MEDIA RELEASE JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT CALL CENTRE UP AND RUNNING SOON 7 August 2002: With less than 30 days remaining before the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development starts, the South African Post Office has established a state-of-the-art call centre in Pretoria to disseminate information on the Summit. This facility forms part of the Post Office's overall Summit sponsorship. The call centre will be fully functional from 12 August and will run until 10 September, and will offer a 24-hour service to all Summit delegates, participants and Johannesburg residents. Interpreters will be available to respond to requests in the six official United Nations languages, namely, French, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Arabic and English. The interpreters will also be used in case of medical and security emergencies where their language skills may be required. Call centre staff are part of the Summit's volunteer programme and have undergone extensive training in order to equip them with call-centre skills. Following the Summit, all staff will receive certificates in recognition of their training and their contribution to the Summit. The Johannesburg World Summit Company is especially proud of this project, which will form part of the Summit's legacy. Staff and volunteers at the centre have been trained to answer questions, or direct requests for information to the relevant departments and managers at the Johannesburg World Summit Company. The call centre's number will be: 083-141. Ends. For further information contact: Johannesburg World Summit Company (JOWSCO) Communication Department Contacts: Tel: +27 11 303 8200 Fax: +27 11 303 8292 1. Bronwyn Scharneck Media Manager E-mail: bronwyn@wssd2002.com Mobile: +27 82 907 7749 2. Thuli Senosi Support Officer E-mail: thuli@wssd2002.com Mobile: +27 83 442 9710 3. Thandi Davids Communications Executive E-mail: thandi@wssd2002.com Mobile: +27 83 442 9693 Street Address: Building 2, Fedsure Building on Grayston Drive, Corner Grayston Drive and Linden Road, Sandton, Johannesburg. Postal: P O Box 783730, Sandton 2146, South Africa. For further information, please visit the WSSD 2002 website on www.joburgsummit2002.com _____________________________________________________________________ This message has been checked for all known viruses by the MessageLabs Virus Scanning Service. For further information visit http://www.messagelabs.com/