Note to Correspondents

Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalists Fellowship Programme Begins

at United Nations Headquarters in New York

 

For the thirty-third consecutive year, the United Nations Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalists Fellowship Programme will be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York, beginning on Tuesday, 3 September.

Organized by the Department of Public Information, the five-week Programme brings together 11 young journalists representing media organizations from a wide range of countries.  This year’s participants hail from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Djibouti, Dominica, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Poland and Sierra Leone.  Since the Programme’s first edition in 1981, 510 journalists and broadcasters from 165 countries have taken part.

The Programme was established in 1980, when the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to develop fellowships that would enable journalists and broadcasters from developing countries and those with economies in transition to acquaint themselves with the work of the United Nations.  Formerly known as the Department of Public Information Training Programme for Broadcasters and Journalists from Developing Countries, it was renamed in honour of Reham Al-Farra, a young journalist and Department staff member killed in the 2003 attack on the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad.

Included in the schedule of activities are briefings by senior officials of the United Nations Secretariat, specialized agencies, programmes and funds on major issues under consideration during the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly.  The participants will also get an opportunity to observe the United Nations “in action” by attending meetings of the General Assembly and engaging in hands-on activities with the Organization’s media professionals in their respective fields of expertise.

The participants will visit several major media organizations and relevant non-governmental organizations in New York City to observe their operations, in addition to participating in a two-day academic workshop at Fordham University.

They will spend the last week of the Programme visiting the United Nations Office at Geneva, where they will focus on human rights and humanitarian assistance issues.

Below are the participants in the 2013 Programme:

Name	Country	Media Specialization
Haris Ahmad Nasir Ahmad	Afghanistan	Internet
Khanim Javadova	Azerbaijan	Radio/TV/Photo
Hassan Mohamed Issa	Djibouti	Print
Jarna Magdalene Hector	Dominica	Radio/TV/Internet
Gennil G. Reuben	Grenada	TV
Cande Amatijane	Guinea-Bissau	TV
Mayadah D. Al Jubouri	Iraq	Internet
Martha Alejandra Solano Martinez	Nicaragua	Internet
Mayra I. Rivarola Soerensen	Paraguay	Print/Internet
Anna Zofia Szumanska	Poland	TV
Mohamed Asmieu Bah	Sierra Leone	Radio/TV

For further information, please contact Zvi Muskal at e-mail: muskal@un.org, or tel: +1 917 367 5142; or visit http://outreach.un.org/raf.

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For information media • not an official record