Sonia Lecca, Chief Media Accreditation & Liaison Officer of the United Nations, has been coordinating activities between UN members and the local staff mobilized to help in the media accreditation process with application screening, data entry and picture taking. She is supported by over 80 volunteers, staff and students. Valerie Semplecino, a key member of Lecca's team, can be found daily handling stacks of applications and solving the problems of hundreds of journalists and photographers.

"Screening the media can be a difficult task," commented Lecca, who has had to turn some people away-because they did not represent media organizations, or otherwise failed to meet the accreditation criteria. Some are asked to come back at a later time in order to allow the accreditation staff to search directories, conduct Website searches or examine other sources. Background checks are critical for security reasons. Lecca said, "There is more than meets the eye in this process, as we are giving the media access to heads of states."

Abdellatif Kabbaj, Information Officer for the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit of the United Nations, and his team at the Sandton media center are responsible for answering journalists' questions, putting them in touch with delegates, and coordinating press conferences. His team supports both media constituencies: visual and print media. His 25 assistant liaison officers accompany journalists wishing to capture video footage on summit proceedings and plenary sessions.

Long hours at the media center, where he has at times worked from 6 AM to midnight to kick off the summit, and his experience mean that Kabbaj brings a unique perspective to his work. "I myself was a radio and television reporter," he said, "and I have experience dealing with over 12,000 journalists. I know journalists are excited to have a dialogue with someone who understands what a journalist needs to have."

Lecca and Kabbaj face a monumental challenge, but both are confident and seem comfortable with their task. With the UN for the past 31 years, Lecca believes the organization's accumulated collective experience is making her job easier. Kabbaj, who has been with the UN for 22 years, said, "This is the first time that such a large number of media from all over the world have gathered to cover the summit and bilateral meetings. Therefore, our task is enormous, but we are used to that with the experience that we have from UN headquarters, as well as from other conferences."

For the South African volunteers working at the accreditation desk, the Johannesburg summit is a source of national pride. "The host country has been very generous and the locals realize the importance of national mobilization," said Lecca. Mabuyi Mtshali, one of the volunteers, went on to explain, "What is important is that South Africa will benefit a lot in terms of increased visibility, job creation and technology for youth because of the summit."

Some volunteers are not only proud of their contribution to their country, but also understand the significance of the media presence at the summit. Patricia Khumalo, another volunteer, explained the importance of her role, "The media is the best communication to the outside world, especially in places where there are no TV's."