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Nigeria is Dedicated to Internet hosting UNESCO Media Institute – Minister Idris
The Minister of Info and Nationwide Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has reiterated the Federal Authorities’s dedication to the well timed institution of a UNESCO Class 2 Institute for Media and Info Literacy (MIL) in Nigeria.
The Minister acknowledged this throughout a bilateral assembly with the UNESCO Assistant Director-Basic for Communication and Info, Dr. Tawfik Jelassi, on Tuesday November 7, 2023, on the sidelines of UNESCO’s forty second Basic Convention, in Paris, France.
Nigeria’s pledge to ascertain and host the Institute emerged from the 2022 UNESCO World Media and Info Literacy Week, hosted by Nigeria, in October 2022, in Abuja, and was endorsed by a Decision of the 216th Session of the UNESCO Government Board, in Might 2023.
Additionally current on the Bilateral Assembly, which held on the UNESCO headquarters, was Nigeria’s Ambassador, Everlasting Consultant to UNESCO, Dr. Hajo Sani.
Affirming Nigeria’s dedication to the imaginative and prescient and beliefs of UNESCO, the Minister highlighted the truth that whereas the nation is getting ready to step down from the Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO’s Worldwide Programme for the Improvement of Communication (IPDC), after six years on the Council, it’s on the identical time making a bid for election into the Intergovernmental Council of the Info for all Programme (IFAP).
Minister Idris expressed his willpower to make sure that Nigeria advantages from all present alternatives within the UNESCO Communications and Info Sector, together with the event of group radio, which is one in all UNESCO’s ongoing priorities.
“I’m very happy that my journey to Paris has been very productive, with this assembly. This can be a sector that I’m deeply obsessed with,” the Minister mentioned.
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“I’ve at all times mentioned that when I’m carried out as Minister, I shall be returning to the media area, which is my residence. I due to this fact have a accountability to make it higher, and UNESCO will get my full help and cooperation.”
The Minister disclosed his imaginative and prescient of restoring belief and credibility to authorities communications in Nigeria, whereas additionally kickstarting a nationwide dialog about Nigerian values and identification, as a part of a nationwide reorientation marketing campaign, which he mentioned is a precedence for the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration.
Minister Idris expressed gratitude to Ambassador Hajo Sani for her diligent illustration of Nigeria’s pursuits at UNESCO, and the important thing function she performed in facilitating Nigeria’s internet hosting of the 2022 UNESCO Media and Info Literacy Week, and the plans for Nigeria to host the primary UNESCO MIL Institute on the planet.
Responding, the UNESCO Assistant Director-Basic, Dr. Jelassi, counseled Nigeria’s lively participation in UNESCO, and pledged to proceed to help the nation to take full benefit of all alternatives for the event of its info and communication area.
He outlined UNESCO’s ongoing work in varied areas, from selling press freedom around the globe, to supporting the event of group radio, and the continued work to harmonize nationwide efforts to combat misinformation, disinformation and hate speech.
He disclosed that UNESCO has simply launched a report titled, ‘Tips for the Governance of Digital Platforms’, which emphasizes a multistakeholder strategy to safeguard freedom of expression and entry to info. He additionally pressured the necessity for Nigeria to observe up on the Abuja Declaration, describing it as a really vital alternative for the nation.
Earlier, the Honourable Minister of Info, Mohammed Idris, had joined different members of the Nigerian delegation, together with the Chief of the delegation, the Honorable Minister of Training, Prof Tahir Mamman (who additionally doubles as President of Nigeria’s Nationwide Fee to UNESCO), to take part within the opening ceremony for the forty second session of the UNESCO Basic Convention.
By PRNigeria
