Phl re-elected as VP of Unesco council

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has been re-elected as one of three vice presidents of the eight-member Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Information for All Programme (IFAP).

The re-election happened after the IFAP held its seventh session in Paris last April 2 and 3.

The newly elected members of the bureau will serve a two-year term from 2012 to 2013.

Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office represents the Philippines at the IFAP council.

Other member countries elected to the IFAP Bureau are the Russian Federation (president), Austria (vice president), Grenada (vice president), Latvia (member), Oman (member), Tanzania (member) and Colombia (rapporteur).

The council plays a key role in the working groups constituted to address IFAP’s five strategic priority areas namely information access, information for development, information ethics, information literacy, and information preservation.

Coloma presented during the council session the report of the IFAP working group on Media and Information Literacy (MIL), which the Philippines chairs. 

He enumerated the working group’s global, regional and national initiatives undertaken in 2011, as well as its action agenda for 2012 and beyond. 

The UNESCO IFAP was established in 2001 to provide a platform for international cooperation in the area of access to information and knowledge for the participation of all in the knowledge societies.

IFAP focuses on ensuring that all people have access to information, which they can use to improve their lives.

The 25 members of the IFAP Council are Austria, Belgium, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Grenada, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Niger, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Russian Federation, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania and Uruguay.