COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION APPROVES TEXT ON PUBLIC INFORMATION POLICIES AND ACTIVITIES
Press Release
PI/1089
COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION APPROVES TEXT ON PUBLIC INFORMATION POLICIES AND ACTIVITIES
19981030 The Committee on Information met this afternoon and approved, as orally revised, its draft resolution B on public information policies and activities. The revisions to the draft involved the text's operative paragraph 30.By the terms of the new operative paragraph 30, the General Assembly would stress that radio was one of the most cost-effective and far-reaching media available to the Department of Public Information (DPI) and an important instrument in United Nations activities, such as development and peacekeeping.
Furthermore, the Assembly would take note of the Secretary-General's report on the development of a United Nations international radio broadcasting capacity. The Assembly would request the Secretary-General to report on the design and scope of the pilot project regarding United Nations international radio broadcasting capacity, which would be considered by the Committee on Information at its twenty-first session in 1999.
The Assembly would note, in that context, that the DPI intends to contact Member States in order to ascertain their preparedness to provide technical facilities for the pilot project and to include information on that report.
Also this afternoon, Kensaku Hogen, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, said he was aware of the efforts made by the Chairman and all Information Committee members in arriving at a consensus over the past week. The Committee would be able now to report to the General Assembly about that consensus, and it was expected that the debate on questions relating to information in the Fourth Committee would be both harmonious and productive.
He thanked the Committee for the strong support it continued to provide to the DPI in fulfilling the important communications and information mandate that the General Assembly had legislated for the Department and the directives of the Secretary-General, which underscored the key role played by information and communications in the work of the Organization.
Committee on Information - 1a - Press Release PI/1089 9th Meeting (PM) 30 October 1999
Statements were also made by the Chairman of the Committee, Jose Albato de Sousa (Portugal), as well as by the representatives of Egypt; the Netherlands, on behalf of the Western European and Other States Group; Argentina, on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean States Group; Indonesia, on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China; and Belarus, on behalf of the group of Eastern European States.
Committee Work Programme
The Committee on Information met this afternoon to continue its resumed session during which it is considering the report of the Secretary-General on the development of an international radio broadcasting capacity for the United Nations.
(For background on the Secretary-General's report, see Press Release PI/1088 of 27 October.)
Action on Draft Resolution
JOSE ALBERTO DE SOUSA (Portugal), Chairman of the Committee on Information, introduced four new paragraphs which had been agreed upon as a result of informal consultations and which would replace the original paragraph 30 of draft resolution B on public information policies and activities.
The Committee then approved the draft resolution as orally amended.
Statements
HOSSAM ZAKI (Egypt) thanked Committee members and Secretariat staff for their efforts in this task which had interested Egypt for a long time. The Chairman was asked to follow up the matter so that decisive action could be taken on it by the next session.
ROBERT ZAAGMAN (Netherlands), speaking on behalf of the Western European and Other States group, said the Committee had reached the end of its twentieth session. The Western group thanked the other regional groups and other members of the Committee for the spirit of cooperation they had shown. What differences there had been had been overcome by a spirit of compromise and goodwill.
HOLGER FEDERICO MARTINSEN (Argentina), speaking on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean States group, said that far-reaching steps had been made in the Committee because of the prevailing spirit of cooperation. The Latin American and Caribbean countries were open to the idea of a United Nations international radio broadcasting capacity, but at the same time they would like to maintain what they already had. Broadcasts in Spanish, Portuguese, English, French and Creole should remain as they stood.
SIDHARTO RIZA SURYO-DI-PURO (Indonesia), speaking as Chairman of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said that one of the achievements of the just-ended session had been the establishment of an open-ended working group that could accommodate all members, and was flexible enough to accommodate all the issues. The United Nations international radio initiative, as well as that of the United Nations Information Centres and
Committee on Information - 3 - Press Release PI/1089 9th Meeting (PM) 30 October 1998
others would come up for healthy discussion at the next session of the Committee on Information.
ALYAKSEI SKRYPKO (Belarus), speaking on the group of Eastern European States, praised the spirit of cooperation and consensus which had prevailed since the session began in May. Overall, the session had been a success.
KENSAKU HOGEN, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, said he was aware of the efforts made by the Chairman and all Committee members in arriving at a consensus over the past week. The Committee would be able now to report to the General Assembly about that consensus and it was expected that the debate on questions relating to information in the Fourth Committee would be both harmonious and productive.
He thanked the Committee for the strong support it continued to provide to the Department of Public Information (DPI) in fulfilling the important communications and information mandate that the General Assembly had legislated for the Department and the directives of the Secretary-General, underscoring the key role played by information and communications in the work of the Organization.
Mr. DE SOUSA (Portugal), Committee Chairman, said the Committee had gone through some difficult situations. It was true that the Committee had had to resume its session, but it was on the right path and that would only help in the future. The Committee would thus be available to meet all DPI concerns.
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