NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES TO TAKE PART IN LIVE

20 May 1998

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES TO TAKE PART IN LIVE

19980520 RADIO PROGRAMME WITH BROADCASTERS ON FIVE CONTINENTS

Efforts to separate legitimate refugees from militia, the plight of displaced persons in the former Yugoslavia and the evolving situation in Kosovo are among the issues expected to be discussed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, who will be the guest on a live world-wide radio broadcast to be hosted by United Nations Radio on Thursday, 21 May.

Journalists from radio networks on five continents will take part in the unrehearsed question-and-answer show, which will originate in the studios of Voice of America in Washington, D.C. The programme will air at 10 a.m. (EDT)

The one-hour programme is the sixth live international radio broadcast organized by United Nations Radio. Participating broadcasters are: Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Sydney; All India Radio (AIR), New Delhi; Channel Africa, Johannesburg; Deutsche Welle, Cologne, Germany; Radio Netherlands, Hilversum; Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Tokyo; Vatican Radio and Voice of America (VOA), Washington, D.C. The broadcast will be in English but some stations will provide interpretation for local audiences.

Following the live broadcast, the audio file will be posted on the United Nations Radio home page (http://www.un.org/av/). It will also broadcast live on the in-house MX system (touch tone, dial 7737; rotary, dial 00).

United Nations Radio live global broadcasts have previously featured Secretary-General Kofi Annan; Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund; Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; James Gustave Speth, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme; and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette.

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

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