United Nations Nations Unies INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM MEMORANDUM INTERIEUR

TO: The Secretary-General January 2000 A: REFERENCE: THROUGH: Mr. S. Iqbal Riza S/C DE- Chef de Cabinet

FROM: Kensaku Hogen DE: Under- Seer etary-Gener for Communications and Public Information pi""*? fl SUBJECT: JAN I 8 2000 OBJET: Note for Information ^VE'OFWT'

I am pleased to attach a summary off DPlJs main activities

over the last two weeks. «> With the focus in the Security Council this month on Africa, the Department has undertaken an information campaign t > explain the extent of the UN's engagement in Africa, witi peace and security-related developments in January being . 'e first focus of a longer-term effort. Initiatives include: giving maximum publicity to the Secretary-General's stat.- t to the Security Council on 10 January; tn^ organization o background press briefings and interviews for UN oZcicialb proactive effort by UNICs to . -•••.' media attention to u^T ac; L in Africa, and the production ^ briefing notes and fact sheets on the subject. Also, th. statements of five Counci-i. representatives were fed to ,.heir respective national African ->; itajdtifjl^ networks : Radio ; Radio Mali; Namibian Broadcasting Corporation; Radio Senegal and Zambia Broadcasting Corporation.

» The video of the Security Council Meeting on the situation in Africa regarding the impact of AIDS on peace and security in Africa is now archived and accessible on the UN Website.

• T-}- .-•> Department's Millennium Promotional Campaign was launched a- "he end of December with the Secretary-General's pr.e- r jrded millennium message, which was distributed by s ellite and videocassette for worldwide broadcast beginning 3>. December. With the assistance of UNICs, the message and the S :retary-General' s two millennium articles were reproduced in 2 5 newspapers around the world, according to the information E. ailable to date.

• The Secretary-General ' "• Millennium Message for radio was fed to 31 English and Fre:. :h radio stations in Africa. The material was also sen to and used by the BBC Chinese Service and Radio China. The scretary-General ' s Millennium message on video was transmit te via satellite on Thursday, 30 December 1999. Two thousand *- .evision broadcasters were sent advance *"i.itices of the mess e. Additionally, individual broadcasters •-h as Reuters, Ar ' CBS, Andalusian Satellite network, ZDF, , . CBC/Radio Can a International, Eutelsat, and other ... ' in Kuwait Argentina, United States, UK, Canada and .-:ico were sent * e message directly from Headquarters. All Tnfc \tion Ce.-.cres, UNOs and a number of UNDPs and Peace- keen ^ r.issions received videocassettes .

r- i" January, t- he Department will host its annual Educators' _ the Unit'-d Nations. Organized with the Committee on hin About the UN, a group of NGOs, the event brings ivi rly 300 teachers froro; throughout the tri- state area for a dr. '2 -long programme that, Izhis year, will focus on a Culture of Peace in the New Millennium. ' • On 20 January, the Department's weekly NGO briefing will address the issue of Financing for Development and plans for the 2001 Conference on the subject. Pending confirmation, the briefing on 3 February will be on the Security Council's focus on Africa during the month of January, with Security Council President Ambassador Richard Holbrooke participating in a panel discussion.

• The Department has issued Development Update #30, with articles previewing UNCTAD X, the Social Summit review, a global conference on "financing for development", high-tech discussions surfacing in ECOSOC, and the South Summit.

• UNTV provided video support to the Chairman of the Security Council Committee on Angola, Ambassador Robert Fowler of Canada, during his recent mission to Luanda.

• The UNTV half-hour discussion programme World Chronicle is to be screened twice a week on SABC-AFRICA, the first satellite television channel covering the whole of Africa.

• Issue 4 (1999) of the UN Chronicle is with the printers. The issue has a special Millennium focus, reflected in the use of the UN 2000 logo on the cover and with two sections devoted to "The Century in Retrospect" and "A Millennium of Minds" which explore old and new challenges at the onset of the 21st century. The Secretary-General's "Message for the New Millennium" leads the magazine.

• The Sales and Marketing Section participated at the Allied Social Science Association and the American Library Association exhibits during the month of January, in order to promote a broad spectrum of UN sales publications and electronic products. The Allied Social Science Association Annual meeting in Boston, Mass., was attended by over 8,000 scholars, and is the most important conference for reaching economists, a significant market for UN publications. The American Library Association Midwinter Meeting/Exhibition, a key business meeting for librarians, was held in Texas and represents every category of products and services available in the library marketplace.

• On 13 January, the Sales and Marketing Section, in collaboration with the UNDP Human Development Report Office, launched the Human Development Report on CD-ROM. This 10-year anniversary CD-ROM features Human Development Report 1999 and an updated statistical database covering 174 countries and hundreds of indicators .f The CD-ROM also includes the full texts of Human'Development Reports 1990 - 1999. 'The Sales Section is the exclusive distributor of the new CD-ROM. / The final issue of Africa Recovery fopr 1999 (Vol. 13 # 4) features as cover story the agenda of African countries at the recent World Trade Organization 3rd Ministerial meeting (Seattle, 29 November - 3 December) and the Secretary- General's support for a "development round" of talks in the global trade negotiations. The article highlights the work done by UNCTAD to strengthen the hands of African governments and the UN's support for the interests of developing countries in international trade negotiations. Other major stpries include coverage of the Security Council's September Ministerial meeting on sharing the burden of peacekeeping in Africa, a comprehensive article on anti-corruption efforts on the continent, and a 14-page supplement on the Africa <* Development Forum held by EGA in October, on information technology for development. A short version (1000 words) of the WTO article was placed with several major African daily papers.

UNIC Madrid provided media and logistical assistance to Mrs. Mary Robinson, during her visit to Spain 11-13 January. --. ''

In 1999 the UN Website received a grand total of 182 million accesses. In 1998 the figure had been 98 million while 1997 had received 46 million, up from 11 million in 1996.

t A link has been provided by DPI to the Beijing +5 Review Website, providing information on the upcoming Special Session of the General Assembly in New York, 5-9 June 2000.

UNIC Harare has launched its Home Page and can be accessed at www . samara ._co . zw/unic. There are now 30 local language UNIC websites.

UNIC Tunis has launched its Millennium website and can be accessed at www.unic-tunis.intl.tn/mill.htm.