The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has condemned the murder of television journalist Ridwan Salamun, killed on 21 August while covering a clash between villagers in Tual, Malaku, Indonesia.

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UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova has announced that she will send a team of flood-management experts to Pakistan on 22nd August. The mission is the first to be undertaken by the Organization as part of its response to the catastrophic floods that have claimed over 1,600 lives and affected 20 million others.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, expressed her sadness and concern about the unprecedented devastation caused by the floods in Pakistan, and pledged UNESCO’s support for the victims of the disaster.

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The International Year of Youth on the theme Dialogue and Mutual Understanding will be launched on the International Youth Day, 12 August 2010. The proclamation of this International Year by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/64/134) marks the aspirations of a new generation of Youth.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the murder of Devi Prasad Dhital, the chairman of the community radio station Tulsipur FM, on 22 July in Nepal’s western district of Dang.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, expressed her deep concern and called for restraint after the death of Lebanese journalist Assaf Abu Rahal, who worked for the daily Al-Akhbar, published in Beirut. He died in a clash at the border between Lebanon and Israel on 3 August that killed four people and injured two, including another journalist.

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The Minister of Culture of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Shaikha Mai bint Mohammad Al Khalifa, has been named new Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee. She replaces the Minister of Culture of Brazil, João Luiz da Silva Ferreira, who has chaired the Committee for the past 12 months. - More

The 34th session of the World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia since 25 July today finished its consideration of nominations for the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.

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The World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia today inscribed a natural site in the Russian Federation on the UNESCO World Heritage List and has approved the Italian extension of a natural site in Switzerland.
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The World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia has today has inscribed three new cultural sites, including two in Mexico and one in Brazil. It also inscribed three natural sites in China, Kiribati, Reunion Island (France) and extended a site already on the World Heritage List in Bulgaria.
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The World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia has today approved extensions to three cultural sites in Austria, Romania and Spain.
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Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi (Viet Nam) becomes 900th site on UNESCO World Heritage List
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The World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia has inscribed sites in Saudi Arabia, Australia, India, Islamic Republic of Iran and, for the first time, a site in the Marshall Islands, as well as the Republic of Korea on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
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The World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia today inscribed the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania) as a cultural property on the World Heritage List. The Committee made its decision because of the extraordinary record of human evolution at the site, which spans a vast area of land from the Serengeti National Park in the north-west of Tanzania to the eastern arm of the Great Rift Valley. The property had previously been inscribed on the List as a natural site.
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The World Heritage Committee holding its 34th session in Brasilia under the chairmanship of João Luiz da Silva Ferreira, today inscribed two new sites on the World Heritage List. - More

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the murder of Mexican journalist Hugo Alfredo Olivera Cartas, who was found dead in his car on 6 July near Apatzingán in the western state of Michoacán.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, expressed today her grave concern regarding the circumstances of the death of freelance journalist Hem Chandra Pandey, killed by gunfire in a clash in early July while reporting on the Maoist insurgency in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

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Building institutional capacity, drawing up inventories and developing plans for safeguarding Haitian cultural heritage are some of the priority actions identified by the International Coordination Committee for the protection of Haitian cultural heritage (ICC) at its first meeting on 7 and 8 July at UNESCO in Paris.

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As political leaders across Africa prepare for the World Cup education summit scheduled for 11 July in Pretoria, UNESCO warns that shortfalls in aid threaten to derail efforts to get the region’s 32 million out-of-school children into classrooms. - More

The World Heritage Committee will consider requests for the inscription of new sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List when it meets for its 34th session in Brasilia (Brazil), from 25 July to 3 August.

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Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, today condemned the murder of the Mexican journalists, Juan Francisco Rodríguez Ríos and his wife María Elvira Hernández Galeana, in Guerrero State in the west of the country on 28 June.

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The International Coordination Committee for the protection of Haitian cultural heritage (ICC) will hold its first meeting at UNESCO Headquarters (Room XII) in Paris on 7 and 8 July.

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Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, today condemned the murder of Jean-Léonard Rugambage, deputy editor-in-chief of the Rwandan fortnightly Umuvugizi, who was killed in front of his house in Kigali (Rwanda) on 24 June.

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The city of Yerevan (Armenia) was named as the World Book Capital 2012 at the conclusion of the meeting of the selection committee, which was held at UNESCO Headquarters on 2 July. The committee consists of representatives from the three main international professional associations in the book industry and UNESCO.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the murder of journalist Nestor Bedolido on 19 June and called for an investigation of this crime.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, condemned the murder of the Pakistani journalist Faiz Mohammad Khan Sasoli in Khuzdar in Balochistan province on 27 June, and called on the authorities to do everything possible to ensure that justice is done. The victim was a correspondent of the Aaj Kal newspaper and of the Independent News of Pakistan agency.

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The Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova condemned the murder of Honduran TV journalist Luis Arturo Mondragón Morazán of Canal 19, who was gunned down in El Paraíso on the night of 14 June 2010. She also called on the authorities to take measures to stem the rising wave of violence again journalists in Honduras.

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The Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova has assured Kyrgyz authorities that the Organization stands ready to provide all possible help to the people of Kyrgyzstan, in the wake of the recent unrest in the Central Asian nation.

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The social sciences, which were dominated by western universities for a long time, are gaining ground in Asia and in Latin America, according to a report by the International Social Sciences Council (ISSC), published jointly with UNESCO. Entitled “Knowledge Divides”, it is a worldwide status report about these disciplines.

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UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today designated Michaëlle Jean, Governor-General of Canada, as UNESCO Special Envoy for Haiti.

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The President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, in collaboration with the Secretary-General of the European Council Thorbjorn Jagland, are organizing the 8th Summit of the Heads of State of South East European countries on June 23rd in Istanbul (Turkey). The Heads of State, or their representatives, from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Moldavia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia will attend the meeting, of which the theme is “Music as metaphor of cultural dialogue”. The Director-General will also participate in the South-East European Cooperation Process organized in parallel by Turkey.  
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At an information meeting of UNESCO’s Executive Board on 15 June, it was agreed that consultations should continue with all concerned parties on the future of the UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the killing of Turkish journalist Cevdet Kılıçlar, in the Israeli military interception of the flotilla headed for Gaza on 1 June. The Director-General called for light to be shed on the events that led to the journalist’s death and called on all the authorities concerned to respect the rights of media covering the situation in Gaza.

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Social science from Western countries continues to have the greatest global influence, but the field is expanding rapidly in Asia and Latin America, particularly in China and Brazil. In sub-Saharan Africa, social scientists from South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya produce 75% of academic publications. In South Asia, barring some centres of excellence in India, social sciences as a whole have low priority. These are a few of the findings from UNESCO’s 2010 World Social Science Report, “Knowledge divides”, to be launched on 25 June at UNESCO (Room IX, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.).

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The scientific and technical advisory body of the Convention on the Protection of Underwater Heritage will meet for the first time, at Spain’s National Museum of Underwater Archaeology (ARQUA) in Cartagena, from 13-15 June.
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The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) has chosen 8 June, Word Oceans Day, to kick of celebrations for its fiftieth anniversary. It is an opportunity for this UNESCO programme to take stock of its work in improving our understanding of the seas and oceans and the central role they play in regulating climate.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today deplored the death of Italian freelance photographer Fabio Polenghi, who was shot and killed in Bangkok on the night of 18 May while covering clashes between Thai government forces and demonstrators. Ms Bokova called on concerned parties to allow journalists to do their work and to respect the fundamental right of freedom of information.

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Director-General of UNESCO, today expressed her deep concern at the tragic event that resulted in the loss of life and injury of civilians on the ships carrying supplies to Gaza on 31 May. According to press associations, the ships had more than 20 media workers and journalists, alongside other personalities from various countries on board.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, emphasized the positive nature of humanity’s great cultural diversity as she addressed the Third Forum of the United Nations’ Alliance of Civilizations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Forum, held on 28 and 29 May, focused on the theme of Bridging Cultures, Building Peace.

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New biosphere reserves will be designated during the meeting of the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) UNESCO Programme, whose 22nd session will be held from 31 May to 4 June at UNESCO Headquarters (Room XII). The Council will also designate the winners of several MAB programme awards.
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Africa Week, from 25 to 28 May at UNESCO, will have Pan-Africanism as its theme this year, with emphasis on the rapprochement of cultures and the role of young people. As the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, reiterated last month at the Organization’s Executive Board meeting, Africa is “an absolute priority” for UNESCO.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the murder of Pakistani journalist Ghulam Rasool Birhamani, whose body was found near Dadu, in the south of the country, on 10 May.

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Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, today condemned the murder of Somali radio journalist Sheikh Nur Abkey who was abducted and shot dead on 4 May near his home in southern Mogadishu.

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Teaching how to build with more solid materials, using earthquake-resistant methods - this is the aim of the pilot project providing training to Haitian masons in Camp-Perrin, in southwest Haiti. Supported by UNESCO and currently starting its third session, the project was launched on 10 March when UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova was visiting Haiti.
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Overcoming the trauma of the earthquake and restoring faith in the future: these were the objectives of a three-day training course for secondary school education administrators in Haiti, organized last month by the Haitian Ministry of National Education and UNESCO. These administrators will be responsible for training teachers in the field, so that they in turn can pass on this knowledge to schoolchildren.
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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has condemned the murder of independent journalist Sardasht Osman who was found dead in the city of Mosul on 6 May, two days after his abduction in Arbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. Ms Bokova also called for an investigation into the killing.

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UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova will meet the Prime Minister of China and other government ministers during an official visit to China (17 – 22 May), which will also be marked by her participation in World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. Ms Bokova’s activities in Shanghai will take place as part of the celebration of UNESCO Week at the world exhibition.

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Five billion mobile telephones are in use in the world today. Two billion people are connected to Internet and another billion are expected to gain web access by 2015. In April 2010, the social network Facebook announced it had reached a total of 360 million users. Qzone, the largest social network operating in China, has surpassed 376 million subscribers and recorded peaks of more than 100 million people connected simultaneously.

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Geneva, 10 May 2010 — ITU and UNESCO today announced the establishment of a top level Broadband Commission for Digital Development which will define strategies for accelerating broadband rollout worldwide and examine applications that could see broadband networks improve the delivery of a huge range of social services, from healthcare to education, environmental management, safety and much more.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, expressed concern about negotiations to sell a large number of artefacts salvaged from the wreck of a 10th century ship lying off the coast of Java (Indonesia). The sale of the cargo by the Indonesian government was originally set for today 5 May in Jakarta but it was postponed for lack of a buyer. - More

ITU and UNESCO today announced the establishment of a top level Broadband Commission for Digital Development which will define strategies for accelerating broadband rollout worldwide and examine applications that could see broadband networks improve the delivery of a huge range of social services, from healthcare to education, environmental management, safety and much more.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, expressed concern about negotiations to sell a large number of artefacts salvaged from the wreck of a 10th century ship lying off the coast of Java (Indonesia). The sale of the cargo by the Indonesian government was originally set for today 5 May in Jakarta but it was postponed for lack of a buyer.

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Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, today welcomed the approval by all political groups in the French National Assembly of a bill authorizing the restitution by France to New Zealand of Maori heads kept in French museums.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today voiced grave concern about the death in detention on 22 April of Ngota Ngota Germain, editor of the weekly Cameroun Express, and asked that a full investigation be conducted into the circumstances of his death.

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UNESCO will celebrate World Press Freedom Day, observed yearly on 3 May, with an international conference of media professionals entitled Freedom of Information: the Right to Know, in Brisbane (Australia) on 2 and 3 May.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the murder of Honduran TV producer and presenter Jorge Alberto Orellana. Ms Bokova also voiced alarm at the high toll paid by journalists in the country.

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The 5th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands will take place at UNESCO Headquarters from 3 to 7 May. Entitled Ensuring Survival, Preserving Life, and Improving Governance, the conference is organized by the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands, UNESCO and the government of France. - More

UNESCO is celebrating World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April by highlighting the need to preserve creativity from piracy. The Day also marks the launch of celebrations in Ljubljana (Slovenia), World Book Capital for 2010.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova today condemned the murder of Luis Antonio Chévez Hernández, in the city of San Pedro Sula, in Honduras, on 13 April.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today deplored the killing of Japanese journalist Hiroyuki Muramoto, a cameraman for Reuters, and the wounding of freelance photographer Winnai Ditthajorn, who was working for Australia’s ABC News, in Bangkok, Thailand, on 10 April.

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UNESCO Director-General Irina Bok
ova today informed the members of UNESCO’s Executive Board of her choice of senior management team. Ms Bokova, whose mandate began on 15 November last year, said that she had chosen a “strong, competent, coherent and motivated team” to lead UNESCO.
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UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today expressed her relief at the news that the reconstruction of the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi (Uganda) is feasible, following its near-destruction by fire on 16 March. “I am glad to report that an expert mission confirms the feasibility of this unique World Heritage site’s reconstruction. UNESCO will do everything in its power to help the Ugandan authorities mobilise the resources needed to bring this site back to life and to ensure its future safeguarding. We are already activating emergency funds for this purpose,” she said. - More

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has accorded the Organization’s patronage to the “La Flamme Marie Claire 2010” campaign to raise funds for girls’ education, which will take place from 7 to 31 May.

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UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today expressed her heart-felt condolences to the people of Poland and the families of all those who perished in the tragic plane crash that claimed the life of President Lech Kaczynski and the country's political, military and cultural leaders.
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Children in Port au Prince began returning to school this week, three months after the deadly earthquake on 12 January. But their normal lessons were replaced by a special syllabus developed by UNESCO and the Haitian Ministry of Education to take into account the trauma and disruption experienced by both children and teachers.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the killing of freelance TV journalist Patient Chebeya Bankome in the city of Beni in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on 5 April.
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Gilles Bœuf, President of the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (French National Museum of Natural History), explains why it is necessary to give a value to living resources, especially those in the oceans. He explains that it is not economically sound for them to be available without cost. He also explains how we can estimate the number of present and past species.
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A photo exhibition illustrating the vital role of intangible cultural heritage within communities will be presented at UNESCO from 7 to 26 April (Salle des pas perdus).

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the killing of radio journalists José Bayardo Mairena and Manuel Juárez who were ambushed by gunmen on 26 March in eastern Honduras.

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Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, today expressed her sorrow over the tragic fire that ravaged the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi, a World Heritage site in Uganda, and the deaths of two people in protests that followed the blaze. She made an appeal for calm and said UNESCO stands ready to help Ugandan authorities to assess damages and plan remedial action at this major religious centre.

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“My life is a story”, the campaign initiated in 2008 by British author and illustrator Lauren Child in partnership with UNESCO, has just launched its second phase, inviting children to tell the story of their lives using words, drawings or photos. - More

Rebuilding the social, cultural and intellectual fabric of Haiti
24 March 2010, UNESCO Headquarters - More

“Culture must go hand in hand with humanitarian aid. It must be present in Haiti’s reconstruction strategies because culture and development are closely linked,” stressed Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, as she ended her official visit to Haiti yesterday. - More

“I have come to express UNESCO’s solidarity with Haiti,” said Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on Tuesday, the first day of her 48-hour official visit to Port-au Prince. “I am here to see the situation with my own eyes and to see how UNESCO can best support the government of Haiti at this crucial time for the Haitian people.”

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UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today condemned the deadly attack on 1 March against Honduran journalists Joseph Hernandez Ochoa and Karol Cabrera, in which Mr Ochoa was killed and Ms Cabrera seriously injured.

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UNESCO is celebrating International Women’s Day (8 March) with a series of events* at Headquarters in Paris from 8 to 19 March. The programme includes round tables, exhibitions, a concert and a film, all highlighting issues linked to women’s empowerment and the promotion of gender equality.

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UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today condemned the murder of Nepalese media owner Arun Singhaniya, killed on 1 March in the south-eastern city of Janakpur. Recalling that this is the second such murder in three weeks, Ms Bokova also reiterated her concerns over the continuing threats facing journalists in Nepal.

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UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova has called on governments and donors to redouble their efforts to protect educational gains made over the past decade that she says are under threat from the global economic downturn.

At its 54th annual meeting at UNESCO headquarters on 24 – 26 February, the Bureau of the Organization’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) selected 84 development projects put forward by local media in 61 developing and emerging countries. The grants awarded by the eight members of the Committee totalled more than US$2.1 million.

A conference on UNESCO’s links with the Cold War, organized by the International Scientific Committee for the UNESCO History Project, will be hosted by the Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCAS), University of Heidelberg, (Germany) on 4-5 March 2010.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova expressed her distress over the death and destruction caused by the powerful earthquake that struck Chile on Saturday 27 February. UNESCO stands ready, she said, to provide its expertise and support for the recovery effort. The Director-General also stressed the need for countries in high-risk areas to further strengthen disaster risk reduction capacity. - More

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, today condemned the murder of Pakistani television journalist Ashiq Ali Mangi, who was shot dead on 17 February outside his district press club in the southern province of Sind, Pakistan.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, expressed her concern today at the announcement by the Israeli Prime Minister that two sites located in the occupied Palestinian territory, the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb, are to be included in a National Heritage Programme. She also expressed concern at the resulting escalation of tension in the area.

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The 15 international UNESCO-L’Oréal Fellowships for 2010 will be presented at UNESCO on 3 March. As for the laureates of the 12th Annual L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards For Women in Science, they will receive their prizes at a ceremony on 4 March at UNESCO, in the presence of Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, and Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, Chairman of L’Oréal and of the L’Oréal Corporate Foundation.

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UNESCO laid the foundation for an International Coordination Committee (ICC) for Haitian culture at a meeting on 16 February in Paris, opened by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO. The meeting was chaired by Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassègue, Haiti’s Minister of Culture and Communication, and Françoise Rivière, the Organization’s Assistant Director-General for Culture.

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The impact of the global economic crisis on education and challenges related to marginalization will be the focus of the High Level Group Meeting on Education For All (EFA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 23 to 25 February. It will be opened by Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, in the presence of the Ethiopian Prime minister, Meles Zenawi, and Jean Ping, Chair of the African Union Commission.

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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the murder of Jamin Shah, a Nepalese media owner, in Katmandou on 7 February, and voiced concern about threats to journalists in the country.

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The 2009 Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture has been awarded to the Iraqi poet and calligrapher Ghani Alani and the Polish publisher and academic Anna Parzymies. They were recommended by an international jury that examined 28 nominations from 21 Member States. UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova will present the prize at a ceremony at Headquarters on 9 February (Room I)*. - More

The aftershock of the global financial crisis threatens to deprive millions of children in the world’s poorest countries of an education, warns the 2010 Education for All Global Monitoring Report. The Report, published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), will be launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova on January 19 at UN Headquarters in New York. - More

Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, condemned today the murder of Bulgarian journalist Bobi Tsankov, who was shot dead by two unidentified attackers in Sofia on 5 January. He was the author of a book and a series of articles on organized crime in Bulgaria.

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“The death of Philippe Séguin was a great shock, filling me with immense sadness,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today. “He will be sorely missed. I send my sincere condolences to his family.” The French politician died of a heart attack at his Paris home on 7 January, aged 66.
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Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, today condemned the killing of Canadian journalist Michelle Lang in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on 30 December 2009. She also reproved the abduction of two journalists working for the French TV station France 3 on 29 December in Kapisa province.
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Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, paid tribute to Professor Paul Ahyi, a UNESCO Artist for Peace. Mr Ahyi died on 4 January in Lome (Togo). - More

UNESCO wishes you a joyful holiday season and a happy and constructive new year. In 2010, the world will celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity and the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures. - More

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