1. Media representatives in possession of a valid United Nations grounds pass will be allowed to cover the Special meeting on Africa, High-level Event on the Millennium Development Goals and the General Debate of the GA 63 rd session, without additional accreditation. All others will be asked to submit, in advance of the above meetings, an online media registration form, which is available at www.un.org/media/accreditation/form/myform.asp. Please note that all media applying for accreditation online will receive e-mail notifications as to the status of their application. Also, all media submitting the registration form will be required to submit a letter of assignment from their Bureau Chief or Editor-in-Chief, addressed to the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit and faxed to (212) 963-4642. Two pieces of photo identification (such as passport, national press credentials, police press pass, driver’s license or state ID) are also required. Other credentials, such as by-lined articles, may be requested.
   
2. Please refer to www.un.org/media/accreditation for details regarding accreditation requirements, media access to the United Nations Secretariat, liaison services for coverage of open and bilateral meetings, press conferences and briefings.
   
3. All members of the media corps accompanying Heads of State or Government or heads of delegation must submit a letter of assignment from their Bureau Chief or Editor-in-Chief, attached to an official letter from the Permanent Mission concerned, listing the names of the media representatives with their functional titles and affiliation, addressed to:

Gary Fowlie, Chief, Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit
Department of Public Information
United Nations, Room S-250
Fax: (212) 963-4642

4. Members of the media accompanying Heads of State or Government or heads of delegation must present themselves to the Media Accreditation Office, where they will have their photographs taken and be issued a United Nations grounds pass upon presentation of national passports and valid photo identification.
   
   Location and work hours of the Media Accreditation Office
5. The Media Accreditation Office is situated in room 100 of the UNITAR Building, 801 First Avenue (located on the north-west corner of 45th Street and First Avenue).
   
6. From Monday, 15 September to Friday, 3 October, the Media Accreditation Office will be located in a tent on the North Lawn of the United Nations Headquarters, near the 47th Street entrance (south-east corner of First Avenue and 47th Street).
   
7. The hours of operation for the days immediately before and during the sixty-third session of the General Assembly and general debate will be as follows:
   
   

   Saturday, 13 September	1000 to 1800 hours
   Sunday, 14 September	1000 to 1800 hours
   Monday, 15 September	0800 to 1800 hours
   Tuesday, 16 September	0800 to 1800 hours
   Wednesday, 17 September	0800 to 1800 hours
   Thursday, 18 September	0800 to 1800 hours
   Friday, 19 September	0800 to 1800 hours
   Saturday, 20 September	1000 to 1800 hours
   Sunday, 21 September	1000 to 1800 hours
   Monday, 22 September	0700 to 2000 hours
   Tuesday, 23 September	0700 to 2000 hours
   Wednesday, 24 September	0700 to 1800 hours
   Thursday, 25 September	0700 to 1800 hours
   Friday, 26 September	0800 to 1800 hours
   Saturday, 27 September	Closed
   Sunday, 28 September	Closed
   Monday, 29 September	0900 to 1700 hours
   Tuesday, 30 September	0900 to 1700 hours
   Wednesday, 01 October	0900 to 1700 hours
   Thursday, 02 October	0900 to 1700 hours
   Friday, 03 October	0900 to 1700 hours
   Saturday, 04 October	Closed
   Sunday, 05 October	Closed

   
   As of Monday, 06 October, all pass and ID operations will resume at the Main Pass Office on the corner of 45th Street and First Avenue from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
8. For security reasons, all media representatives will be required to wear both their United Nations grounds pass and national press identification at all times.
   
   Entry and screening procedures
9. All media representatives will be required to present a valid United Nations grounds pass to the United Nations security officers at the gate. The designated press entrance is at 47th Street and First Avenue.
   
10. Media representatives are advised to arrive early to allow sufficient time for screening. Last-minute arrivals will encounter delays, and may be further delayed should First Avenue be closed for motorcades.
    
    Media Center and other facilities
11. The facilities in the media workspace area (on the third floor of the Secretariat Building) include television monitors, telephone, audio outlets and wireless Internet. The Ex-Press Bar, on the third floor of the General Assembly Building will serve as an overflow area for the media, in particular for the official photographers and cameramen waiting to enter the booth which will be assigned to them on a rotational basis. Those locations will also be equipped with electrical outlets and a television monitor showing the proceedings in the Plenary Hall.
    
12. The United Nations will establish a media overflow/working area for local and visiting media in Conference Room 1 on 1-B level, which will provide the following technical services:
    • Video projection showing quad split screen of the four United Nations Television programme outputs in the centre of the room
    • Audio distribution of United Nations Television programmes over room sound system (eight channels) for listening
    • Video and audio distribution for external recording.
      
13. An information desk will be staffed in the media overflow/working area from 22 September 2008 to assist journalists. For queries, call the Media Centre at (212) 963-9611/9612/9613.
    
    Pool coverage
14. Nearly all visual media coverage will be done by selected media pools due to logistics and space considerations. The pools are reserved exclusively for United Nations Television, United Nations photographers, international wire services and photo agencies. In the case of print media, the United Nations Correspondents Association will notify the Department of Public Information of its representative.
    
15. The official media accompanying a Head of State or Government or head of delegation, including the official photographer, will not be permitted to participate in these pools. Media accompanying Heads of State or Government will be able to cover all activities of their delegation, if approved by their delegations.
    
16. Official photographers and television crews will have an opportunity to cover the speech of their Head of State or Government or head of delegation on a rotating basis from the press booths surrounding the meeting hall(s). Owing to space limitations, they may not remain in the booth to cover other speeches. A limited number of still photographers, escorted by media liaison staff, will also be allowed to take photographs from the bridge at the back of the meeting hall(s) during speeches. Those operations will be coordinated by the Liaison Officer(s) accompanying the media.
    
    Tickets to the press gallery in the meeting hall(s)
17. There are a limited number of tickets available for media representatives for the press gallery of the meeting hall(s). The Media Liaison Desk on the third floor will distribute tickets on a first-come first-served basis 30 minutes before the meeting.
    
    Copies of speeches for the press
18. Delegations wishing to make available the text of the speech by their Head of State or Government or head of delegation are asked to bring 50 copies to the media overflow/working area in Conference Room 1 (located in the first basement (1-B)) and an additional 50 copies to the Media Documents Counter, room S-394, in the third floor press area (tel.: (212) 963-2479/7166). No photocopying facilities will be available for this purpose.
    
    Background material and other queries
19. For media materials on the High-level Event , see the United Nations website (www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2008highlevel). The site will also provide background materials , the overall programme and a list of partnership events.
    
20. Press kits for the 63rd General Assembly are available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish and Russian. www.un.org/News/GA-2008/GA-press-kit-2008.htm
    
21. For additional information, suggestions for possible interviews and other related assistance, contact the Strategic Communications Division, Department of Public Information (tel.: (212) 963-6816/6870; e-mail: mediainfo@un.org).
    
    Multimedia Materials and other links
22. For copies of the speeches and other multimedia coverage, materials are available at
    Audio Library : www.unmultimedia.org/radio/library
    Video Library: www.un.org/av/tv/archives
    UN Photo: www.unmultimedia.org/photo
    UN TV : www.unmultimedia.org/tv
    UN Radio: http://radio.un.org
    UN Webcast: www.un.org/webcast
    UNifeed: www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed
    UN News Centre: www.un.org/news
    UN Press Releases: www.un.org/apps/pressreleases
    
    Coverage of bilateral meetings
23. Photo opportunities will be available for bilateral meetings that are open for coverage, when designated as such by the press attachés of the respective Member States. Media representatives covering those meetings will be informed of such opportunities by the appropriate mission press attachés. It will be the responsibility of the press attachés to inform the Media Liaison Desk of such opportunities and the media will then be escorted by a Liaison Officer. The Media Liaison Desk is situated on the third floor behind the General Assembly Hall.

Media clearance for the use of Press Island (between 45th & 46th St. on the east side of 1st Avenue) is done through the City of New York. See below:

NY Deputy Commissioner's Office
Department of Public Information
Tel. No. 646-610-6700
http://nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/home/home.shtml