NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN TO TAKE PART IN LIVE RADIO PROGRAMME

1 April 1997

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN TO TAKE PART IN LIVE RADIO PROGRAMME

19970401 WITH BROADCASTERS ON FIVE CONTINENTS

Secretary-General Kofi Annan will take part in a live world-wide radio broadcast to discuss international developments and global issues with journalists from radio networks in five continents. During an unrehearsed question-and-answer show, scheduled to be aired on Wednesday, 2 April, and originating in the studios of United Nations Radio in New York, the Secretary- General will field questions from foreign affairs correspondents and editors at radio stations in Australia, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, South Africa and the United States.

The one-hour programme, which is the first ever live international radio broadcast with a United Nations Secretary-General, has been organized by United Nations Radio with the participation of the following: Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Sydney; All India Radio (AIR), New Delhi; Channel Africa, Johannesburg; Deutsche Welle, Cologne, Germany; Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), Nairobi; Radio Netherlands, Hilversum; Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Tokyo; and Voice of America (VOA), Washington, D.C. The broadcast will be in English but some stations will provide interpretation for local audiences.

The show, which is scheduled to go on the air at 11 a.m. New York time, will be simultaneously posted "live" on the Internet through the courtesy of Media on Demand, a New York-based communications company. It can be accessed via the United Nations Home Page (http://www.un.org), Audio-Visual Services area. After the broadcast, the programme will be available on demand as a sound file on the Media on Demand home page (http://www.internetbroadcast.com). Later on the same day, the show also will be available on the United Nations Radio Bulletin Board (tel. 212-963-3777).

For further information, contact United Nations Radio at (212) 963-6969.

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