11-05-2005 (Paris) Multilingualism in Cyberspace Conference Concluded in Bamako
Essential steps to ensure that a language, that is not yet represented on the Internet, is included in cyberspace, were identified at the conference on “Multilingualism for Cultural Diversity and Participation of All in Cyberspace" that UNESCO and partners organized in Mali’s capital Bamako last week.
10-05-2005 (Paris) Harnessing Information and Communication Technology for Learning and Skills Development
The potential of information and communication technology (ICT) to train and educate communities that have limited or no access to formal education channels will be the focus of an international conference to be opened by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura at UNESCO Headquarters, and broadcast live on the internet, from 11 to 13 May.
10-05-2005 (Paris) Afghan Journalists Celebrate World Press Freedom Day in Kabul
On May 3rd, about one hundred Afghan journalists from both print and electronic media gathered in Sitara Hotel in Kabul to celebrate the World Press Freedom Day with a seminar on media and good governance funded and organized by UNESCO in cooperation with Afghan Journalists’ Union, Tolo TV, Sayara NGO, and the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.
09-05-2005 (Quito) Consultation Meeting on the Latin American and Caribbean WSIS Process
The Government of Ecuador, UNESCO and UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) contributed to the preparation of the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) by organizing a consultation meeting on the Latin American and Caribbean WSIS process in conjunction with the Tenth Biannual Consultation for UNESCO’s INFOLAC Programme. The meeting took place in Ecuador’s capital Quito from 4 to 6 May 2005.
06-05-2005 (Paris) Interactive Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of Disappearing now online
After two paper versions of the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of Disappearing (1996 and 2001), the information collected on a large number of endangered languages in all parts of the world will now be available online, starting with the map of the African continent.
04-05-2005 (Paris) Good Governance and Press Freedom: World Press Freedom Celebrations in Dakar, Senegal
An international conference on Media and Good Governance held in Dakar from May 1 to 3 ended with the adoption of a Declaration calling for respect for press freedom, access to information, and a repeal of criminal defamation laws.
03-05-2005 (Paris) UNESCO Director-General Condemns Murder of Sri Lankan Journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram "Taraki”
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura in Dakar for World Press Freedom Day celebrations condemned the murder of Dharmeratnam Sivaram "Taraki", editor of the news website TamilNet and columnist for the Sri Lankan Daily Mirror newspaper on April 28.
03-05-2005 (Paris) UNESCO Supports Asia Media Summit through Public Media Workshops
The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) in collaboration with UNESCO and other international organizations is organizing the Asia Media Summit from 9 to 11 May 2005 in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur.
02-05-2005 (Paris) Study Shows Positive Impact of African Languages on FM Radio
A study carried out by the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), indicates that people surveyed in Mali, Ghana and Senegal appreciate African language broadcasts, want more programming in African languages and consider them to have a number of positive impacts. The study was funded by UNESCO within the framework of the Community Multimedia Centre programme.
29-04-2005 (Paris) UNESCO’s Audiovisual E-platform Presented at MIPTV
UNESCO’s Audiovisual E-platform, an on-line catalogue allowing the access to 260 productions and 80 catalogues from 71 developing countries was recently presented at the International Market of Television Programmes (MipTV) that was held from 11 to 15 April 2005 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes (France).
28-04-2005 (Paris) Education Makes News in Arab World
Twenty journalists and media professionals from thirteen Arab countries representing Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen gathered in Doha, Qatar from 17 to 21 April to participate in the UNESCO-Aljazeera workshop on “Writing & Reporting on the Goals of Education for All (EFA)".
27-04-2005 (Paris) UNESCO-led Multimedia Training Kit “Meeting Unmet Need”
The Multimedia Training Kit (MMTK), which focuses on the needs of those working in grass-roots communication and information activities, such as those run by Community Multimedia Centres, is “meeting a previously unmet need” according to 87.4% of users questioned.
27-04-2005 (Paris) World Press Freedom Day Focuses on Media and Good Governance
Media and Good Governance is the theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day, May 3, which UNESCO is observing in Dakar with an international conference on the subject and the award ceremony of the 2005 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
26-04-2005 (Paris) UNESCO Condemns Killing of Iraqi Cameraman Saleh Ibrahim and Calls for Improved Safety
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the killing of Iraqi cameraman Saleh Ibrahim in an attack in Mosul, which also left Iraqi photographer Mohammed Ibrahim seriously injured. Both worked for the Associated Press (AP) news agency. The Director-General went on to call for measures to improve the safety of journalists in Iraq.
26-04-2005 Afghan Women Get TV Frequency
Afghan broadcasting authorities have just reserved a TV frequency for the Voice of Afghan Women association to open what is expected to be the first women’s community television channel in Kabul.
22-04-2005 (Brasilia) UNESCO Supports Press Freedom in Brazil
The “Press Freedom Network”, an online tool to monitor and denounce press freedom violations in Brazil, was launched with support from UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) in Porto Allegre on 11 April, during the 3rd Regional Meeting on Press Freedom.
21-04-2005 (New Delhi) AIBD/UNESCO Training of Trainers for Media Professionals in Maldives and Indonesia
Two UNESCO supported workshops for training of trainers of radio and TV workers were successfully completed by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), in Maldives and Indonesia, in the first quarter of 2005.
20-04-2005 (Paris) IPDC Emphasizes Need to Support Media Development for Public Sector Transparency
The lack of public sector transparency is a major barrier to development in many countries today. Beginning April 11 and over the next three months, the quarterly Development Gateway Special on line discussion explores the practical issues of ensuring openness in government, as well as how transparency is being promoted and monitored around the world.
19-04-2005 (Paris) UNESCO Assists Democratic Republic of the Congo to Draw up Directives for National Press
UNESCO has recently supported a workshop on directives on national press by the Ministry of Press and Information in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This workshop, which was held in Kinshasa from 18 to 21 January 2005, brought together media professionals, and aimed to promote independent and pluralistic media in the country.
REDcom – New Website on Freedom of Expression and the Press
Direct access to more than 100 organizations active in promoting freedom of expression and press freedom, as well as the right of access to information, are now available on REDcom, a new website developed by UNESCO´s Regional Office for Communication and Information for Latin America and the Caribbean, based in Quito.
15-04-2005 (Paris) Discussions on Internet Governance Continue in Geneva
Developing a common understanding of the roles and responsibilities of all actors involved in Internet governance, assessing the adequacy of existing arrangements and discussing recommendations for proposals for action are on the agenda of the third meeting of the Working Group on Internet Governance in Geneva next week (18- 20 April 2005).
14-04-2005 (Bangkok) ASEAN SchoolNet Sets the Stage for Telecollaboration
Two regional workshops were held back-to-back, from 28 March to 6 April 2005, to build capacity and develop a plan of action for piloting telecollaboration among selected schools in eight ASEAN countries. This is part of the ASEAN SchoolNet Project implemented by the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education in Bangkok with support from Japan and the ASEAN Foundation.
13-04-2005 (Paris) Director-General Condemns Assassination of Mexican Newspaper Editor Raúl Gibb Guerrero
The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today condemned the murder of Raúl Gibb Guerrero, editor of regional daily newspaper La Opinión published in the north of the Mexican state of Veracruz.
13-04-2005 (Beirut) IT Training for Prison Inmates in Lebanon
UNESCO and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) of Lebanon joined forces to launch a new project on ICT rehabilitation for inmates at Lebanese Prisons. The project that started at Romieh Penitentiary, the largest in the country, included two major parts: capacity building and equipment donation.
12-04-2005 (Paris) Calls for New Nominations for Memory of the World Register
UNESCO is inviting new nomination proposals for inscription on its Memory of the World Register, a list of library collections and archive holdings of world significance, which was established in 1992 to preserve and promote documentary heritage of universal value.
11-04-2005 (Paris) UNESCO and Helen Keller International Join Forces to Support CMCs in Mali
The scale-up of Community Multimedia Centres in Mali has been given a boost by a new cooperation agreement between Helen Keller International Mali (HKI) and the UNESCO Bamako Office. “It makes great sense to join forces and I hope that we will be able to extend our cooperation to related activities, in particular those involving people with disabilities”, commented HKI Mali director Lina Mahy.
08-04-2005 (Paris) UNESCO’s Information for All Programme Grants Funding to 24 Information Society Projects
UNESCO’s Information for All Programme (IFAP) will grant financial assistance to twenty-four projects related to information literacy, preservation of information, and ethical implications of information and communication technology (ICT). The allocations from IFAP’s “Special Fund” of contributions from UNESCO Member States, were decided by the Bureau of IFAP’s Intergovernmental Council, which met in Paris, April 4 - 6.
08-04-2005 (Paris) Multilingualism in Cyberspace Conference Organized by UNESCO and Partners in Mali
“Multilingualism for Cultural Diversity and Participation of All in Cyberspace” is the theme of a thematic meeting in preparation for the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, that UNESCO is organizing in Bamako, Mali, on 6 and 7 May 2005, in partnership with the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), the Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie (AIF) and the Government of Mali.
07-04-2005 (Paris) Chinese journalist Cheng Yizhong awarded UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2005
Chinese journalist Cheng Yizhong was named as the laureate of the 2005 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, on the recommendation of an independent jury of media professionals from all over the world.
07-04-2005 (Paris) Thematic Debate on Information Literacy at UNESCO Headquarters
A Thematic Debate on Information Literacy took place on 5 April 2005, during the 8th meeting of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme (IFAP), at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The purpose of the debate was to identify the particular contribution that IFAP could make to give all people the opportunity to become information literate.
