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Andres Ilves (also known as Andy Ilves, born Andres Erik Ilves) is a
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
, most recently at the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, where he headed the
Somali Service at BBC
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, previously head of the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
and
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
Service of the
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
. He is responsible for BBC radio and online output in the languages of
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
, and the border areas of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. He has also been the country director for
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
and
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
for
BBC Media Action
BBC Media Action, formerly known as the BBC World Service Trust, is the BBC's international development charity, funded independently by external grants and voluntary contributions. The purpose of the organisation is to use media and communicati ...
.
In addition to his positions of editorial responsibility within the BBC, Ilves speaks and writes about current affairs, appearing on television as well. From 2009 to 2011 Ilves was the head of development for BBC Global News Marketing, Communications, and Audiences.
Ilves is the editor of "More Light, Less Heat: Who holds power in the global conversation?", a collection of global thought leaders' views on how both the rapid changes in communication—from the internet to mobile phones—and the rise of extreme views have changed our world since the beginning of the 21st century.
Ilves has also been the chair of the board of trustees of
Peace Direct, a UK-based charity providing support to peace builders in a dozen conflict zones around the world. His brother is
Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016.
Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the ...
, the
4th President of Estonia.
Early life and career
Ilves was born in New Jersey, United States, to
Estonian refugee parents. He graduated with honours from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, with a degree in Near Eastern Studies.
After Princeton, Ilves spent a year as a
Coro Foundation Fellow in Los Angeles, and then as a
Rotary Scholar Rotary International offers a number of scholarships worldwide for periods of 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years.
Ambassadorial Mission
The purpose of the Ambassadorial Scholarship was to further international understanding and friendly rel ...
at the
Universiteit van Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
, in The Netherlands. Ilves then worked for
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich, Germany as a journalist, analyst, and translator focusing on Afghanistan, as well as on ethnic and linguistic minority issues around the world.
Ilves also spent time in California as a legislative and media aide to Los Angeles City Councilman
Richard Alatorre
Richard Alatorre (born May 15, 1943) was a member of the California State Assembly from 1973 to 1985—"one of the most influential Latino politicians in the state"— and a Los Angeles, California, City Council member from 1985 to 1999, the sec ...
and San Francisco Supervisor
Terence Hallinan
Terence Hallinan (December 4, 1936 – January 17, 2020) was an American attorney and politician from San Francisco, California. He was the second of six sons born to Progressive Party presidential candidate Vincent Hallinan and his wife, Vivi ...
. Following Hallinan's election as San Francisco district attorney, Ilves served as his chief of administration.
After time spent working on an election monitoring and political party capacity building project in Serbia for the
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
The National Democratic Institute (NDI), or National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, is a non-profit American NGO that works with partners in developing countries to increase the effectiveness of democratic institutions. The NDI's ...
(NDI), Ilves served more than three years as the executive director of the Names Project Foundation, the sponsor of the
AIDS Memorial Quilt
The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, often abbreviated to AIDS Memorial Quilt or AIDS Quilt, is an enormous memorial to celebrate the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece ...
.
Media experience
Following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001, Ilves returned to his previous specialty of Afghanistan, becoming the first director of the newly established
Radio Free Afghanistan, based in Prague, Czech Republic. In 2003, he was appointed by the US
Broadcasting Board of Governors
The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), formerly the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), is an independent agency of the United States government that broadcasts news and information. It describes its mission, "vital to US nation ...
to oversee US international broadcasting to Iran as well, as the first director of
Radio Farda
Radio Farda ( fa, راديو فردا, lit=Radio Tomorrow, ''Radio Farda'') is the Iranian branch of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) external broadcast service for providing "factual, objective and profession ...
.
In November 2004, Ilves was appointed Head of the BBC World Service's output in the Persian, Pashto,
Dari
Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī ...
, and
Tajik languages. He also played an integral role in setting up the new
BBC Persian-language television channel, which launched in January 2009.
Miscellaneous
Ilves is a passionate linguist, speaking numerous languages besides his native Estonian and English, including Dutch, Esperanto, French, German, Pashto, Persian, and Portuguese. He has been studying
isiZulu
Zulu (), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal of ...
for several years now, including at the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
's
School of Oriental and African Studies
SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...
(SOAS). Ilves listens primarily to
kwaito
Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music that features the use of African sounds and samples. Kwaito songs occur at a slower tempo range than other styles of h ...
and
hip hop music; his favourite music stations are
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
's youth station
YFM
YFM (99.2 FM) is a "Youth" radio station in Johannesburg, South Africa. Established in 1997, the station is formatted to mostly play urban music genres such as Kwaito, Hip Hop, and R&B along with a minority of its airtime being dedicated to ...
and
BBC Radio 1Xtra. He lives in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
but travels frequently to Africa as well as Afghanistan
and the surrounding region for work. Ilves feels particularly strong ties to the
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
of
Soweto
Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilves, Andres
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American people of Estonian descent
BBC newsreaders and journalists
BBC World Service presenters
Princeton University alumni