United Nations Information Centres

United Nations Information Centres (UNIC) is an organization which was established in the year 1946. Its headquarters is in New York, USA, and it currently works worldwide in 63 countries. These centres are managed by the United Nations to exchange & provide current happenings to the world. They are directed by the Department of Public Information of the UN Secretariat to communicate problems related to the Organization. All development projects are reviewed and approved by DPI. These projects are thematic promotional campaigns of the issues related to UN and publicized through the regional information centres.[2]

United Nations Information Centres
AbbreviationUNIC
Formation1946
TypeInformation centre
Legal statusActive
HeadquartersNew York
Head
Secretary General
António Guterres[1]
 UN
(2017 - present)
WebsiteOfficial website

History

In 1946, United Nations Information Centres has been established by the Department of Public Information. DPI is the organization which works for the people of the United Nations. The motive behind UNICs is to collaborate & exchange information through its centers to the people of the world. The first two United Nations Information Centers were created in 1946. Currently, they have been servicing in 63 countries. These centers are the main hub for exchanging information about the system of the United Nations for all countries where UNICs are presented.[3][4]

Scope

United Nations Information Centres have been established in the regions of Europe, Americas, UAE, Asia & Pacific, and Africa. These centres are organized to reduce the communication gaps by providing information of United Nations to the people of the world. To make it more communicable all information have been translated and presented respectively in their regional languages. These centres are otherwise called United Nations Regional Information Centres and responsible for connecting United Nations with the people of developing countries. They reach out media, institutions with coordinating the UN system and get allianced with Government, Non-government, and private sector organizations in their projects. UNICs also maintain physical & digital resources of information like libraries and electronic information medium.[5]

Activities

UNICs are engaged in multiple cores of activities for sharing the latest information about UN system.[6]

  • Communication - UNICs follow communication strategies through the current affairs, traditional festivals, and events. They get information translated into regional languages of the countries they serve.
  • Media Outreach - United Nations get connected with national & regional media houses to circulate information. These centres use press conference, print media, electronic and digital medium to collaborate information.
  • Information Resource Development - These centres create & maintain resources like libraries, and websites through regional information centres. UNICs activities cover training sessions for journalist to keep them update with its development projects. They regularly conduct television and radio for broadcasting stories of UN in regional languages.
  • Events Organization - These centres organize many events on international & national celebration days. Besides, they manage to arrange seminars, sports & other competitions in educational institutions.

List of centres

The following are all of the current information centres, as well as all the areas they serve:[7]

African States
CentreEstablishedAreas servicedDirector
UNIC Accra1958 Ghana
 Sierra Leone		Sylvia Lopez-Ekra
UNIC Antananarivo1963 MadagascarViolet Kakyomya
UNO Asmara1993 EritreaSusan Ngongi
UNIC Brazzaville1983 CongoAnthony Ohemeng-Boamah
UNIC Bujumbura1961 BurundiGarry Conille
UNIC Dakar1964 Senegal
 Cape Verde
 Ivory Coast
 Gambia
 Guinea
 Guinea-Bissau
 Mauritania		Damian Cardona Onses
UNIC Dar es Salaam1961 United Republic of TanzaniaAlvaro Rodriguez
UNIC Harare1982 ZimbabweBishow Parajuli
UNIC Lagos1967 NigeriaRonald Kayanja
UNIC Lome1962 Togo
 Benin		Damien Mama
UNIC Lusaka1975 ZambiaJanet Rogan
UNIC Nairobi1974 Kenya
 Uganda
 Seychelles		Nasser Ega-Musa
UNIC Ouagadougou1982 Burkina Faso
 Chad
 Mali
 Niger		Metsi Makhetha
UNIC Pretoria1995 South AfricaMasimba Tafirenyika
UNIC Windhoek1992 NamibiaRachel Odede
UNIC Yaounde1965 Cameroon
 Central African Republic
 Gabon		Allegra Maria Del Pilar Baiocchi

American States
CentreEstablishedAreas servicedDirector
UNIC Asuncion1962 ParaguayJorge Meza
UNIC Bogota1954 Colombia
 Ecuador
 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of		Helene Papper
UNIC Buenos Aires1948 Argentina
 Uruguay		Tamar Hahn
UNIC La Paz1963 Bolivia (Plurinational State of)Mauricio Ramirez-Villegas
UNIC Lima1960 PeruMaria del Carmen Sacasa
UNIC Mexico City1947 Mexico
 Cuba
 Dominican Republic		Giancarlo Summa
UNIC Panama City1984 PanamaHarold Robinson
UNIC Port of Spain1962Countries:
 Antigua and Barbuda
 Bahamas
 Barbados
 Belize
 Dominica
 Grenada
 Guyana
 Jamaica
 Saint Kitts and Nevis
 Saint Lucia
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
 Suriname
 Trinidad and Tobago
Other areas:
 Aruba
 Bonaire
 Curaçao
 Saba
 Sint Eustatius
 Sint Maarten		Juan Miguel Diez
UNIC Rio de Janeiro1947 BrazilMaurizio Giuliano
UNIC Washington1946 United States of AmericaRobert Skinner[8]

Arab States
CentreEstablishedAreas servicedDirector
UNIC Algiers1963 AlgeriaEric Overvest
UNIC Beirut1962 Lebanon
 Jordan
 Kuwait
 Syrian Arab Republic		Marguerite El Helou
UNIC Cairo1949 Egypt
 Saudi Arabia		Radhia Achouri
UNIC Khartoum1963 Sudan
 Somalia		Gwi-Yeop Son
UNIC Manama1977 Bahrain
 Qatar
 United Arab Emirates		Samir Al-Darabi
UNIC Rabat1962 MoroccoFethi Debbabi (Acting Director)
UNIC Sana'a1994 YemenLise Grande
UNIC Tunis1960 TunisiaDiego Zorrilla

Asia and Pacific States
CentreEstablishedAreas servicedDirector
UNIC Canberra1948 Australia
 Fiji
 Kiribati
 Nauru
 New Zealand
 Samoa
 Tonga
 Tuvalu
 Vanuatu		Christopher Woodthorpe
UNIC Colombo1961 Sri LankaHanaa Singer
UNIC Dhaka1981 BangladeshMia Seppo
UNIC Islamabad1951 PakistanVlastimil Samek (Acting Director)
UNIC Jakarta1985 IndonesiaFrancyne Harrigan (Acting Director)
UNIC Kathmandu1964   NepalValerie Julliand
UNIC Manila1953 Philippines
 Papua New Guinea
 Solomon Islands		Ola Almgren
UNIC New Delhi1947 India
 Bhutan		Rajiv Chandran (National Information Officer)
UNIC Tehran1950 Iran (Islamic Republic of)Maria Dotsenko
UNIC Tokyo1958 JapanKaoru Nemoto
UNIC Yangon1959 MyanmarKnut Ostby

Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States
CentreEstablishedAreas servicedDirector
UNO Almaty1993 KazakhstanAbdurahim Muhidov (Officer-in-Charge)
UNIC Ankara1975 TurkeyIrena Vojačkova-Sollorano
UNO Baku1992 AzerbaijanGhulam Isaczai
UNRIC Brussels2004Countries:
 Andorra
 Belgium
 Cyprus
 Denmark
 Finland
 France
 Germany
 Greece
  Holy See
 Iceland
 Ireland
 Italy
 Luxembourg
 Malta
 Monaco
 Netherlands
 Norway
 Portugal
 San Marino
 Spain
 Sweden
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Other areas served:
 European Union		Deborah Seward
UNIS Geneva1947  SwitzerlandAlessandra Vellucci
UNO Kyiv1992 UkraineOsnat Lubrani
UNO Minsk1992 BelarusJoanna Kazana
UNIC Moscow1948 Russian FederationVladimir Kuznetsov
UNIC Prague1947 Czech RepublicMichal Broza (Officer-in-Charge)
UNO Tashkent1992 UzbekistanHelena Fraser
UNO Tbilisi1992 GeorgiaVinton Louisa
UNIS Vienna1984 Austria
 Hungary
 Slovakia
 Slovenia		Martin Nesirky
UNIC Warsaw1995 PolandMariola Ratschka (Officer-in-Charge)
UNO Yerevan1992 ArmeniaShombi Sharp

References
  1. "Secretary General, United Nations".
  2. "United Nations Information Centres".
  3. "UN Information Centre".
  4. UN Information Centers & services. United Nations. 1998. p. 1461. ISBN 9789211008401.
  5. "United Nations Information Centres".
  6. Nations, United (2003). UN Information Center. United Nations. pp. 635, 636. ISBN 9789211009057.
  7. "UNIC Directory". United Nations Information Centres. Department of Public Information, United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  8. http://www.unanca.org/component/content/article/626 retrieved on 3 October 2020
  1. United Nations Information Centres Website
  2. United Nations
  3. United Nations Information Centre Washington
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