UNHCR at World Summit on the Information Society

On Friday, High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, together with Jean-Philippe Courtois, CEO of Microsoft for Europe, Middle East and Africa, will sign a letter of understanding on Community Technology Learning Centres that Microsoft is funding to provide training and computer education for refugees. The centres, which will be fully funded by Microsoft thanks through a grant of $206,000, will be located at Dadaab refugee camp in eastern Kenya and in Moscow to benefit urban refugees. The signing will take place on Friday at 9 a.m. in the Davos Room of the Crowne Plaza Hotel (next to Palexpo). Media are welcome to attend. We believe that these Community Technology Learning Centres will provide exciting new opportunities for refugees to learn about the broader world. Computer access is becoming increasingly prevalent even in the most remote locations.

UNHCR is also presenting its CD-Rom "refugee encyclopaedia" at the World Summit on the Information Society opening tomorrow in Geneva. Our "Refworld" CD Rom set is packed with more than 76,000 documents collected from our own offices, governments, NGOs, academic institutions and judicial bodies. "Refworld" will be presented by our staff in Palexpo's Hall 4, Stand 147. We will also present our latest geographic and mapping technology and how we apply it to refugee situations and crisis zones worldwide.