UNIC was established in Pakistan in March 1951. It was first located in Karachi and moved to Islamabad in 1971. The Centre is the focal point for disseminating information and raising awareness about the UN's activities to the people of Pakistan

UNIC'S   ROLE

UNIC has functional autonomy and is responsible for promoting the activities of the regular UN bodies --including the Security Council and other organs, in a form geared towards local interest. It also supports the public information efforts of specialized UN Agencies and Programmes. The Centre's staff consists of international and national personnel cooperating with other UN entities and striving to project a comprehensive and unified image of the UN in Pakistan. To that effect, UNIC leads a group of 14 public information focal points to coordinate the organization of the UN family's public events.

UNIC'S SERVICES

Together with other UN entities, UNIC encourages government officials and NGOs to celebrate designated UN observances, such as: the International Year of Volunteers 2001, the year of Mountains 2002, UN Day, and Human Rights Day.

UNIC organizes regular media events to publicize the work of the United Nations. These aim at increasing public understanding about the activities of the UN in Pakistan and around the world. The launch of the most important annual reports of the UN system is also announced at the Centre, and press conferences for senior UN officials visiting Pakistan are organized as maybe appropriate.

The Centre issues a newsletter presently published once a week in English (by email) and once a month in Urdu (paper format). The newsletter announces significant developments related to the activities of UN Agencies in Pakistan, and includes news items relevant to the Asia-Pacific region and other general information.

A very comprehensive website is maintained by UNIC, providing news-letters ( weekly in English and monthly in Urdu), selected publications, and information about the United Nations libraries, calendar of events and audio visual products.

UNIC holds regular liaison with non-governmental organizations that are affiliated with the DPI (Department of Public Information). DPI helps these NGOs gain access to and disseminate information about a range of issues in which the United Nations is involved so as to enable the public to understand better the aims and objectives of the Organizations.

Official studies and posters of the UN System are routinely distributed to the mass media, NGO's and educational institutions. In addition, UNIC itself produces studies and brochures related to the activities of the UN in Pakistan, and updates a booklet containing basic information about UN projects in the country.

UNIC serves as the eyes and ears of the UN Headquarters in Pakistan. It keeps in touch with Government officials (particularly the Foreign Office and Information services) and the media in order to reflect their viewpoint on a wide range of issues concerning the United Nations. The Centre also plays a role in selecting and supporting the participation of Government and NGO representatives, journalists and educators to official UN gatherings organized outside Pakistan.

UNIC maintains a library stacked with 25,000 documents, periodicals, books and other documents from the United Nations and its specialized agencies. They are available to the public and researchers without any membership formalities. The library also extends its support to UN Depository Libraries attached to the Universities of Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Jamshoro and the Library of the National Assembly in Islamabad. The depository system is designed to make the documents and publications of the UN more readily available to scholars.

The Centre maintains a film library that contains more than 500 documentaries. Their subject matter covers all aspects of UN activities and achievements in the political, economic and social fields. These documentary films are offered on loan to educational and social institutions and clubs, with synopses available upon request.

A weekly radio programme in Urdu is produced in New York exclusively for Radio Pakistan and distributed through UNIC.

UNIC cooperates with other organizations in arranging lectures/functions at clubs, educational institutions and various organizations on topics related to the United Nations. UNIC officials are available for such lecture-meetings.

Thanks to an agreement signed between Pakistan and the UN Postal Administration, UN stamps and commemorative issues are channeled through UNIC and made available to collectors-philatelists at the Pakistan Philatelic Bureau, GPO, Karachi.

United Nations publications are made available to the public through United Nations Sales agents. A list of official vendors is available from UNIC.