UNICs observe UN Day around the world

Among the many activities organized by UNICs on UN Day, UNIC New Delhi commissioned eight contemporary artists to present their vision of the MDGs. Responding to UNIC’s call, eight eminent Indian artists created sensitive images to highlight the MDGs. Based on their works, UNIC developed a series of posters as well as a folder of prints of the images. The works were displayed at UN House on UN Day, and moved to a popular gallery for the following week. The artists are contributing 50 per cent of the proceeds from the sale of their works to fund UN development projects in India.

In Kenya, UN agencies honoured women's rights campaigner and activist Hon. Njoki Ndung'u by naming her the 2006 "UN in Kenya Person of the Year". A Member of Parliament since 2003, Ms. Ndung’u has consistently spoken out against discrimination and exploitation particularly of young women and girls.

"Stand Up" campaign around the world

Over 200 events took place in Latin America and the Caribbean to mark the "Stand Up Against Poverty' campaign (15 - 16 October 2006). Over 70 events took place around Mexico, coordinated by UNIC through the Centre website and volunteer network. On 16 October, 150 UN staff gathered at the UN building to attend the Stand Up event. A list of events in the region, promotional materials developed in LAC, photos and videos of the events can be found at: www.cinu.org.mx/levantate.

ESCAP participated in the Stand Up initiative by gathering thousands of people at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok, while in Burundi hundreds of people attended the event during a concert by a South African Band.

UNICs organized similar events in Bangladesh, Burundi, Cameroon, Ghana, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, and Trinidad&Tobago.

Communications workshop for NGOs (9 November)

Surveying for Change: The day-long workshop will be divided into a morning panel discussion from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. in the DHL Auditorium and an afternoon breakout session from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. in Conference Room E. During the morning session, Raquel Cohen-Orantes and Janet Wieser of ECRU/DPI will discuss the overall DPI mandate and feedback from various client departments. During the afternoon session, NGO representatives will work in groups to discuss the results of a recent survey.

Training programme for Palestinian journalists (6 Nov - 11 Dec)

The training programme for Palestinian media practitioners, organized by PDHRS/SCD, starts on 6 November. Ten Palestinian journalists (five men and five women) from the West Bank and Gaza are scheduled to participate in the programme, which consists of a series of briefings by UN officials, visits to media-related organizations, a week of academic training at Columbia University, Internet training, coverage of UN meetings and a visit to Washington, D.C. The programme concludes on 11 December.

DPI/NGO town hall meeting

2 November: The annual town hall meeting, from 10-12 noon in the DHL Auditorium, will provide DPI- associated NGO representatives with the opportunity to present their theme recommendations for the 60th Annual DPI/NGO Conference, scheduled to take place in September 2007.

Global Youth Leadership website

The UN Cyberschoolbus launched the new UN Global Youth Leadership Summit web site on 29 October , which was produced for the Office of Sport for Peace and Development.

Contact: yotive@un.ord

In-House Briefings & Programmes

4 November - Rotary International Day at the United Nations. 1300 participants will attend a full-day annual programme in Conference Room 4 consisting of business and professional leaders (900) as well as young Rotarians (400) united worldwide to provide humanitarian service. Keynote address by Ms. Margareta Wahlstrom, ASG for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator followed by panels on the topics of Literacy, Water, Health, and Hunger. The Chief of the DPI-NGO Section will greet the participants at the start of the programme. There will be a parallel half-day Youth Programme in Conference Room 1.

14 November - International Cinema Education. A group of 170 New York City high school students will take a tour of the United Nations. Following the tour they will watch the film Twilight Samurai followed by a Q & A session with members of the Japanese Mission.

15 November - The League of Women Voters. A group of 175 participants from the New York State area will attend a half day briefing in the Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium on the Status of Human Trafficking Around the World. Mr. Luca Dall'Oglio, Permanent Observer of the International Organization for Migration and Ms. Lucie Hrbkova, UN Office on Drugs and Crime will address the group.

Drew University - A group of 16 undergraduate students enrolled in a UN Semester course. Group meets every Tuesday and Thursday with various UN officials and delegations. (Sept-Dec)

Old Dominion University - A group of 30 students is participating in the 37th United Nations Seminar. This seminar was initiated in the fall of 1970. Students will participate in a series of briefings by UN officials and delegations for a period of 3 days. (13-15 Nov)

Outside Speaking Engagement -
University of Tampa - A DPI staff-member will be the Keynote Speaker in Tampa, Florida. 50 Students

For additional information contact: bernsteinv@un.org and schindler@un.org

New UN Radio brochure

You are invited to listen to UN Radio - and to ask for the new brochures promoting UN Radio for distribution in-house and externally, including through UNICs.

For more: http://radio.un.org

DPI poster recognized

The International Poster Biennial in Mexico 2006 has selected the poster on the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust designed by Matias Delfino, GDU as one of the best posters of the Year. The Mexico-based International Poster Biennial has made the event as one of the most important fora for the exchange of ideas and proposals among those designers who are making a great effort, to make the planet a place characterized by respect, reverence for life and sustainable development.

New OIC at UNIC Beirut

USG Shashi Tharoor has decided to assign Bahaa El-Khoussy as the Office-in-Charge of UNIC Beirut for a period of three months.

Mr. El-Khoussy is an experienced media professional whose most recent assignment for the UN has been as Deputy Spokesman for the Mission in the Sudan. Prior to joining the UN, he was the Editor-in-Chief of Egypt's English-language publication Word in Picture. He also served for a number of years as UPI's Chief Middle Eas Correspondent.

Meetings and conferences

Climate change will be high on the agenda in the coming weeks, as the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will hold its annual meeting in Nairobi from 6 to 17 November. The Secretary-General is expected to make a statement in Nairobi, and also to issue an op-ed. Press materials about the Conference and the Greenhouse Data Report 2006 released by the UNFCCC secretariat are available at www.unfccc.int and will be sent to DPI offices.

Contact: shepard@un.org

Report launches

The report of the Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on UN System-Wide Coherence will be launched in New York on Thursday, 9 November. The Panel Co-Chairs will present the report to the Secretary-General and then to the General Assembly, and will give a press conference at 12:30 pm in S-226. Press materials will be issued under embargo the previous day. A possible op-ed and spin-off briefings by Panel members in London and other cities are under discussion.

Contact: wallt@un.org


The Human Development Report 2006, on freshwater issues, will be launched on 9 November around the world. The main launch event will take place with UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis in Cape Town, South Africa. Materials will be sent electronically under embargo to UNICs offices as soon as they are available.

Contact: pascale@un.org

The High-level Group of the Alliance of Civilizations will present its report to the Secretary-General on 13 November at a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. Press materials on the report will be available electronically on the Alliance website at www.unaoc.org.

Contact: sivacolundhu@un.org

New print and online products

New issue of Africa Renewal: The October 2006 issue Africa Renewal, now available for distribution, features an analysis of the challenges facing African governments and societies in creating jobs for their young people. The new issue also looks at the deepening crisis in Darfur, how Africa might be able to reduce its dependence on oil as an energy source and Ghana’s completion of the continent’s first governance “peer review.” A special series of features spotlights on-the-ground progress in implementing the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), in developing solar power, promoting “responsible tourism,” linking highways in West Africa and encouraging Africans living abroad to contribute to their continent’s development.

website: http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/index.htm
contact: harsch@un.org

UN in Brief: A German version will be issued on 6 November by RUNIC (Brussels)

UN TV and Radio

The French mainstream radio station Europe 1 has signed a distribution agreement with UN Radio.

Contact: petitc@un.org

UNTV's Promotion and Distribution Team has established new distribution partnerships with both Bhutan and Viet Nam TV, which will air the UNIA series and the upcoming 21st century TV magazines.

Website: http://www.un.org/av/tv/
contact: barkley@un.org

UNICs/UNOs around the world

Algeria: International book fair (30 October-10 November).

Argentina: The 38th WFUNA Plenary Assembly, with the participation of representatives from UNIC Buenos Aires and UNIC Mexico (6-10 November).

Austria: Journalist Forum on Human Rights at the Vienna International Centre. Keynote speakers will be the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mehr Khan Williams, and the Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak (7 November).

Bangladesh: Interactive discussion programme on the occasion of the International Day for Tolerance (15 November).

Belgium: In cooperation with Friends of Europe, projection of one episode of the documentary “At the Glass Building”: “The Stormy Years - Boutros Boutros-Ghali” (6 November);

DSG Mark Malloch Brown will participate in the first European Development Days (15 November).

Burkina Faso: In cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, panel discussion on the occasion of the commemoration of International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict (6 November).

TV debate on UN Peacekeeping (10 November).

Colombia: In cooperation with UNICEF and UNHCHR, launch of the World Report on Violence against Children (16 November).

Congo: Panel discussion on women and migration (9 November).

Czech Republic: Multimedia programme on "Keeping the peace: Challenges of UN Peacekeeping" (7 November).

Egypt: UNIC will participate in the 28th training course for young African journalists, organized by the Union of African Journalists,with a presentation on the role of the UN in Africa (15 November).

India: UNIC will address the Current Affairs Group of St. Stephen's College, New Delhi, on the relevance of the UN (9 November).

Peru: "Pre-Launch Haiti V Workshop " with 200 Peruvian soldiers due to join the peacekeeping mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH (2 November);

Information Officer will meet with the Friends of the UN Clubs in Chiclayo, Northern Peru (15 November).

Romania: First session of a media and human rights training course for 27 police information officers. Issues related to the UN system and ways to address the media in crisis situations will be discussed ( 3-5 November).

Russia: Roundtable on UN Management Reform, with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the media (1 November);

Open-door session for the Moscow high school students on the UN Peacekeeping (2 November).

Senegal: Press conference in conjunction with the Sub-regional workshop of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on the theme "The role of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to solve conflicts" (2 November).

South Africa: Global launch of the 2007 Human Development Report with opening remarks by President Thabo Mbeki and UNDP Administrator, Kemal Dervis. This is the first time that the primary launch venue of the report takes place in Africa (Cape Town, 9 November);

Conference on "New Security Challenges" (South African National War College, 13 November).

Trinidad & Tobago: Launch of the new homepage of the UNIC's website (http://www.unicpos.org.tt) (8 November).

United Kingdom: Golden World Award winners for excellence in public relations. UNRIC to present awards (2 November).

Zimbabwe: Media workshop on HIV/AIDS (15 November).

For more information: http://www.un.org/aroundworld/unics/

Contact: mihalic@un.org

Exhibits

19 October - 24 November (Main Gallery): "Human Security for All" - A collection of photographs from projects in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, showing the human face and the practical application of the human security concept. Sponsored by the Human Security Unit of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs;