News on the United Nations system at work.

• Author: Karakat, Pauline
• Position: Un Reported

The Oldest International Organization

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has established a Youth Education Scheme (YES) to provide scholarships to students pursuing a career in this field. "Every unfinished degree in telecommunications spells the loss of a capable mind to the sector", said Hamadoun Toure, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau. YES will support needy and deserving young people who want to carve out a career in communications. The oldest international organization, founded in 1865 and based in Geneva, ITU will partner with leading companies to provide scholarships to outstanding students who need financial assistance to complete their degrees.

... and the Oldest But One

People all over the world rely heavily on mail services, even in today's electronic world. The Universal Postal Union celebrated World Post Day highlighting the crucial role of the postal network to global communication. UPU--the second oldest international organization, founded in 1874 with headquarters in Berne, Switzerland--and other postal agencies use this day to organize philatelic exhibitions and introduce new products. Mail services deliver an estimated 445 billion letters every year, while taking advantage of the latest forms of communications, in particular electronic transactions. Companies which sell products over the Internet still rely on mail services to deliver purchases to their customers. While the Internet is making it easier to access postal information in developed countries, it is still not available in many developing countries. This fact reaffirms the continued importance of physical mail services to the majority of the world's population.

Give Peace a Chance

Launching the LennonOno Grant for Peace program, Yoko Ono awarded the first grants to two Israeli and Palestinian artists. On 9 October, at a ceremony attended by Secretary General Kofi Annan and 300 ambassadors, government officials and artists at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Ono presented the $50,000 awards to Palestinian Khalil Rabah and Israeli Zvi Goldstein. Inspired by the late John Lennon's famous song "Give Peace a Chance", Ono created the program to reward artists who transcend politics in their art to promote peaceful dialogue and build mutual understanding.

First Mahbub ul Haq Award

President Fernando...