DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INFORMATION LAUNCHES UNITED NATIONS HOME PAGE IN RUSSIAN

Press Release
PI/1068

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INFORMATION LAUNCHES UNITED NATIONS HOME PAGE IN RUSSIAN

The Department of Public Information (DPI) is pleased to announce the launch of a pilot project of the United Nations Home Page in Russian on Tuesday, 12 May. In accordance with the General Assembly's request on multilingualism, United Nations documentation and information material is now available on its web site in four official languages. With this initiative, DPI is leading the way in its continuing commitment to making information available to as wide an audience as possible in the most cost-effective manner.

The new site features basic information about the United Nations and its organs, the Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice, recent reports of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization and the United Nations reform process, as well as resolutions of the Security Council and statements by its President.

Final documents of major events, including the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Status of Women, the nineteenth special session of the General Assembly to review implementation of Agenda 21 (Earth Summit+5), as well as many declarations and conventions, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings are available on the site. Other features include "Frequently Asked Questions", a list of the United Nations system of Organizations and specialized agencies, and links to information in Russian posted by the United Nations agencies and programmes.

Substantial progress has been made since the launch of the United Nations web site in 1995. With the Internet now being one of the most powerful tools of communication, the United Nations Home Page currently receives more than 6.5 million accesses per month from over 135 countries. The addition of the Russian Home Page will further strengthen the United Nations presence in cyberspace.

The Russian web site has been created in cooperation with the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services. It can be located at http://www.un.org/russian.

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