Hi folks,

FYI.

Katim

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: UN launches tech volunteer program
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 12:08:23 -0500
From: A Cravens <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Organization: See Signature
Newsgroups: soc.org.nonprofit,alt.activism.community

http://www.unv.org/prerels/2000/040700.html

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UNV launches UNITeS web site
to help bridge digital divide

BONN, 4 July 2000 -- The United Nations Volunteers
programme (UNV) has launched the United Nations
Information Technology Service (UNITeS) web site at
http://www.unites.org in order to mobilize volunteers
around the world to help bridge the technological divide
between developed and developing countries.

Visitors to the web site will find the latest programme
developments while UNV prepares to coordinate the
placement of the first UNITeS volunteers by the time the
UN Millenium Summit gets underway in early September 2000.
 The new site is intended to generate discussion and
debate on the issue of information and communication
technologies (ICT), volunteerism and global development.
It aims to generate feedback on the values and objectives
of the UNITeS programme and to involve development
agencies, volunteer organizations and ICT specialists in
bridging what is often referred to as "the digital
divide".

The UNITeS initiative was announced by UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan in his Millenium Report
(http://www.un.org/millennium/sg/report/key.htm).  UNV has
been designated as the lead agency, and it recently
convened a workshop of experts on ICT to explore options
for the initiative.  The three days of intense and
productive discussions in Bonn, on 5-7 June 2000, resulted
in some of the basic elements for the conceptual and
operational frameworks being identified. In addition, a
series of measures were deviced to enable the rapid
placement of the first UNITeS volunteers.

The spread of ICT is taking place at unprecedented speed,
but its uneven distribution is creating a world defined by
ICT haves and have-nots, and, thus, enlarging the digital
divide between developed and developing countries.  The
speed and inequality of the digital divide become more
obvious when considering the fact that radio took 38 years
to reach 50 million, while the Internet took only four
years.

In 1998, 88% of all Internet users lived in industrialized
countries, representing only 15% of the world's
population. To purchase a new computer, the average US
citizen has to spend one month of his or her salary, while
the average Bangladeshi has to save for eight years!

The UNITeS programme will contribute to level the playing
field by mobilising volunteers, both online and in the
field, to help enhance human capacity to make practical
use of ICT.

Media contacts:

Manuel Acevedo, Tel: +49 (228) 815 2215
Email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.unites.org

Klas Bergman, Tel: +49 (228) 815 2511
Email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.unv.org

                                     ###

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, visit:

        http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/aam.html

AAM Website:  http://www.danenet.wicip.org/aam
----------------------------------------------------------------------------