Note to Correspondents

Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalists’ Fellowship Programme Begins at Headquarters

The United Nations Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalists’ Fellowship Programme begins its twenty-ninth session today at Headquarters, under the direction of the Outreach Division of the Department of Public Information (DPI).  The six-week fellowship ends on 16 October 2009.

The Programme was established by the General Assembly in 1980, when it requested the Secretary-General to initiate a programme of fellowships for broadcasters and journalists from developing countries and countries with economies in transition to acquaint themselves with the work of the Organization.  Formerly known as the DPI Training Programme for Broadcasters and Journalists from Developing Countries, it was renamed in honour of Reham Al-Farra, a young journalist and DPI staff member killed in the attack on United Nations Headquarters in Baghdad in 2003.

As of 2008, 397 broadcasters and journalists from 160 countries have taken part in the Programme.  Nine junior and mid-level print and broadcast journalists will participate this year, representing media organizations in Cape Verde, Mali, Mauritania, Panama, Rwanda, Seychelles, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu and Ukraine.

The schedule of activities will include the proceedings of the 64th session of the General Assembly, the high-level session on climate change, and briefings by officials of the United Nations Secretariat, United Nations specialized agencies, programmes and funds.  The participants will also visit major media organizations to observe their operations.  While at Headquarters they will have the opportunity to periodically cover news developments at the United Nations on behalf of their news organizations.  Additionally, the journalists will visit the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., and they will spend a weekend as guests of American host families in Rochester, New York, at the invitation of United Nations Association of the United States of America.

Participants in 2009 Programme

Following are the names, countries and affiliations of the participants in the 2009 Programme.

Name of Participant	Country	Affiliation	Media Type
[Ms.] Matilde Dias	Cape Verde	Radiotelevisao de Cabo Verde	Television
[Mr.] Amadou Waigalo	Mali	Les Echos	Print
[Mr.] Mohamed Yahya Mohamed Lemine	Mauritania	Peace Newspaper	Print and Web
[Mr.] Jermaine Cumberbatch	Panama	Accion 100%	Television and Radio
[Ms.] Clarisse Niwemugeni	Rwanda	City Radio	Radio
[Ms.] Rita Jan Gay	Seychelles	Rising Sun daily newspaper	Print
[Ms.] Dionne John	St. Vincent & the Grenadines	NBC	Radio
[Mr.] Semi Malaki	Tuvalu	Tuvalu Media Department	Print
[Ms.] Nataliya Gumenyuk	Ukraine	Inter TV	Television

For further information, please contact Kimberly Mann, e-mail:  mann@un.org, or tel.:  +1 212 963 6835.

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For information media • not an official record