Islamabad - 28 August 2003
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Launching ceremony of the book on the International Year of Freshwater and DPI press kit on IFY
The United Nations Information Centre organised a launching ceremony of the
book on the International Year of Freshwater (IYF) and the DPI press kit at
UNIC on 28 August 2003. The chief guest was the Federal Minister for the Environment.
Over ninety people from the media, government ministries, schools and NGOs attended
it. Also present were the Representatives in Pakistan of UNESCO and WFP as well
as officials of several UN agencies.
The book entitled "Water - a vital source of life" contains 1) statements of ministers for education, environment, agriculture, health and water and power, 2) contribution of articles by journalists commissioned by the UN System which illustrate water situations in the country, 3) school children's artistic works on water, 4) explanations of works of UN agencies in the world related to water, and 5) Pakistan-specific recommendations of UN agencies on water management. More than twenty photos used in the book were provided by UNDP, UNICEF, WFP and the World Bank. The UNIC staff also went to the field to take some photos for the book. The Ministry of Environment and the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) offered some children's works they had in stock to be used in this publication. The book is available in Urdu as well as in English.
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The ceremony started at 11:00 with the UN Resident Coordinator's remarks on the book, followed by background explanations on the publication of the book and the purpose of IYF by the UNIC staff. Four school children, whose poems on freshwater were used in the book, read out their poems, and three journalist contributors to the book also made short presentations on their articles. The UNIC staff also highlighted the DPI press kit on IYF produced both in English and Urdu. Finally, the Minister for the Environment made concluding remarks.
Representatives from all national and foreign newspapers and news agencies attended the ceremony, and all nation-wide TV stations covered the event. Due to the high turnout, some attendants were obliged to stay outside the conference room.
As a result, the English dailies such as The News, DAWN, The Nation and the Business Recorder and the Urdu dailies, Khabrain, Aosaf, Nawa-e-waqt and the Daily Jang, carried stories on it on 29 August 2003.
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