Date : 03/01/2007
KUN0042 4 GEN 0259 KUWAIT /KUNA-LMU3
MDA-FRANCE-UNESCO-CONF.
UNESCO to hold next week intl conf. on freedom of expression in Iraq
PARIS, Jan 3 (KUNA) -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is to hold here next Monday an international
Conference on "Freedom of Expression and Media Development in Iraq," UNESCO
said in a press release Wednesday.
Up to 200 people are expected to participate in the three-day conference,
including the Iraqi media and government officials and representatives of
international non-governmental organizations and other organizations.
The release indicated that the conference, which will be inaugurated by its
Director-General Koichiro Matsuura, is organized by the Communications and
Media Commission of Iraq (CMC) in cooperation with UNESCO and the UN
Development Programme (UNDP).
According to the release, "a session will be devoted to journalists who
have risked, and in all too many cases lost, their lives to cover events in
Iraq."
It added that the conference will focus on many media related issues, such
as the medias state in Iraq at the present time, the safety and protection of
the journalists and the international support for Iraqs media.
Other issues the conference will cover before finally drafting a
Declaration are "ownership, editorial independence and commercial
sustainability, "human and institutional capacity building and the improvement
of professional standards," in addition to revising the "regulatory frameworks
and legislation," the release noted. (end)
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