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5. Information support on indigenous issues
67. Communications support was provided for the sixth session of the United Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in May, including development of a
comprehensive press kit using a new masthead; guidance to UNICs; organization of four press
conferences; media monitoring; and the arrangement of more than 20 interviews. Highlights of
the media coverage for the session included: significant coverage of the opening press
conference, most of which reproduced material from the press kit, including 75 placements of an
Associated Press article (in The Guardian, the International Herald Tribune and at
www.Aljazeera.net, among others); approximately 15 articles in English and Spanish on the
closing session; and approximately 40 Spanish articles throughout the session.
68. During the negotiations leading up to the adoption by the General Assembly
on 13 September 2007 of resolution 61/295 containing the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Department worked closely with the Office of the President of
the General Assembly and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to conduct media
outreach, including arranging interviews and background briefings. After its adoption, the
Department worked to publicize the Declaration and its significance resulting in a large number
of interviews and print articles.
6. Special information activities
69. The Department’s annual Training Programme for Palestinian Media Practitioners in
November and December included briefings by OHCHR officials in New York and Geneva.
The participants also covered the work of the resumed sixth session of the Human Rights
Council during their visit to Geneva.
70. The Department’s annual six-week Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalists’ Fellowship
Programme, which acquaints young journalists from developing countries with the work of the
United Nations, included a briefing on human rights provided by the New York Office of the
High Commissioner.
71. DPI’s Outreach Division organized several exhibits at United Nations Headquarters
covering a wide-range of human rights issues such as racism, slavery, genocide, gender equality,
education for girls and the rights of women. Exhibits were also developed for World Press
Freedom Day, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples, and on the subject of human
trafficking.
72. The Department’s Holocaust Programme and the United Nations Outreach Programme
maintain a comprehensive gateway website with links to resources and educational materials on
the Holocaust, human rights and the prevention of genocide. Holocaust and genocide scholars
from Australia, China, France, Ghana, Israel and the United States of America have drafted
position papers on the issues that can lead to genocide, including intolerance, human rights
abuses, hatred, racism, bigotry and prejudice. The Holocaust Programme organized three
seminars at United Nations Headquarters on the topic of Holocaust awareness, genocide
prevention and combating hatred. Three week-long seminars were held in Washington, D.C.,
Jerusalem and Paris to better equip UNIC information officers to implement the Holocaust
Remembrance mandate.
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