United Nations Information Centres

United Nations Information Centres

Abbreviation	UNIC
Formation	1946
Purpose	Information centre
Headquarters	New York
Head	António Guterres[1] (2017–present)
Website	unic.un.org

The United Nations Information Centres (UNIC) were established in 1946, headquartered in New York, United States.^[2][3] Spread across 63 countries worldwide.^[4] The centres operated in 63 countries until their restructuring in 2018, when the UN consolidated their communications functions under the Department of Global Communications.^[5] The department supervised and approved development initiatives, with a primary focus on thematic campaigns on United Nations-related issues that were distributed through regional information centres.^[6]

Established in 1946, the United Nations Information Centres were placed under the oversight of the Department of Department of Public Information, which was renamed into Department of Global Communications in 2018.^[7] The department coordinated the centers' operations and approved their communications initiatives and regional programs.

The inaugural establishment of UNICs in 1946 marked the genesis of a network designed to bridge communication gaps on a global scale. Beginning with two centers, the network grew to 63 centers. The expansion reflected the UN's increasing emphasis on direct public communication. UNICs distribute information about the United Nations System in their regions.

Headquartered in New York, the UNICs distributed UN communications to regional audiences.^[8][9]

The Department of Global Communications, led by Under-Secretary-General Melissa Fleming, oversees UNIC operations.^[10]

The United Nations Information Centres (UNICs), the field offices of the Department of Global Communications, are the principal sources of information about the United Nations system in the countries where they are located. UNICs are responsible for promoting greater public understanding of and support for the aims and activities of the United Nations. UNICs deliver information about the United Nations in their respective countries, in local languages, to a wide range of people, including journalists, government officials, civil society representatives, students, educators and researchers.

United Nations Information Centres operate in the following regions: Europe, the Americas, the UAE, Asia & the Pacific, and Africa. The centers distribute UN materials in local languages. To ensure accessibility and comprehensibility, all information is meticulously translated and presented in the regional languages of their respective areas.

These centers maintain communication between the UN and local populations and governments in their respective countries. Their mandate extends to engaging with media outlets, educational institutions, and other stakeholders to facilitate coordination within the UN system. Additionally, UNICs forge partnerships with governmental, non-governmental, and private sector organizations to advance shared objectives and initiatives.

These centers maintain communication between the UN and local populations and governments in their respective countries.^[11][12]

UNICs are involved in various core activities aimed at disseminating the latest information about the UN system.^[13]

• Communication - UNICs implement communication strategies utilizing current affairs, traditional festivals, and events. They ensure information is translated into the regional languages of the countries they serve.
• Media Outreach - UNICs establish connections with national and regional media outlets to distribute information. These centers utilize press conferences, print media, electronic, and digital mediums to disseminate information collaboratively.
• Information Resource Development - These centers develop and maintain resources such as libraries and websites through regional information centers. Training sessions provide journalists with information about UN development programs and initiatives. They regularly conduct television and radio broadcasts featuring UN stories in regional languages.
• Events Organization - UNICs organize numerous events on international and national celebration days. Additionally, they coordinate seminars, sports, and other competitions in educational institutions.

The following are all of the current information centres, as well as all the areas they serve:^[14]

Centre	Established	Areas serviced	Director
UNIC Accra	1958	Ghana  Sierra Leone	Sylvia Lopez-Ekra
UNIC Antananarivo	1963	Madagascar	Violet Kakyomya
UNO Asmara	1993	Eritrea	Susan Ngongi
UNIC Brazzaville	1983	Congo	Anthony Ohemeng-Boamah
UNIC Bujumbura	1961	Burundi	Garry Conille
UNIC Dakar	1964	Senegal  Cape Verde  Ivory Coast  Gambia  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Mauritania	Damian Cardona Onses
UNIC Dar es Salaam	1961	United Republic of Tanzania	Alvaro Rodriguez
UNIC Harare	1982	Zimbabwe	Bishow Parajuli
UNIC Lagos	1967	Nigeria	Ronald Kayanja
UNIC Lome	1962	Togo  Benin	Damien Mama
UNIC Lusaka	1975	Zambia	Janet Rogan
UNIC Nairobi	1974	Kenya  Uganda  Seychelles	Nasser Ega-Musa
UNIC Ouagadougou	1982	Burkina Faso  Chad  Mali  Niger	Metsi Makhetha
UNIC Pretoria	1995	South Africa	Masimba Tafirenyika
UNIC Windhoek	1992	Namibia	Rachel Odede
UNIC Yaounde	1965	Cameroon  Central African Republic  Gabon	Allegra Maria Del Pilar Baiocchi

Centre	Established	Areas serviced	Director
UNIC Asuncion	1962	Paraguay	Jorge Meza
UNIC Bogota	1954	Colombia  Ecuador  Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Helene Papper
UNIC Buenos Aires	1948	Argentina  Uruguay	Tamar Hahn
UNIC La Paz	1963	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Mauricio Ramirez-Villegas
UNIC Lima	1960	Peru	Maria del Carmen Sacasa
UNIC Mexico City	1947	Mexico  Cuba  Dominican Republic	Giancarlo Summa
UNIC Panama City	1984	Panama	Harold Robinson
UNIC Port of Spain	1962	Countries:  Antigua and Barbuda  Bahamas  Barbados  Belize  Dominica  Grenada  Guyana  Jamaica  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Suriname  Trinidad and Tobago Other areas:  Aruba  Bonaire  Curaçao  Saba  Sint Eustatius  Sint Maarten	Juan Miguel Diez
UNIC Rio de Janeiro	1947	Brazil	Maurizio Giuliano
UNIC Washington	1946	United States of America	Robert Skinner[15]

Centre	Established	Areas serviced	Director
UNIC Algiers	1963	Algeria	Eric Overvest
UNIC Beirut	1962	Lebanon  Jordan  Kuwait  Syrian Arab Republic	Marguerite El Helou
UNIC Cairo	1949	Egypt  Saudi Arabia	Radhia Achouri
UNIC Khartoum	1963	Sudan  Somalia	Gwi-Yeop Son
UNIC Manama	1977	Bahrain  Qatar  United Arab Emirates	Samir Al-Darabi
UNIC Rabat	1962	Morocco	Fethi Debbabi (Acting Director)
UNIC Sana'a	1994	Yemen	Lise Grande
UNIC Tunis	1960	Tunisia	Diego Zorrilla

Centre	Established	Areas serviced	Director
UNIC Canberra	1948	Australia  Fiji  Kiribati  Nauru  New Zealand  Samoa  Tonga  Tuvalu  Vanuatu	Christopher Woodthorpe
UNIC Colombo	1961	Sri Lanka	Hanaa Singer
UNIC Dhaka	1981	Bangladesh	Mia Seppo
UNIC Islamabad	1951	Pakistan	Vlastimil Samek (Acting Director)
UNIC Jakarta	1985	Indonesia	Francyne Harrigan (Acting Director)
UNIC Kathmandu	1964	Nepal	Sara Beysolow Nyanti
UNIC Manila	1953	Philippines  Papua New Guinea  Solomon Islands	Ola Almgren
UNIC New Delhi	1947	India  Bhutan	Darrin Farrant
UNIC Tehran	1950	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Maria Dotsenko
UNIC Tokyo	1958	Japan	Kaoru Nemoto
UNIC Yangon	1959	Myanmar	Knut Ostby

Centre	Established	Areas serviced	Director
UNO Almaty	1993	Kazakhstan	Abdurahim Muhidov (Officer-in-Charge)
UNIC Ankara	1975	Turkey	Irena Vojačkova-Sollorano
UNO Baku	1992	Azerbaijan	Ghulam Isaczai
UNRIC Brussels	2004	Countries:  Andorra  Belgium  Cyprus  Denmark  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Holy See  Iceland  Ireland  Italy  Luxembourg  Malta  Monaco  Netherlands  Norway  Portugal  San Marino  Spain  Sweden  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Other areas served:  European Union	Deborah Seward
UNIS Geneva	1947	Switzerland	Alessandra Vellucci
UNO Kyiv	1992	Ukraine	Osnat Lubrani
UNO Minsk	1992	Belarus	Joanna Kazana
UNIC Moscow	1948	Russian Federation	Vladimir Kuznetsov
UNIC Prague	1947	Czech Republic	Michal Broza (Officer-in-Charge)
UNO Tashkent	1992	Uzbekistan	Helena Fraser
UNO Tbilisi	1992	Georgia	Vinton Louisa
UNIS Vienna	1984	Austria  Hungary  Slovakia  Slovenia	Martin Nesirky
UNIC Warsaw	1995	Poland	Mariola Ratschka (Officer-in-Charge)
UNO Yerevan	1992	Armenia	Shombi Sharp

1. United Nations Information Centres Website
2. United Nations
3. United Nations Information Centre Washington