HP and UNESCO Sign Strategic Partnership Agreement

HP and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) will sign a strategic partnership agreement on 19 December to strengthen their collaboration around existing education projects. The signing ceremony will be held at the Organization’s headquarters in Paris and attended by Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO and Gabriele Zedlmayer, vice president, Global Citizenship HP Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura declared: “It is essential that HP and UNESCO help developing countries in particular African countries to bridge the information technology gap and to become full-fledged partners of today’s Knowledge Society.”

“UNESCO’s education priorities are very much in line with the goals of HP’s education strategy. In the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region, HP has supported more than 200 education projects in more than 20 countries, reaching over 50,000 young people in 2007. On a worldwide level, HP has contributed grants to more than 850 schools in 36 countries, worth €30 million between 2004 and 2007,” said Gabriele Zedlmayer.
 
Through the partnership, HP and UNESCO will work together on several projects in the area of education, especially to support UNESCO’s priority of “Education for All". This includes an evaluation on the extension of the existing brain drain project in Africa to additional regions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. HP and UNESCO started to collaborate five years ago in South East Europe supporting key universities to get connected to global research networks. In 2006 the project was extended to the African region. The project fights brain drain by providing universities with advanced technology called grid computing, which allows top quality researchers to play a key role in international research and contribute to economic development in their home countries.

Another project is the World Heritage Map which enables the general public to visualize the spread of World Heritage sites around the globe, and raises awareness of the World Heritage Convention. The map is above all an educational tool, allowing UNESCO to communicate its work in this field on a large scale. HP has also provided a financial contribution to UNESCO for the printing and distribution of the Man and Biosphere Map. The Map will be prepared and edited by the Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences of UNESCO.

The Computer recycling training guide is also the fruit of HP and UNESCO cooperation: it aims to support local stakeholders, in developing countries in particular, to manage electronic waste. The goal is to support local actors, especially those with a background in managing used computer equipment, and to create environmentally clean and healthy business opportunities. HP is the only technology partner in the project, which also includes the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie - ADEME), EMMAUS, the international movement of solidarity, and TIC ETHIC, Information and Communication Technologies in the service of ethics and sustainable development.
 
More information on global citizenship programmes in HP’s Global Citizenship Bulletin (for subscription) and CSR blog on www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/.

UNESCO functions as a laboratory of ideas and a standard-setter to forge universal agreements in its fields of competences. It also serves as a clearinghouse – for the dissemination and sharing of information and knowledge – while helping its 193 Member States to build their human and institutional capacities in diverse fields.

HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers – from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world’s largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $104.3 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended Oct. 31, 2007. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.

© 2007 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
12/2007