UN DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, ORGANIZATION OF LA FRANCOPHONIE SPONSOR BEIRUT TRAINING SEMINAR ON ‘INTERNET USE AND THE MEDIA’

UN DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, ORGANIZATION OF LA FRANCOPHONIE

SPONSOR BEIRUT TRAINING SEMINAR ON ‘INTERNET USE AND THE MEDIA’

BEIRUT, 10 April (UN Information Centre) -– The United Nations Department of Public Information and the International Organization of La Francophonie opened a four-day training seminar yesterday on the theme “Internet Use and the Media” in Beirut, Lebanon, at the headquarters of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).  The seminar, held in Arabic and French, brings together some 30 media representatives working in Beirut.

The seminar is part of a global initiative aimed at promoting the use of the Internet as a tool to support the economic and social development efforts of the United Nations and the Organization of La Francophonie.  It is also viewed as part of efforts to bridge what Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called the “digital divide” between developed and developing countries.

The United Nations and the Organization held two earlier seminars, the first in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in July 1999 and in Beirut in October 2000.  The Abidjan seminar, organized in French, brought together some 20 specialists of institutional communication representing ministries of information/communication, education and planning/development from 9 French-speaking countries in West Africa.  The first Beirut seminar, held in Arabic and French, was attended by some 40 participants from similar ministries in 13 North African and Middle Eastern countries.

The current seminar is led by:  Jean-Pierre Bugada and Osamah Khawam of the Information Technology Section of the Department; Christian Ambaud of the Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie (AIF); Simone Sabathe of the Institut Francophone des Nouvelles Technoogies de l’Information et de la Formation; Seydou Sissouma from the daily “Le Soleil” of Senegal, representing the AIF “Medias francophones du Sud”; and Ridha Najar, representing the Centre Africain de Perfectionnement des journnalistes et communicateurs.

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