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Edited/Distributed by HURINet - The Human Rights Information Network
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## author     : unescony@nygate.undp.org
## date       : 24.03.97
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COUNCIL OF THE INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR THE DEVELOPMENT
OF COMMUNICATION APPROVES 36 NEW PROJECTS

   Paris, March 21 - The Intergovernmental Council of
   UNESCO's International Programme for the Development of
   Communication (IPDC) today approved US$2 million in
   assistance for 36 new training and infrastructure
   projects world-wide with the aim of reducing the gap
   between industrialised and developing countries in the
   field of communication and information.

   The role of information and the media in promoting
   democracy and development was emphasised by speakers
   throughout the five-day Council meeting which also
   highlighted the need to help developing nations take part
   in the information revolution underway.

   The projects selected prioritise the Least Developed
   Countries with a special emphasis on Africa. For UNESCO,
   both are priority target groups.

   In Africa, the IPDC will be backing two regional and
   inter-regional projects and nine national projects
   covering a wide range of activities. These include
   upgrading for the Internet the computer infrastructure of
   the Pan African News Agency, which is slated to be
   privatised; and supporting journalist training at the
   West African Newsmedia and Development Centre, based in
   Cotonou (Benin).

   National training and infrastructure projects for the
   continent include helping ERITNA, the Eritrean news
   agency, acquire computer hardware and software;
   supporting the creation of a Malawian women's radio
   station targeting rural areas in Nankumba Peninsula; and
   providing training to bolster professional journalism in
   Rwanda, where 95% of the journalists active before the
   1991 massacres are now either dead or in exile.

   In Asia, the IPDC will back the Silk Roads Radio News
   network for the production and exchange of news
   programmes in and among the former Soviet Republics of
   Central Asia. Nine national projects in the continent
   include helping provide communication technology,
   training and equipment to newspapers in China's most
   remote areas; and contributing to the computerisation of
   Papua New Guinea Broadcasting Corporation's news
   facilities.

   In three regional projects for the Caribbean, the IPDC
   will provide funding and on-the-job training for the
   production of a series of three 45-minute documentaries
   exploring the African heritage of the Maroon people,
   descendants of runaway slaves, in Jamaica, Surinam and
   Guyana; it will also back two training programmes
   covering all areas of radio and television broadcasting
   as well as print media, multi-media, sales and marketing.

   Three nationally-based programmes in the region include
   the creation of a new community radio in Cuba and
   bolstering Haiti's television production capacity.

   In Latin America, two regional programmes will provide
   training and co-ordination to the Latin American
   Satellite Broadcasting Network, which will service 300
   radio stations in 17 countries; and help set up a
   computerised network of documentation centres on
   communication for the Latin American Federation of
   Associations of Communication Schools. Two local projects
   in the region target Guyana and Honduras.

   In the Arab World, the IPDC will help Jordan and Tunisia
   launch a regional training programme targeting all areas
   of newspaper production and management to promote the
   development of specialised publications with an emphasis
   on women and youth.

   A further three local projects in the Middle East include
   assisting the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation with
   training, the acquisition of equipment and programmes;
   and providing resources for the production of television
   programmes targeting women in rural areas of the
   Sultanate of Oman.

   Through one local project in Europe, the IPDC will help
   youth television broadcaster CICAK in Bosnia-Herzegovina
   acquire modern equipment and professional training. In
   operation since 1994, CICAK's programmes are made by
   children for children.

   Since its creation in 1980 to bridge the gap between the
   developed and developing nations in the field of
   communication, the IPDC has channelled US$74 million to
   some 600 projects in over 100 countries. Since 1992, the
   Council has been giving priority to private media
   projects in a bid to enhance media pluralism and
   independence.

   The Council's session, chaired by Danish journalist
   Torben Krogh who is also the President of the General
   Conference of UNESCO, ended this afternoon with a vote on
   the IPDC's $2,780,000 budget for the year. Financing is,
   for the most part, provided through voluntary
   contributions.

   The IPDC Council moreover decided to speed up the project
   selection process by empowering its eight-member bureau
   to approve projects which clearly meet the Council's
   criteria. To this end, Bureau meetings on new projects
   will be open to representatives of the bodies applying
   for support.

   The meeting, the Council's 17th session, also featured a
   debate with guest speakers from Yemen, Haiti, South
   Africa and Russia, on Societies in Transition: Challenges
   for the Media. During the debate, participants expressed
   their countries' different concerns in the face of the
   global information revolution underway.

****

Andrew Radolf
UNESCO New York
Tel: +1 (212) 963 5974
Fax: +1 (212) 963 8014



___________________________________________________
Bruce Girard             Agencia Informativa Pulsar
Email: bgirard@pulsar.org.ec
http://www.web.net/amarc/pulsar.html
Fono/Fax: +593-2-501-180
Fax en Montreal, Canada: +1-514-221-2009
Casilla 17-08-8489, Quito, Ecuador