Note to Correspondents

2006 REHAM AL-FARRA MEMORIAL JOURNALISTS’ FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME

TO BEGIN on 11 SEPTEMBER

 

The annual training programme for junior media professionals from developing and transition countries will begin at the United Nations Headquarters from 11 September.  The six-week programme, which concludes on 20 October, is designed to help young media professionals better understand the challenges faced by the United Nations and, to assist them in reporting on global issues after they return to their home countries.  The programme is organized by the Special Projects Unit of the Outreach Division of the Department of Public Information.

In the six weeks, Reham Al-Farra fellows will visit the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and leading media and academic institutions in New York.  At the United Nations, senior officials from the Secretariat, the United Nations system and Member States will brief the journalists on a wide range of subjects.

This year’s fellows are:  Ms. Elona Meco, Top Channel Television, Albania; Mr. Siarhei Kuzniatsou, Zvyazda, Belarus; Ms. Deki Choden, Bhutan Broadcasting Service, Bhutan;  Mr. Yong Ho Kim, News Desk, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; Ms. Arlene Jacqueline Martin, Jamaica Observer, Jamaica; Mr. Askhat Yerkimbay, El Men Jer, Kazakhstan; Ms. Onitiana Voahariniaina  Realy, TV Plus Madagascar, Madagascar; Mr. Pierre Jean-Luc Emile, Radio Plus, Mauritius; Mr. Hicham Benjamaa, La Vie Eco, Morocco; Ms. Laufaleaina Diana Eli, Lau TV, Samoa; Ms. Buthaina Jafar Al-Nassr, Al Ekhbaryah, Saudi Arabia; Ms. Rajka Pervanje, RTV Slovenia, Slovenia; Ms. Monique Colli-Chin A Tam, De West, Suriname; Ms. Luisiana Rios Paiva, Radio Caracas Television, Venezuela; Ms. Lien Nguyen Thi Phuong, Vietnam Television, Vietnam.

The Journalists’ Fellowship Programme –- established 25 years ago -- is now named for Ms. Reham Al-Farra, a 29-year-old United Nations staff member who was killed in the 19 August 2003 bombing of the United Nations Headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq.  Before joining the United Nations, Ms. Al-Farra became the first female daily political columnist in her native Jordan, for Al Arab Al Yawm newspaper.

For more information, please contact:  Mr. Vikram Sura, Associate Information Officer, Special Projects Unit, Outreach Division, United Nations Department of Public Information, e-mail: sura@un.org, Fax: 1 212 963 0536.

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For information media • not an official record