United Nations to Host Training Programme for Palestinian Media Practitioners

For the sixteenth consecutive year, the United Nations Department of Public Information will host a training programme for Palestinian media practitioners, which will take place at United Nations Headquarters from 31 October to 2 December 2011.  Ten Palestinian broadcasters and journalists will be invited to participate.

The programme was set up in 1995, following the adoption of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly asking the Department to provide assistance to the Palestinian people in the field of media development.  Since then, about 8 to 10 Palestinian media practitioners, representing print, as well as audio-visual media, have participated in this annual programme.

The basic objective of the programme is to expose the media practitioners to the work of the United Nations, especially its various activities and programmes affecting the lives of the people in the region.  They will attend briefings by officials of the United Nations and interact with representatives of United Nations programmes and specialized agencies, including United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).  During a week-long visit to Washington, D.C., they will meet with senior officials at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and attend a briefing at the United States State Department.  In addition, there will be specially designed skills workshops on international reporting and internet publishing.  As part of their training, the participants will also design a multi-media website, where they will be able to post daily activity reports.

This year a total of 10 Palestinian media practitioners — five female and five male — will take part in the programme.  During the period they will be at Headquarters, the broadcasters and journalists will also serve as temporary United Nations correspondents on behalf of the home media organizations they represent and cover United Nations meetings in progress.  They are expected to cover the General Assembly debate on the Question of Palestine, which normally takes place at the end of November and early December, and be part of the observance on 29 November of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The programme does not lead to employment by the United Nations and all participants are required, upon completion of the programme, to return home and continue work in respective media organizations they are affiliated with.

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For information media • not an official record