The Information for All Programme (IFAP) is an intergovernmental programme, created by UNESCO in 2000 to put in action the commitment of governments of the world to create equitable societies through providing better access to information. It was established according to Decision 3.6.1 approved at the 160th session of UNESCO’s Executive Board (Paris, 9―25 October 2000). Since 1 January 2001, the IFAP started to act as the replacement of the UNESCO’s two precedent initiatives; the General Information Programme (PGI) and the Intergovernmental Informatics Programme (IIP).
IFAP is governed by an Intergovernmental Council and is being run by the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council for IFAP and its Secretariat provided by the Director-General of UNESCO. The Intergovernmental Council for IFAP comprises 26 UNESCO Member States elected by the UNESCO General Conference; including Egypt elected from 33rd to end of 35th session of the General Conference 2005―2009.
IFAP, being the UNESCO's response to the challenges and opportunities of the Information Society, works closely with other intergovernmental organizations and international NGOs, especially those experienced in information management and preservation, such as International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the International Council on Archives (ICA).
One of the many objectives of IFAP, is to encourage governments around the world to establish their own IFAP national committees for more spreading of the IFAP goals and putting its vision in action for the benefit of these local communities; providing better access to information ―and to knowledge in general― through the best application of newest technologies of the digital age. For the achievement of this particular goal, IFAP has developed its guidelines for the creation of the IFAP National Committees. As a result of IFAP’s intergovernmental efforts, more than 50 IFAP National Committees were established around the word by the beginning of 2006; of which 10 committees now exist in African countries, 7 in Latin America and the Caribbean region, and 5 in Arab countries including Egypt.
IFAP focuses its activities to serve three major priorities within the outline of its main objectives; i.e. Information Literacy, Ethical, legal and societal implications of the ICTs, and Preservation of Information. In the field of Information Literacy, IFAP plays a key international role in raising the awareness of the importance of information literacy and supporting projects that aim at enhancing information literacy skills, especially for deprived communities and individuals. Therefore, IFAP has adopted the program of a series of workshops entitled “Training-The-Trainers in Information Literacy” (2008/9) for the support of the development of information literate societies by enabling activists involved in the preparation and delivery of information literacy courses and activities to learn and have practical training by international experts on up-to-date techniques and methods used in planning and performing such courses and activities as well as getting acquainted with state-of-the-art technologies applied in this field.
IFAP has numerous publications that reflect their standards and highlight the variety of their activities. IFAP has also launched an online database of IFAP projects. It gives access to information about more than 500 projects submitted to IFAP (funded and non-funded).
For more information on IFAP, its activities, objectives, priorities, success stories, .. etc., please, visit the IFAP official home page at the web portal of the UNESCO.