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DiploNews – Issue 68 – 19 January 2005

DiploNews – Issue 68 – January 19, 2005

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Registration Extended due to high interest: International Conference on Multistakeholder Diplomacy

Due to the high level of interest, the registration deadline for the International Conference on Multistakeholder Diplomacy has been extended until January 30, 2005. Please register soon to ensure your place.

This conference, to be held from 11 – 13 February, 2005 in Malta, is co-organised by DiploFoundation, the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Global Knowledge Part-nership and the Swiss Agency for Develop-ment and Cooperation. The conference will aim at contributing to the World Summit on the Information Society and Internet Govern-ance processes by providing policy and practical recommendations for Tunis 2005. For more information please visit the conference website.

IT for Diplomacy – An Internet-based Tracking System for Relief Funds

An interesting example of the use of IT in diplomacy is provided by recent UN efforts to develop an Internet-based public tracking system for tsunami relief funds. This would provide increased accountability and transparency by allowing donors to follow the progress of their money as it works its way to those in need. The development of this sys-tem comes partly in response to investiga-tions into the alleged mismanagement of billions of dollars during the UN’s “oil-for-food” program in Iraq. According to Jan Egeland, the United Nations undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, in charge of coordinating the tsunami relief efforts, the system will show “not only who had pledged money, but also whose pledges had become actual donations. ‘We're going to post that on the Internet,’ he said, ‘because there is a big difference between promises and actual donations.’”

Please read the January 10, 2005, New York Times article for further information. Thanks to Stefano Baldi for bringing this article to our attention.

New Publication: Intercultural Communication and Diplomacy

We are pleased to mark the beginning of 2005 with the publication of our latest book: Intercultural Communication and Diplomacy, edited by Hannah Slavik. This volume contains papers presented at two DiploFoundation conferences: the 2003 International Conference on Intercultural Communication and Diplomacy and the 2004 International Conference on Organisational and Professional Cultures and Diplomacy. The papers, written by highly qualified international academics, intercultural communication specialists and diplomats, approach the topic from a wide and varying range of viewpoints, and the volume itself is an excellent example of intercultural cooperation. This publication will be of interest to practitioners and students of diplomacy and specialists and students in intercultural communication, as well as anyone who works in an international environment and communicates across cultures.

For more information, and to order, visit Diplo Publications.

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