DPI/UNITAR WORKSHOP ON WEB SITE DEVELOPMENT, UN INTERNET RESOURCES TO BE HELD 7 - 11 JULY, FOR MEMBERS OF PERMANENT MISSIONS

DPI/UNITAR WORKSHOP ON WEB SITE DEVELOPMENT, UN INTERNET RESOURCES

TO BE HELD 7 - 11 JULY, FOR MEMBERS OF PERMANENT MISSIONS

NEW YORK, 3 July (UNITAR) -– As part of the training series on Policy and Training in Information Technology (PATIT) for Ambassadors and Diplomats at the United Nations, provided by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the ICT Task Force and Intel Corporation, the United Nations Department of Public Information is conducting a week-long workshop on Web site development for English-speaking permanent missions at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  This workshop, entitled "DPI/UNITAR workshop on Web site development and UN resources on the Internet", will be held from 7 to 11 July.  Comparable workshops in Arabic, French and Spanish have been offered previously by DPI.

The DPI/UNITAR workshop will cover three areas:  1) Web site creation, maintenance and development; 2) introduction to United Nations system resources on the Internet; and 3) increased government information available on the Internet.  The goals of this workshop are:  1) to have participants create a Web site for their mission in order to present their national policies, statements made in United Nations bodies and conferences, and activities within the United Nations system, or improve upon an existing mission Web site; 2) to familiarize participants with United Nations system resources on the Internet so that they may routinely use these on their own; and 3) to have participants maintain and develop the Web site which they create during the workshop and thereby increase government information available to civil society.

The DPI/UNITAR training will offer a combination of lectures and hands-on experience, with input from the United Nations Website Section of DPI.  It will include hands-on design and content development for a Web site for the participating missions or improvements and updating techniques for existing sites.  Web development tools will be made available in the classroom, and existing or new accounts will be used for posting the Web content contributed by each participant to www.un.int/.  The workshop will build upon the Fourth Module of the Policy and Training Programme for Ambassadors and Diplomats at the United Nations provided by UNITAR, entitled “Web-page Design Basics and Usability Techniques”. The DPI/UNITAR workshop is intensive, requiring the active involvement of participants on all five days. The UNITAR and DPI will be awarding certificates of completion to participants, which will be distributed in a ceremony at the PATIT high-level seminar on 21 November.

The workshop is part of an initiative by DPI and UNITAR to promote the use of the Internet as a tool to support economic and social development efforts towards achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.  It is also viewed as a contribution to efforts to bridge the "digital divide" between developed countries and developing countries, and as preparation for the World Summit on the Information Society to be held in 2003 and 2005, in Geneva and Tunis, respectively.

Members of the permanent missions accredited to the United Nations in New York who wish to participate in this workshop are requested to contact:  UNITAR (attn: Maud Graham), One United Nations Plaza, Suite DC1-603, New York, NY 10017, Tel: (212) 963-9196 or -3021; Fax: (212) 963-9686 or -0995.

More information about the workshop can be found on the Web site at

http://www.un.org/events/workshop/dpi-unitar/

* *** *