UNESCO Director G/al Bokova to EuroFora on Multilingual Internet:ICANN+Automatic Translation on-line

*Strasbourg/CoE/Angelo Marcopolo/- UNESCO strongly supports "EuroFora"s idea to develop Automatic Translations on line so that Multilingual Internet News and debates can become easily Accessible to all People in whole Europe and throughout the World, told us in substance the Head of the International organization for Culture, including Press Media, Irina Bokova.

Significantly, UNESCO's Director General spoke to "EuroFora"just after a more interesting than expected CoE Parliamentary Assembly debate on "the Right to participate into Cultural Life", which gathered numerous MEPs and speakers around UNESCO's Head as keynote speaker.

 - "It's true that MultiLinguism is a very important issue in the Internet, and UNESCO has shown many times its interest to that" issue, the Head of the International Organization stressed in reply to "EuroFora"'s question.

=>  - Therefore, "Yes, obviously", we (UNESCO)'d be also "favorable" to any eventual "Investments", by interested businesses, States, Universities or other Public actors, "in New Technologies abe to develop also Automatic Translations on line", for news and debates, UNESCO's head reiterated, agreeing with "EuroFora"s query.

+ In addition, "we (UNESCO) have also signed an agreement with ICANN, which is the (International, US based) organism which safeguards the Internet domains, and, through this activity, we (UNESCO) promore various main Languages in the Web", she observed.

- In real practice, it's a question of Freedom and Equal Access to Culture via the Internet, which is at stake here, and an effective promotion of the Right of Citizens to have Access to Culture needs also the promotion of Multilinguism at the Internet, Irina Bokova explained earlier.

>>> Indeed, a Resolution adopted today by the PanEuropean CoE's Parliamentary Assembly, (which includes both EU and Russia, as well as several other Coutries), stresses from the outset that "States ... have a duty to take account of the radical Changes in the way we Access culture, with the boom of Digital culture and the Internet, to facilitate the emergence of ..new forms of expression and to further develop New Ways of disseminating cultural content in order to make them Accessible to all", simply because, today, more than ever, "the Right of everyone to take part in cultural life presupposes equal and free Access for all to a variety of cultural Resources".

Theferore, it's also "major cultural Institutions" which must  "place ...at the heart of their Programmes"... the use of information and communication Technologies (screens, Internet, virtual reality and augmented reality, etc.) for multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary Projects with navigable environments that are likely to encourage Active Participation by the Public", (as, f.ex., "EuroFora"s project to develop Multilingual Debates and News in the Internet on the main Decision-making process by European organizations), concludes CoE's Resolution, adopted, after long debates, on a Report drafted by French governing ChristianDemocrat/UMP party's MEP Muriel Marland-Militello, quasi-Unanimously supported by 79 votes in favour, 0 against, and 3 abstentions.

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