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Radio Blue Sky, Pristina (Kosovo): The project

Press release, July 28, 1999

>>see also: SWISS FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Press Release

Kosovo: Switzerland is to finance the operation of a United Nations radio studio - Fondation Hirondelle is responsible for the project.

The Swiss government has agreed to finance the setting up and operation of a United Nations radio production studio in Kosovo. The Geneva-based Fondation Hirondelle has been assigned by the United Nations and the Swiss government to organize the project. The Swiss minister for foreign affairs, Joseph Deiss and Bernard Kouchner, the special representative of the United Nations Secretary General in Kosovo, confirmed this commitment on Monday, July 26, in Pristina.

The studio will produce news and magazine programmes aimed at all the inhabitants of Kosovo with particular attention to refugees and displaced persons, supplying them with the service information they need. The studio will cover in particular the activities of UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) and report widely on the programme of the OSCE regarding the rebuilding of institutions. Its productions will also include humanitarian and development organizations in Kosovo such as the ICRC. The studio will cover local, regional and international news, will do investigative reporting and interviews, all of which will be broadcast by local media outlets. The broadcasting will begin soon.

The United Nations studio will follow a general strategy aimed at developing an independant, varied and responsible press in Kosovo. It will collaborate with the local media in the transmission of its broadcasts and for the training of journalists and the placement of its staff when the activities of the studio end.

The United Nations studio comes under the authority of the special United Nations representative in Kosovo and of the head of information of UNMIK. On the swiss government's part, it is the Swiss Agency for development and co-operation (SDC) division for coopération with eastern europe which is in charge of the project. The Fondation Hirondelle will provide services for the United Nations without
creating an independent media which already exists in Kosovo. The creation of a set of production rules and a journalistic code of ethics is an integral part of the agreement.

The operation of the studio is to last six months with an option to extend that time. An assessment of results will be made at the end of the project.

For information: Jean-Marie Etter (++ 41) 079 287 36 46

FH - Lausanne, July 28, 1999

Fondation Hirondelle in brief

Fondation Hirondelle is the only international institution which runs independent media in crisis areas. This is the first time that the Foundation has been given a mandate by the United Nations Secretary General within the framework of a Security Council resolution.

At the moment, the Foundation, which was founded in March 1995, is running a radio station in Liberia (Star Radio) and an independent news agency at the international tribunal at Arusha in Tanzania. It organizes training courses for journalists and production studios. It also managed Radio Agatashya in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

The Fondation Hirondelle is an organization of journalists, supported by management professionals. It aims to promote peace and to prevent conflicts around the world through the dissemination of professional, independent and hard news to the people who have been deprived of it because of war or natural catastrophe. The Foundation Board brings together representatives from the media, humanitarian organizations and universities. Because it is a Swiss body involved in international activities, the Fondation Hirondelle is subject to close scrutiny by the Confederation.

Fondation Hirondelle has a staff of about 100 people of which five are in Switzerland. The majority are journalists and come from Liberia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi, Switzerland, Britain, Germany, France and the United States. The main donors of funds are governments (Switzerland, the United States, the European Community, the Netherlands and Sweden) and international organizations (UNESCO, UNHCR, etc.)

Out of principle, Fondation Hirondelle hires mainly local journalists. Generally, only the head of the project and the administrator are expatriates. It takes a first-hand approach to creating and managing the media by working with local media or creating media outlets which are then put entirely into the
hands of a team of local journalists as set down in its statutes. Journalists working with Fondation Hirondelle provide objective information by trying to report only the facts and avoiding any comment or personal opinion.

The Foundation also promotes research into the role and the legitimacy of independent information and into the extent of the impact that the actions of the independent media have in conflicts areas.

Fondation Hirondelle publishes daily on its Internet site (www.hirondelle.org) and sends e-mail news bulletins produced by Star Radio and the reports of the Hirondelle Agency. During its activities in Kosovo, it will also be reporting regularly.

FH - Lausanne, July 28, 1999

Fondation Hirondelle
3, rue Traversière
CH-1018 Lausanne, Switzerland
Tel (+ 41 21) 647 28 05
Fax (+ 41 21) 647 44 69
E-mail :info@hirondelle.org




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