Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalists? Fellowship Programme Begins at United Nations Headquarters

For the thirtieth consecutive year, the United Nations Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalists? Fellowship Programme starts today at United Nations Headquarters.

Organized by the Department of Public Information, the six-week programme brings together nine print and broadcast correspondents representing media organizations from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haiti, Mozambique, Russian Federation, Togo, Uzbekistan and Zambia.  They join the more than 470 journalists from 161 countries who have participated in the programme since its inception in 1981.

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 United Nations headquarters in Baghdad.

Against the backdrop of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly, the schedule of activities includes attending and/or following the proceedings of the High-Level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals and the High-Level session on Biodiversity, in addition to briefings by diplomats and senior officials from the United Nations Secretariat, specialized agencies, programmes and funds.  The participants will also visit major media organizations and relevant non-governmental organizations.  They will visit the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., and spend a weekend as guests of American host families in Rochester, New York, at the invitation of the United Nations Association of the United States of America.

Participants in the 2010 Programme:

For further information, please contact Zvi Muskal at e-mail:  muskal@un.org or tel.:  +1 917 367 5142; or visit www.un.org/en/media/fellowship.

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Fonte: UN