CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY STRESSES NEED FOR MORE VIBRANT, RELEVANT COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION, IN FOURTH COMMITTEE STATEMENT
Press Release
GA/SPD/123
CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY STRESSES NEED FOR MORE VIBRANT, RELEVANT COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION, IN FOURTH COMMITTEE STATEMENT
19971118 Information Committee must Address Increasing Gap Between Developed, Developing Countries in Information Technology, Jamaica Says for CARICOMIn view of the dynamic and important role played by communications and information in the world today, the Committee on Information should be more vibrant and relevant to the United Nations than it had ever been before, the representative of Jamaica said this morning, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its consideration of questions relating to information.
Speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), she said the Information Committee must recognize the need to address the growing gap in communications and information technology between developed and developing countries. Without that, the goal of sustainable development would remain elusive, she said.
The representative of the United Arab Emirates stressed the need for greater efforts to ensure a balanced global information system, as information technology had largely excluded poor peoples. The representative of Singapore said the United Nations should continue the use of traditional media to meet the needs of those countries that were technologically less advanced while helping them to access and benefit from the info-communication industry.
An active information programme must be an integral part of the strategic management of a reformed United Nations, the representative of the United States told the Committee. The representative of Tunisia said the reform of the Department of Public Information (DPI) should respond to the United Nations need to accomplish its tasks as a universal Organization with varied areas of competence in a world of increasing globalization.
Statements were also made by the representatives of Ukraine, the Republic of Korea and Israel.
The Fourth Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. tomorrow, 19 November to conclude its consideration of questions relating to information and to act on two related draft resolutions.
Committee Work Programme
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this morning to continue its consideration of questions relating to information. (For background, see Press Release GA/SPD/122 of 17 November.)
Statements
HAN LIANG YUAN (Singapore) said that through communication, skills, knowledge and values were passed from one generation to the next, not only ensuring the survival of civilizations, but also helping to preserve the identity and uniqueness of the many cultures around the world. Over the years, developments in technology had enabled humankind to communicate faster and farther afield. The convergence of telecommunication, computer and broadcasting technologies would bring about an even greater impact on the way information was transmitted.
New communications technology had shrunk the globe in distance and time, she said. What happened in one part of the world could now be seen live all over the globe on television or the Internet. The upside of that was an increased understanding of other cultures and lifestyles. The downside was that societies would come under increasingly intense pressure, as they would have to deal with the influences of external cultures and lifestyles. They might even have to handle attempts by another society or organization to impose its ideals and values through the use of sophisticated communications tools.
The United Nations was urged to take account of the views and special needs of Member States and to ensure that they would continue to enjoy access to information and to benefit from the Organization's activities and programmes, she said. It should continue the use of traditional media, where necessary, to meet the needs of those countries that were technologically less advanced. More important, it should, within available resources and programmes, help those countries to access and benefit from the development of the info-communication industry, to ensure that they received the most up-to- date information in the quickest possible manner.
VICTOR SEMENENKO (Ukraine) said that many of the changes which the world was currently undergoing were the result of developments in information technology. Ukraine strongly supported the view that communications should be at the heart of the strategic management of the United Nations and that a culture of communication should pervade the work of all its departments. It agreed that there was an urgent need for an overall communication strategy and for more strategic communications that sought to direct public opinion about the United Nations, and that the global message of the Organization should be relevant to the expectations of ordinary people, with focused delivery at the country level.
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He said his country fully supported the unification of the United Nations information centres with other United Nations offices in order to achieve better coordination and effectiveness and also to save funds. Such unification should take place on an individual basis and in consultation with host governments. Despite difficulties in the work of the Committee on Information, it had recently demonstrated its ability to harmonize conflicting interests. It was hoped that next year it would manage to discuss the overall package of reform proposals and to work out substantial draft resolutions on the matter.
The questions of fundamental freedoms and the promotion of human rights in the field of information were becoming of vital importance, he said. With the emergence of new political infrastructures in the world, it had become more clear than ever that the independence of the mass media should be based on the internationally recognized democratic norms. The human values promoted by the United Nations were closely connected to the idea of global democratization, which had only begun to truly manifest since the end of the cold war.
The "independence of mass media" had different interpretations, he said. The most common meaning implied a careful balance between the free expression of views, which was a fundamental human right, and respect for pluralism. However, some foreign mass media had lost balance and objectivity in reporting on events taking place in his country. Professionalism or unprejudiced approach. Professionalism and objectivity were inseparable from responsibility and real democracy, he said.
ABDULLAH AL-TUNAIJI (United Arab Emirates) said that the tangible progress in information technology had strengthened the awareness of the international community of the role of information as a means to develop human and economic resources. There were positive and negative aspects to the changes the DPI had undergone. Some activities had led to a practice of discrimination, which could even be termed a campaign of disinformation. A code of conduct in the field of information, which would help it to gain the respect of a culturally diverse world, was recommended.
Despite the end of the cold war, the world still suffered from a growing gap between developed and developing countries, he said. Information technology had largely excluded poor peoples, as they had no modern technological means available to them. Further efforts were needed to ensure a balanced global information system. His country had undertaken to modernize its legislation regarding information and was taking steps which would allow its people to make use of global information technology.
HAEJIN CHUN (Republic of Korea) said that the DPI stood to benefit if it could optimize its use of advanced information technology. The United Nations would need to use that technology effectively if it was to mobilize and secure
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the public support necessary for it to overcome the challenges of the coming century.
Public information should be regarded as one of the highest priorities in the formulation and implementation of policy at all levels of United Nations activities, he said. At both the country and field levels, it was essential to coordinate the promotion of United Nations activities so that all of the Organization's various bodies were projecting a unified public image. Further study of the idea of establishing close relations with responsible local partners was warranted. The United Nations needed to be sensitive to the idiosyncrasies of its local target audiences.
M. PATRICIA DURRANT (Jamaica), speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said that the role of the United Nations information centres UNICs) in the Organization's information strategy must be preserved. The UNIC office in Port-of-Spain played a vital role in disseminating information throughout the widely dispersed territories of the Caribbean, and her delegation had recommended that an information presence be established in the multi-island United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office in Jamaica.
While the CARICOM delegations supported initiatives in the area of information technology, they remained strongly committed to expanding the reach of traditional media, she said. Radio remained one of the most powerful and effective media, especially in developing countries. The work of the United Nations Radio Unit in general, and of the Caribbean Unit in particular, gave an effective voice to the Organization through its collaboration with radio stations throughout the region. Television and print media also represented vital means for the dissemination of information. The DPI was urged to continue exploring ways to foster greater cooperation with media organizations and a better understanding of the United Nations.
The Secretary-General, while concurring with the conceptual thrust of the Task Force recommendations, had not yet outlined a blueprint for the new upgraded information sector of the United Nations, she said. Such a renewed public information programme must be consistent with the mandates given by Member States, and the Committee on Information should be able to play a constructive role in the process. It was hoped that the cutting of some 63 DPI posts would not adversely affect its capacity to fulfil its mandates.
The field of communications and information represented one of the most important and dynamic sectors in world affairs, she said. The Committee on Information should therefore be more vibrant and relevant in today's United Nations than it had ever been before. The CARICOM countries envisaged a Committee on Information that was not paralysed by rigidity in its thinking and outlook -- a Committee which recognized that unless the global community addressed the gap between developed and developing countries in communications
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and information technology, the goal of sustainable development would remain elusive.
EL WALID DOUDECH (Tunisia) said the reform of the DPI should respond to the United Nations need to accomplish its tasks as a universal Organization with varied areas of competence in a world of increasing globalization. As the Secretary-General had underlined, communication functions should be placed at the strategic heart of the United Nations.
Throughout the reform, the United Nations should put itself in closer touch with the hopes and preoccupations of individuals, he said. Its message should be correctly formulated to obtain the desired effect. As Assistant Secretary-General Samir Sanbar had said yesterday, the value of information was not in what was said but in what was understood.
He said access to information technology was not equal for all countries. The importance of international cooperation in developing the capacities of developing countries should therefore be underlined. That question merited particular attention because of the crucial role of information in the promotion of development.
The inability of the Committee on Information to consider such questions fully during its 1997 session should not be taken to represent the incapacity of that body to make a significant contribution, he said. It was hoped that the difficulties which beset the Committee would be overcome so it might again take up its role in helping to provide strategic direction in the field of information for the United Nations.
TANIA B. CHOMIAK-SALVI (United States) said her country supported the Secretary-General's efforts to reform the United Nations, including giving a central role to public information. An active information programme must be an integral part of the strategic management of a reformed United Nations. In order to support those information needs, an efficient and effective department of public communications was needed.
The United States delegation was pleased to have participated in the work of the Committee on Information this year, she said. The Committee had worked under extraordinary circumstances, having had to adjust its schedule of meetings to the overall reform process. The United States was particularly satisfied that the Committee had carried out its work in a spirit of consensus.
DAVID TOURGEMAN (Israel) said "the right of the people to know is a basic human right." That right could be materialized only through a free flow of information in all spheres -- political, cultural, social and economic. A fully democratic regime with political pluralism and respect for the rights of all citizens was a prerequisite for freedom of information.
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Even in democratic or semi-democratic societies, those who believed in freedom of expression and information must be courageous enough to say and write things which were not popular -- or not yet popular, he said. Authors, journalists and scholars must sometimes assume the responsibility of expressing themselves according to their own views and conscience, even when they contradicted their colleagues.
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