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Laurence Zwimpfer of New Zealand new chair of Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO's Information for All Programme
 
2006-20-03 (Paris)
 
The Intergovernmental Council for UNESCO’s Information for All Programme (IFAP), will be chaired in the coming years by Laurence Zwimpfer of New Zealand. Mr Zwimpfer was elected today by the representatives of the Council's 26 Member States.
 
The Council also elected the vicechairs and members from Austria, Hungary, Jamaica, China, United Republic of Tanzania and Sudan.

The function of the Council's rapporteur will be ensured by Daniel Mabert of France, the outgoing Chair, whom Laurence Zwimpfer thanked for the leadership provided over the past years.

The election came at the beginning of the agenda of the Council that opened today its fourth session at UNESCO’s Paris Headquarters.

Among the issues that will be addressed by the Council is IFAP’s contribution to the follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The Council will also discuss UNESCO’s future medium-term strategy in the area of communication and information.

The Information for All Programme was created in 2000. Through IFAP, UNESCO’s Member States pledged to harness the new opportunities of the information age to create equitable societies through better access to information.

The Council presently includes Angola, Austria, Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, China, Congo, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Madagascar, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Sudan, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay and Venezuela.