Archive - Press Releases

Archive - Press Releases (2002-2006)

22-04-2004Latest Global Education Indicators released
Children everywhere are spending more time in school than ever before, but there remain substantial differences between countries and regions, according to UNESCO’s Global Education Digest 2004*. According to the Digest, a child in Finland, New Zealand or Norway can expect to receive over 17 years of education, almost twice as much as in Bangladesh or Myanmar and four times as much in Niger or Burkina Faso. More

21-04-2004World Press Freedom Day focuses on media in conflict and countries in transition
Media in conflict areas and in countries in transition is the focus of this year’s World Press Freedom Day, May 3, which UNESCO is observing in Belgrade.* The award ceremony of the 2004 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize will also take place in the capital of Serbia and Montenegro on that day. More

20-04-2004At what age are school children employed, married and taken to court?
Children’s right to education is being seriously undermined in dozens of countries by contradictory laws that allow them to work, be married or held criminally responsible at an age when they are legally bound to be in school, concludes a report launched in Geneva (Switzerland) today by the Right to Education Project*, and UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education**. More

19-04-2004169th session of UNESCO’s Executive Board opened today
The 169th session of UNESCO’s Executive Board opened today with speeches from its Chairman, Ambassador Hans-Heinrich Wrede (Germany), and the Director-General of UNESCO Koïchiro Matsuura. Both stressed the progress made by the Organization and their will to respond to the challenges posed in a difficult international context. More

07-04-2004UNESCO commemorates the tenth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda
The United Nations has designated April 7, 2004, International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda. In joining in the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the genocide, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today called for the duty of remembrance to be observed by inviting the Permanent Delegates and staff of the Organization to hold a minute of silence, alongside the entire United Nations system. More

02-04-2004UNESCO programme grants funding to 62 new media projects in developing countries
UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) granted more than US$1.5 million to 62 media projects in developing countries and countries in transition at its meeting at Headquarters, (March 29 – April 2). It also awarded the 2003 IPDC-UNESCO Prize for Rural Communication to Radio Toco, the first and only community-based radio station in Trinidad and Tobago. More

24-03-2004Monsignor Etchegaray and the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mustafa Ceric to receive UNESCO's 2003 Félix Houphouët-Boigny peace prize
The Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mustafa Ceric, member of the European Council of Religious Leaders, and the Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, former President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, were chosen today as laureates of the 2003 UNESCO Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize by an international jury presided by former US Secretary of State and Nobel Peace laureate Henry Kissinger. More

22-03-2004Director-General expresses deep concern for safety of journalists in Iraq
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today voiced deep concern about the safety of journalists in Iraq following two separate incidents on March 18 which led to the death of members of television crews from coalition-backed local broadcaster Diyala TV, and Dubai-based Al-Arabiya. More

22-03-2004Kosovo: Beyond monuments and heritage, it is memory and cultural identity that are being destroyed declares Director-General of UNESCO
The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today expressed his great concern over the events of the past few days in Kosovo and the surrounding region, which have provoked the loss of numerous human lives and damaged cultural and religious heritage. More

19-03-2004World Water Day, March 22
Water and Governance: some examples of good practice
With the publication of “Water and Governance : Some Examples of Best Practice”*, the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST), chaired by Jens Erik Fenstad of Norway, intends to contribute to the spreading of new attitudes about water that will encourage well-being and help the environment. Five cases studies are presented from Ecuador, Japan, the Philippines, the Nile River Basin and South Africa. More

19-03-2004Algeria first state to ratify the international convention for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage
Algeria became the first Member State to ratify the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003) after completing the required procedure at the Organization on March 15. The Convention will enter into force three months after 30 States have ratified it. More

19-03-2004Struga poetry evenings: Laureates of Golden Crown and Bridges of Struga proclaimed at UNESCO
Philippine poet Angelo V. Suárez, 19, is the first laureate of “Bridges of Struga”, a new international poetry prize created by the international festival Struga Poetry Evening in cooperation with UNESCO to reward young poets from all over the world. The proclamation, took place Thursday evening at Organization Headquarters, during a ceremony organized for World Poetry Day (21st March). More

18-03-2004Cristina Owen-Jones named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS prevention education
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura will designate Cristina Owen-Jones as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador “in recognition of her personal commitment to UNESCO’s programmes for HIV/AIDS prevention education and for her dedication to the ideals and objectives of the Organization.” More

09-03-2004Director-General voices concern over safety of journalists in Haiti
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today deplored the killing of Spanish Antena 3 television reporter Ricardo Ortega in Haiti on March 7, and expressed the wish that journalists be enabled to carry out their work in conditions of safety. More

09-03-2004A new international instrument to enhance the protection of cultural property in times of war
The Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in Event of Armed Conflict, reinforcing the protection of cultural heritage in times of war, enters into force today. This follows the accession of Costa Rica to this new legal instrument, which now has the required number of 20 States Parties to take effect.* More

08-03-2004L'Oréal and UNESCO making a real difference for women scientists worldwide
2004 For women in science awards and fellowships announced
Five outstanding world-class women scientists named L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Laureates in recognition of their contribution to scientific research.
Fifteen promising young researchers around the world, the future scientific leaders of tomorrow, receive Fellowships to carry out promising international research projects. More

05-03-2004An AIDS-free generation in less than a generation
UNESCO proposes a new UNAIDS initiative in Livingstone, Zambia
Livingstone – UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura yesterday proposed a new HIV prevention education initiative at the 23rd meeting of the Committee of the Cosponsoring Organizations (CCO) of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS currently chaired by UNESCO. More

05-03-2004Director-General condemns assassination of Palestinian journalist Khalil Al-Zaben
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the assassination in Gaza, on the night of March 1 to 2, of journalist Khalil al-Zaben, publisher of a magazine - An-Nashra - funded by the Palestinian Authority, and an advisor to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. More

27-02-2004Scaling up action against HIV/AIDS: meeting of UN agencies and Southern African ministers in Zambia
Paris, February 27 - The Committee of the Cosponsoring Organizations (CCO) of UNAIDS, which brings together the heads of the nine* United Nations agencies participating in the joint HIV/AIDS programme, will hold its annual meeting in Africa for the first time, March 3 to 5. Some 20** ministers of health, education, and finance from the region, one of the parts of the world worst hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, will attend the meeting, in Livingstone (Zambia). It will be chaired by Koïchiro Matsuura, the Director-General of UNESCO which is currently chairing UNAIDS. More

26-02-2004Goodwill Ambassadors to sponsor Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage
Paris, February 26 – UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors – leading personalities who place their talent and international renown at the service of the Organization’s ideals – decided to sponsor some of the 47 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity during their annual meeting in Paris today. More

26-02-2004UNESCO Director-General voices profound sorrow at the death of Boris Trajkovski
Paris, February 26 – UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura expressed his “profound sorrow” at the death of President Boris Trajkovski, President of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in an air crash this morning. More

24-02-2004Jailed Cuban journalist Raúl Rivero awarded World Press Freedom Prize 2004
The jailed Cuban journalist Raúl Rivero Castañeda was today awarded the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize for 2004 by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, on the recommendation of an international jury. More

20-02-2004Director-General condemns murder of Peruvian journalist
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the murder of radio journalist Antonio de la Torre Echeandía in the city of Yungay in the Ancash region of Peru on February 14. More

19-02-2004International Mother Language Day 2004
“Mother tongue languages should be favoured in education systems from the earliest age,” said UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura in his message for International Mother Language Day 2004*. “It is widely acknowledged nowadays,” he added, “that teaching in both the mother tongue and the official national language helps children to obtain better results and stimulates their cognitive development and capacity to learn.” More

13-02-2004UNESCO Director-General condemns assassination of broadcasters in Nicaragua and the Philippines
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the killing of two radio broadcasters: Ruel Endrinal in Legaspi City in the Philippines on February 11, and Carlos Guadamuz in Managua, Nicaragua, on February 10. More

10-02-2004Director-General condemns murder of Colombian journalist Oscar Alberto Polanco Herrera
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the assassination of the journalist Oscar Alberto Polanco Herrera in the city of Cartago, in Valle del Cauca, in Colombia. More

09-02-2004Forty-six million children out-of-school in South and East Asia

More children are attending school than ever before in the countries of South and East Asia, but vast numbers of them drop out before the end of the primary cycle and the region still accounts for the world’s largest share of out-of-school children, according to a new report published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics*. More

02-02-2004Director-General condemns murder of reporter in Pakistan, welcoming efforts to punish the crime
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the murder of Pakistani journalist Sajid Tanoli of the Urdu language daily Shumaal in Mansehra, in northwestern Pakistan on January 29. More

02-02-2004Director-General deplores death of two media personnel in Iraq and calls for improved safety
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today deplored the death of two media personnel in Iraq on Tuesday and called for measures to improve the safety of journalists working in the country. More

26-01-2004West African environment ministers want NEPAD to use biosphere reserves as laboratories for sustainable development
West Africa’s environment ministers called on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to use UNESCO biosphere reserves as laboratories for sustainable development in the region, during a round table held at the Organization’s Headquarters today. More

21-01-2004Spotlight on small island developing states
Paris, January 21 – Small island developing states (SIDS) are particularly vulnerable to natural hazards, as well as to the negative impacts of global change, whether these are environmental, cultural, social or economic. As part of an international strategy to address these issues, defined during the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and in which UNESCO is actively involved, a meeting of some 300 stakeholders from island states in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, South China Seas, and the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans is being held in Nassau (Bahamas) from January 26 –30, in preparation for a major ministerial meeting on small islands in Mauritius later this year. More

20-01-2004H.R.H. Prince Talal donates one million dollars to UNESCO solidarity fund for safe water at close of International Year of Freshwater
UNESCO’s Special Envoy for Water, H.R.H. Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, announced the donation of one million dollars to the Solidarity Fund for Safe Water for All as UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura formally closed the International Year of Freshwater (2003) at Headquarters. More

20-01-2004Director-General condemns murder of journalist Manik Shaha in Bangladesh
Paris, January 20 – UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the brutal murder of journalist Manik Shaha in Khulna, south western Bangladesh, and welcomed a pledge by the country’s prime minister to find and punish his killers. More

08-01-2004UNESCO Director-General voices alarm at sharp increase in number of journalists killed in 2003
Paris, January 8 - UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the killing of five journalists in recent weeks and deplored the fact that more reporters were killed in the line of duty in 2003 than in any year since 1995. More

05-01-2004Launch of International Year for the Commemoration of the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition
On January 10, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura will officially launch the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition in Cape Coast (Ghana), one of the slave trade’s most active centres and today a World Heritage site. The year, devoted to an unprecedented tragedy that was recognized as a “crime against humanity” at the Durban World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (2001), should help humanity accomplish its duty of remembrance and fight all forms of slavery and racism in the world. More

27-12-2003UNESCO Director-General offers condolences and support to Iran following tragic earthquake
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura has conveyed his condolences to the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, following the terrible earthquake that struck the country yesterday morning. In a letter to President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, Mr Matsuura expressed his distress at the “cruel loss of so many lives” and offered his “sincere condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the families of the victims at this time of national mourning.” More

26-12-2003E-9 Education Ministers reaffirm their commitment to Education For All
Education ministers from the world’s nine high population countries - Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan –have reaffirmed their commitment to meet the basic learning needs of all their peoples and to work more closely together to achieve the six goals set at the World Education Forum held in Dakar (Senegal) in 2000. More

19-12-2003UNESCO organizes meetings between Israeli and Palestinian journalists
Sixteen senior media professionals from Israel and the Palestinian territories have agreed on the need to be more sensitive in their reporting about one another’s side, and welcomed the idea of giving editorial space to each other in their respective media. At the close of a two-day meeting at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, they further agreed to meet again, to remain in contact and to visit each other’s territories. More

13-12-2003Director-General welcomes endorsement of freedom of expression by WSIS
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura has welcomed the clear and unambiguous reaffirmation of the human right to freedom of expression by the World Summit on the Information Society, WSIS, in Geneva on December 12. More

08-12-2003150 new Community Multimedia centres to be set up in Africa
UNESCO and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) will launch a multi-million dollar project to provide marginalized communities in Mali, Mozambique and Senegal with access to information and communication technologies, including the internet. More

05-12-2003UNESCO advocates freedom of expression at World Summit on the information society
UNESCO is advocating freedom of expression at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS, Geneva, December 10-12). It will seek to ensure that this fundamental right, enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the first Article of UNESCO’s Constitution, is included in the Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action to be adopted at the close of the summit on communication and information technologies (ICT). More

05-12-2003Director-General condemns murder of Philippine journalist Nelson Nadura
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the murder of Nelson Nadura, a journalist of Radio DYME in Masbate City, in the central Philippines on Wednesday. Mr Matsuura, however, welcomed a pledge by Philippine President Gloria Macagapal Arroyo to ensure that the murder of journalists in the country does not continue to go unpunished. More

03-12-2003Director-General condemns assassination of Honduran journalist Germán Antonio Rivas
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the assassination of television journalist Germán Antonio Rivas, killed in a town in the West of Honduras last Wednesday, and said he was confident that the authorities will do all in their power to bring the perpetrators to justice. More

01-12-2003Director-General voices deep sadness at the death of Michel Barton
The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today expressed his deep sadness at the death of Michel Barton, Director of UNESCO’s Bureau of Public Information, of cardiac failure during a flight from Montreal to Washington, on his way back from mission, on Thursday, November 27. More

26-11-2003Princess of Hanover named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the education of young girls and women
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura has decided to appoint Her Royal Highness the Princess of Hanover a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador “in recognition of her personal commitment to the protection of children and the family, and of her contribution to the promotion of UNESCO’s programmes for the education of girls and women.” More

24-11-2003Humankind's closest living relatives on the brink of extinction
Paris/Nairobi - Twenty five million dollars is urgently needed to lift the threat of imminent extinction from humankind’s closest living relatives, delegates to an international crisis meeting on the great apes announced today at UNESCO. More

19-11-2003Africa's marginalization must be reversed, says Thabo Mbeki on a visit to UNESCO
“The African continent must have the capacity to use its resource base not to perpetuate an old relationship but to change it”, said South African President Thabo Mbeki in an address on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) before more than 800 people at UNESCO Headquarters today. More

17-11-2003Angkor: time for development
Ten years after the start of the campaign to safeguard Angkor (Cambodia), most of serious problems affecting the site that is so emblematic of Khmer culture have been solved, thanks to the efforts of the international community, which has invested more than US$50 million, the commitment of the kingdom’s authorities and UNESCO-led coordination. More

12-11-2003WE MUST DO BETTER, concludes High Level Group on Education for All
New Delhi - Progress towards gender parity in education needs to be drastically accelerated, concluded the participants at the Third Meeting of the High Level Group on Education for All, which ended here today. More

10-11-2003UNESCO awards Science Prizes on World Science Day
This year’s six UNESCO science prizes will be awarded in Budapest (Hungary) today, at the closing of the three-day World Science Forum. The event coincides with UNESCO’s celebration of World Science Day. The prizes will be awarded by Walter Erdelen, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, on behalf of Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura. On the same day, at a special ceremony in Caracas (Venezuela), the 2002 Kalinga Prize will be given posthumously to the late Marisela Salvatierra, who was prevented by poor health from receiving it when she was still alive. More

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Archive - Press Releases (2002-2006)

© UNESCO 1995-2007 - ID: 2902