A new series of online training on FOSS in Arabic and French starts today and inscriptions are open for registration. It has been set up by UNESCO’s Office in Rabat in cooperation with ISESCO, the association Tanmia.ma and the Moroccan Department of Post, Telecommunications and New Technologies.

The online courses will cover the functionalities of the following software: Mozilla Sunbird, Miranda IM, 7-Zip, Coolplayer, Clamwin and Sumatra PDF. The course materials were developed by Tanmia.ma, in cooperation with volunteers from the Ecole nationale supérieure d’informatique et d’analyse des systèmes (Morocco).

WHO calls for urgent scaling up of services for mental disorders

9 October/Geneva: More than 75% of people suffering from mental disorders in the developing world receive no treatment or care. A new WHO programme launched today, on World Mental Health Day 2008 highlights the huge treatment gap for a number of mental, neurological and substance use disorders. Across Africa for example, nine out of ten people suffering from epilepsy go untreated, unable to access simple and inexpensive anticonvulsant drugs which cost less than US$5 a year per person.