Distribution: limited
IFAP-2004/Bureau.VII/Inf.4
Paris, 1 September 2004
Original: English
UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL,
SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION
Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme
Seventh Meeting of the Bureau
UNESCO House, Paris, Fontenoy Building, Room VIII, 18-20 October 2004
Meeting of the Presidents of the Intergovernmental Council of the International
Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC)
and the Intergovernmental Council for the
Information for All programme (IFAP)
UNESCO House, Paris – Room B 8.38 (Bonvin Building) - 7 July 2004 – 3.30 pm
Summary report
(a) Introduction
1. The meeting was organized as a follow-up to a decision of the IFAP Council at its 3rd
session and in response to frequent requests by members of the Executive Board, to better
define the relationship between the two Programmes and their Councils (List of participants in
Annex I).
2. It represented a first exchange of views on the rational of the existence of two separate
intergovernmental programmes in the area of communication and information, and on the
operationalization of their relationship.
3. The two Presidents and the representatives of the Secretariat welcomed the opportunity
for exchange of views. It was reminded that cooperation mechanism existed between the two
IFAP predecessors programmes (General Information Programme (PGI) and International
Informatics Programme (IIP)).
(b) Analysis of IPDC and IFAP as to their constituencies, objectives, modalities, points of
differentiation and possible synergies or overlap
4. All participants stressed the differences of the two programmes as to their constituencies,
objectives, modalities and funding. However, common areas of interests and activities need
to be further explored. Freedom of expression and preservation of contents were mentioned
as areas of shared concerns.
5. Participants agreed on the great potential for a closer cooperation between IDPC and IFAP
to promote UNESCO’s role in the international debates on the Information Society and for
creating awareness of, and support for the concept of knowledge societies.
6. None of the participants suggested a merger of the two Programmes and/or their Councils.
(c) Joint meetings of the Bureaux;
7. All participants agreed that a joint meeting of the Bureaux of the two Councils would be
desirable. The agenda of this meeting could include the following items

Analysis of IPDC and IFAP as to their constituencies, objectives, modalities,
points of differentiation and possible synergies or overlap

Complementarity of Criteria for IFAP and IPDC projects

Strategies for fund raising

Proposition of a Theme for the joint debate during the next sessions of the
Councils
8. The Secretariat will examine the possibilities to organize this joint meeting in conjunction
with the 2nd meeting of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) of the Tunis phase of the
World Summit on the Information Society, in Geneva, in the second half of February 2005.
9. The Secretariat was asked to prepare a discussion paper as working document background
for this joint meeting.
(d) Joint thematic debate of the next sessions the IPDC and the IFAP Councils
10. All participants agreed with the proposal to organize a joint thematic debate during the
next sessions of the Councils (first half of 2006), which should be organized back-to-back.
11. The theme of the debate should be determined by the Bureaux at their joint meeting in
February 2005.
(e) Miscellaneous
12. It was suggested that the Secretariat should take the initiative for IFAP to be recognized as
an “international programme” by the UN General Assembly.
13. Possibilities should also be examined to enhance the visibility of the two programmes by
proposing items related to IPDC and IFAP for the inclusion in the Agenda of 33rd session of
the General Conference.
Annex I
Participants
(a) Chairpersons
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Torben Krogh (Denmark)
Intergovernmental Council for IPDC
Daniel Malbert (France)
Intergovernmental Council for IFAP
(b) Secretariat
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Abdul Waheed Khan
Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information
Mogens Schmidt
Deputy Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information
Wijayananda Jayaweera
Director, Communication Development Division; Secretary, IPDC Council
Elizabeth Longworth
Director, Information Society Division; Secretary, IFAP Council
Axel Plathe
Senior Porgramme Specialist, Information Society Division
Valeri Nikolski
Programme Specialist, Communication Development Division