and laymen how to digitize documents and put them on line and create virtual libraries.
17-05-2005 (Paris) The Open Frame 2005: Call for Productions
UNESCO and the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) of India invite Arab, Asian, Pacific, African, Latin American and Caribbean television directors and filmmakers to submit their latest productions to "The Open Frame: The International Festival & Forum on Public Service Broadcasting " to be held in New Delhi, India on 9-15 September 2005.
13-05-2005 (Paris) The First Scale-up CMC Gets off the Ground in Mozambique
The first Community Multimedia Centre (CMC) in Mozambique to be opened as part of UNESCO’s multi-country scale up initiative was inaugurated on 9 May in Xinavane. The ribbon was cut by Mozambique’s Minister of Science and Technology, Venancio Massingue.
12-05-2005 (Kingston) UNESCO Launches two Regional Poverty Projects in Punta Gorda, Belize
UNESCO will launch two regional poverty projects in Belize on May 18 at a ceremony that will take place at the Parish Hall in Punta Gorda, Toledo District. The event will be held in the presence of Hon. Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize as well as other representatives of Government and NGO partners.
