NEW WEB SITE SHOWS HOW UN’S WORK BENEFITS PEOPLE

NEW WEB SITE SHOWS HOW UN’S WORK BENEFITS PEOPLE

A new Web site that shows how United Nations programmes and projects benefit people was launched today.

Designed and developed by the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), the site is a cyber magazine which features up to 48 stories at any one time about men, women and children from all walks of life and from all parts of the world who have benefited in some way from the United Nations’ work.

“The public does not always get the news of how the United Nations actually impacts on people’s lives”, said Shashi Tharoor, interim head of DPI, who introduced the Web site at a United Nations press briefing. 

“But the UN’s work does affect all of us in some way.  Whether through a treaty to cut ozone-depleting gases, a grass-roots development project or a global vaccination campaign to prevent childhood diseases, the UN family is out there every day working for people in different ways.  And this Web site gives concrete examples of how it does that”, added Mr. Tharoor.

The Web site was developed by DPI as part of its United Nations works programme —- a promotional strategy that focuses on showing how the United Nations system and its public and private sector partners work together to make a difference in the lives of ordinary people.  The site, which will be updated regularly, features timely and compelling stories and photos, and is user-friendly and easy to navigate with links to United Nations projects and treaties, as well as government agencies, non-governmental organizations, foundations and businesses.

Available in English for the moment, the new site will gradually be developed in the other official languages of the United Nations.

The URL for the new site is:  http://www.un.org/works.

The United Nations Web site was launched in 1996 and gets over three and a half million accesses a day from all over the world.

For additional information contact:  United Nations Department of Public Information, Public Affairs Division -- Carmel Mulvany at (212) 963-2300; e-mail: mulvany@un.org; and Sharon O’Brien at (212) 963-1467; e-mail:  sobrien@un.org; fax: (212) 963-0536

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