Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalists Fellowship Programme, Organized by Department of Public Information, Begins at United Nations Headquarters

The United Nations Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalists Fellowship Programme (RAF) will be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York beginning on Thursday, 10 September.

Organized consecutively for 35 years by the Department of Public Information, the four-week Programme brings together 15 young journalists representing media organizations from various countries.  This year’s participants — 9 women and 6 men — representing both traditional and new media, hail from Albania, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, China, Egypt, India, Jordan, Nepal, Peru, Congo, South Africa, South Sudan, Timor-Leste and Turkey.  Since the inception of the Programme in 1981, 536 journalists and broadcasters from over 165 countries have taken part in the Programme.

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

Included in the schedule of activities are briefings by senior officials of the United Nations on major issues under consideration during the seventieth session of the General Assembly.  The participants will also have the opportunity to meet with Permanent Representatives to the United Nations (including those from their own countries), observe the General Debate of the seventieth session of the General Assembly and be mentored by United Nations media professionals in their respective fields of expertise.

The participants will also visit major media organizations and relevant non-governmental organizations in New York City to observe their operations.  In addition, they will participate in a two-day academic workshop at Fordham University.

Below are the participants in the 2015 RAF Programme: 

For further information or to get in touch with the journalists, please contact Mr. Zvi Muskal, Coordinator of the RAF Programme, at e-mail:  muskal@un.org or tel.:  +1 917 367 5142, or visit http://outreach.un.org/raf.