UN SHOULD BRIDGE 'INFORMATION GAP' BETWEEN DEVELOPED, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION TOLD

5 May 1999

Press Release
PI/1133

UN SHOULD BRIDGE 'INFORMATION GAP' BETWEEN DEVELOPED, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION TOLD

19990505 Speakers Also Address Importance of Traditional Media, Transfer Of Advanced Information Technology, Principles for Information Security

As the Committee on Information continued its twenty-first session this morning, several speakers stressed that public information activities at the United Nations should focus on the needs of all its members and work to bridge the information gap between developed and developing countries.

During its two-week session, the Committee will continue its ongoing examination of United Nations public information policies and activities, as well as progress achieved by the United Nations system in the field of information and communications. It will also hold its general debate on substantive questions and prepare and adopt its report to the General Assembly's fifty-fourth session.

The representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea told the Committee that the gap between developed and developing countries in the field of public information was widening with each passing day. The enhancement of information and communication capacity largely depended on how quickly new technology was introduced. The United Nations and its public information activities, however, should target the whole membership, not specific individual countries or groups. To that end, there was a need for the United Nations to expand a proportion of its public information activities based on traditional media, such as radio and television.

The representative of Sri Lanka added that the information and communication infrastructure of the developing countries must be improved through the transfer of advanced information technology. Also, an equitable international information framework must be established, based on impartiality and balance. The challenges faced in the fields of the environment and conservation, the spread of HIV/AIDS, narcotic drug abuse and dependency, poverty and economic development were just some of the issues that a reoriented international information and communications order could address.

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The representative of Pakistan said developing countries must not lag behind because of their lack of access to information and its related technologies. Today, the crucial decision-making and strategic planning processes of governments, economists, and the private sector depended heavily on information technology. Market-oriented policies had now become almost universal, and countries were competing in a single, global market economy. As that process gradually accelerated, the competitive edge of nations was now gauged more by their effectiveness in information processing than by the traditional notions of goods and services.

The representative of the Russian Federation called for the establishment of international principles for information security and conditions for safe international information exchange. Such principles should make it impossible to use information technology for criminal purposes or to destabilize societies, he said. They were especially necessary in light of the recent actions by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which had sought to destroy communication networks in Yugoslavia. It was a gross manifestation of double standards to promote free communications at home, while denying Yugoslavia that same right.

The representatives of Ukraine and Belarus drew attention to the continuing effects of the Chernobyl disaster and said United Nations public information activities should encourage more international efforts to address the consequences of Chernobyl. That effort could include the establishment of a special long-term information programme to communicate information on the disaster, as well as a special site on Chernobyl on the United Nations Web page.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Japan, United Republic of Tanzania, Algeria, Croatia and Kazakhstan. The President of the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) also spoke.

Also this afternoon, the Committee elected by acclamation El Hassane Zahid (Morocco) as its Chairman for the period 1999 to 2000.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. Thursday, 6 May, to continue its general debate.

Committee Work Programme

The Committee on Information met this morning to continue its twenty- first session. It was expected to elect its Chairman and resume its general debate and consideration of substantive questions. It had before it the reports of the Secretary-General (documents A/AC.198/1999/2-8). (For further background, see Press Releases PI/1131 of 3 May and PI/1127 of 30 April.)

Election of Chairman

Christine Kapalata (United Republic of Tanzania), on behalf of the African Group, nominated El Hassane Zahid (Morocco) for the position of Chairman of the Committee on Information for the period 1999 to 2000, and he was then elected, without a vote.

Statement by Chairman

The newly elected Chairman, EL HASSANE ZAHID (Morocco), said he would do his best to bring about progress in the work that was before the Committee and thanked all of those countries that had nominated him to the position. He informed the Committee that Azerbaijan, Gambia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) had requested to participate in session as observers.

Statements AHMAD KAMAL (Pakistan) said a transparent information network could be an effective tool in addressing the numerous problems and difficulties faced by the international community, including underdevelopment, poverty and deprivation. Information remained an indispensable part of the critical input for development, as was evident from the wide gaps in the level of progress around the world. That inherent link between information and development in a world of information superhighways, where competing interests were in a constant race for time and attention, must be stressed. Unfortunately, the imbalances in the availability of information and in the capacity of different nations and organizations to use it continued to grow. Those shortcomings must be rectified on a priority basis.

Information technology had enormous influence and impact on the economic and commercial cooperation, he continued. Today, the crucial decision-making and strategic planning processes of governments, economists and the private sector depended heavily on information and communication technology. Information had, thus, become the lifeblood of domestic and global markets. Market-oriented policies had become almost universal, and all countries were now competing in a single, global market economy. As that process gradually accelerated, the competitive edge of nations was now gauged more by their effectiveness in information processing than by the traditional notions of goods and services.

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He said the developing countries must not lag behind because of their failure in judgement and lack of access to information or the advanced means of obtaining vital information. Of the 164 million computer users around the world, only a small fraction belonged to the developing world. In the world race for transmitting information, the Department of Public Information (DPI) had to be both competent and competitive in disseminating information, sharing data and collaborative research and in the exchange of messages at the least cost. He attached great importance to the United Nations information centres, which were essentially the Organizations' windows to the world. They should be the immediate source of a wide body of knowledge and information for both the intelligentsia and the general public.

VITALI MAKAROV (Russian Federation) said information technology contained a number of dangerous problems that could hurt stability and security. Thus, the United Nations public information services should continue to give top priority to questions of ensuring international security. The United Nations should create international principles for information security and establish conditions for safe international information exchange. Such principles should make it impossible to use information technology for criminal purposes or to destabilize societies.

Such principles were especially necessary in light of the recent actions by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), he said. The NATO was carrying out aggression against a United Nations Member in violation of international law. It had destroyed Serb television and other facilities to eliminate the communications networks in Yugoslavia. The cold war had been replaced by a shooting war and, by their actions, NATO violated the principles of international communications. It was a gross manifestation of double standards to promote free communications at home, while denying Yugoslavia their right to free communication. The NATO could find itself a defendant in the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. His delegation hoped that efforts to resolve the crisis would result in the cessation of military activities.

On information activities at the United Nations, he said all the agencies were beginning to recognize the important role of communications and information programmes in their work. His delegation supported the introduction of new structures for information dissemination. However, such structures should be done without involving additional costs. Consideration should be given to establishing a network of correspondents or stringers to work in association with United Nations information centres. They would keep in contact with national mass media and prevent the spread of false information.

He said he supported the expansion of information services, especially through the Dag Hammarskjöld Library. His delegation also supported the need for a comprehensive strengthening of the information centres system. However, that should be carried out with due consideration of the circumstances and needs of the host country. The work of the United Nations Information Centre

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in Moscow had been very beneficial. Hundreds of millions of people who speak the Russian language should be served by United Nations information activities. In that regard, greater work should be done to allow the dissemination of information in all six of the United Nations official languages.

YUKIO TAKASU (Japan) said the Millennium Summit in the year 2000 would provide an extraordinary opportunity for world leaders to discuss the role of the United Nations and the global challenges to humanity in the twenty-first century. It was expected that the DPI would play a central role in formulating and implementing an effective public information strategy in order to ensure that the Summit enjoyed broad popular support and attained global reach. He expressed concern about the problems that had been identified in the course of integrating United Nations information centres into the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) field offices. He hoped that the, DPI together with the UNDP, would ensure that the centres could perform their intended duties effectively.

He said the needs and requirements of information centres varied from country to country and also changed with the passage of time. He suggested that the DPI undertake a comprehensive assessment of the activities of each centre, for instance, by submitting a questionnaire to each country that hosted a centre and asking it to assess the centre's activities in the field. The assessment process should be transparent and the results submitted to the Committee. Commenting on DPI's budget for the next millennium, he said that, at a time of limited available resources, every department had to optimize the use of its own resources and ensure that funding was used only for genuinely essential activities. That was no less true for the DPI than other departments. Each public information activity should be regularly reviewed on the basis of relevance and effectiveness.

DAUDI N. MWAKAWAGO (United Republic of Tanzania) said that, while advances in the field of information technology were welcomed and their use supported wherever possible, his delegation called for the maintenance of the traditional media, as most of the developing countries had yet to reach the advanced levels of their developed partners. That, nevertheless, should not preclude the requisite training and transfer of technology, which would make it possible for developing countries to benefit from technological advances in information. At the twentieth session of the Committee, his delegation had appealed for the selective integration of United Nations information centres with the field offices of the UNDP. It had done so because it had realized that material conditions differed from country to country and the "one size fits all" module could not be used.

He said the Centre in his country was one of those centres that was currently operating under the direction of the UNDP Resident Representative without formal integration. Before the onset of the reform exercise, the Centre in Dar es Salaam was also serving other countries in the region, such as Mozambique and Lesotho. Now, due to the downsizing exercise, even serving

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the Tanzanian population was proving to be struggle. His delegation deemed it important for that Centre to maintain its identity. In order to do that, the requisite personnel had to be made available. As the situation was now, the Centre was merely limping along, due to lack of competent personnel.

While the integration of United Nations Information Centres with the UNDP field offices would contribute to a number of benefits, he said, those benefits would not be realized if operational problems that had already presented themselves were not addressed in concrete terms. In that connection, the issue of resource allocation had to be addressed and placed in its proper context. Quoting the Secretary-General, he said "reform is much more than just the question of streamlining structures or looking at the number of posts or dealing with the budget".

ABDALLAH BAALI (Algeria) said that, in Algeria, the international World Press Freedom Day was celebrated every year. Several journalists had lost their lives to extremists and terrorists trying to bring information to the public. All Algerian journalists had taken up the torch to continue on their mission to inform the public. In Algeria, there were many daily newspapers and periodicals, which led to the plurality and the freedom of communications in the country. Private television and radio stations would be added to the print medium to improve free communications. There had also been efforts in his country to eliminate any difficulties in the operation of the press and to strengthen and consolidate the free press.

On the work of the Committee on Information, he said there was a need for earlier dissemination of its reports, some of which were still not available to the Committee. That problem should be corrected in the future. There was also a need for the DPI to continue to respect and implement the mandates given to it by the General Assembly. Any reduction, change or renunciation of tasks by the DPI should be done with the approval and consultation of Member States. On information strategy, his delegation supported placing information at the core of United Nations activities. It should be remembered, however, that public information strategies should not be turned into propaganda for the United Nations. The best way to improve the image of the Organization was to achieve positive results by its actions. On the work of United Nations information centres, he said they must be given greater attention and financial resources, so they could play a greater role.

IVAN NIMAC (Croatia) said it was imperative for a world organization like the United Nations to take advantage of technological advances in order to disperse its important message across the globe. At the same time, the Organization needed to weigh a careful balance between that aim and the need to ensure that the proliferation of information from the United Nations was in a form which would be available to all of the world's population, particularly those without access to more expensive reception media. The majority of missions now had their own Web sites, as did many foreign ministries, thereby

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helping to make the practice of international relations and the views of individual States more transparent. Similarly, the United Nations should emphasize, in its public information output, the common positions of Member States, particularly as articulated through the key consensus documents.

He noted that the more traditional information media, particularly radio, continued to be important in the developing world. Accordingly, the United Nations' emphasis on radio broadcasting should reflect that fact. As for language parity on the United Nations Web site, it needed to be measured against the impact upon accessibility and cost-effectiveness. Croatia's capital, Zagreb, presently hosted both a small United Nations liaison office, which had diminished with the conclusion of peacekeeping activities, as well as a UNDP office. His delegation felt that the inclusion of an information component in the liaison office would serve the interests of the United Nations significantly, as well as the needs of the needs of the region.

In view of the existing offices and associated infrastructure, his delegation also believed that such an exercise could be achieved with little or no budgetary implications. Further, when integrating the United Nations information centres with the field offices of the UNDP, the impact on the efficiency of the delivery of both sets of services must be considered. The division of labour within integrated offices needed to be more carefully considered, so that the benefits associated with the use of common facilities could be enjoyed without having the quality of services diminished.

HONG JE RYONG (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said it was regrettable that the development of information and communication technology was still confined within a few countries. That was a result of the gap between developed and developing countries in the field of public information, which was ever widening with each passing day. Also, some countries continued to inject their own values into other countries, while failing to correctly reflect the reality of developing countries. In that war, they fostered mistrust among countries and impeded the efforts of the international community for the maintenance of international peace and security and sustainable development.

He said that the enhancement of information and communication capacity largely depended on how quickly new technology was introduced. However, the United Nations was the most universal of organizations, and its public information activities should target the whole membership, not specific individual countries or groups. To that end, there was a need for the United Nations to expand a proportion of its public information activities based on the traditional media, such as radio and television, while attaching importance to the use of the Internet.

He said there was a growing concern among a number of countries that United Nations public information services placed too much emphasis on the

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activates in the field of maintenance of international peace and security, rather than on developmental issues. There was also concern that some United Nations documents had not correctly reflected the historical facts of relevant countries. Only by ensuring objectivity, accuracy and balance in the preparation of information materials and dissemination could a comprehensive and correct picture of United Nations activities be presented.

United Nations information centres played an important role in disseminating information on United Nations activities, and they were, thus, an integral part of public information services, he added. Therefore, the integration of information centres with UNDP offices should be dealt with not simply from the perspective of cost-saving, but with the purpose of enhancing the Organization's public information activities.

ALYAKSANDR SYCHOV (Belarus) complimented the improvements that had been made in the United Nations public information capacity, in light of restricted financial resources. His delegation supported the continuing restructuring of the DPI to improve its work. That effort should lead to improvements in the communications field that addressed the special interests of developing countries. In particular, there should be public information efforts to reflect the complex and painful transition of some countries from communist to free-market economies. Also, more attention must be given to mobilizing international efforts to overcome the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. The broad effects of that disaster must be recognized, in order to overcome the donor fatigue that had occurred in the last few years. Further, he hoped that a special Web site on Chernobyl would be placed on the United Nations Web page.

He said he appreciated the improvement of the Organization's Web site, as well as efforts to make information on the site available in all official languages. Use of the Internet should be expanded to make more information on United Nations activities available to all. Many countries still had trouble accessing the Internet, however, especially those countries with economies in transition. The United Nations radio broadcasting capacity should continue to be a priority, especially in those countries that depended on that medium for information. He added that his delegation was concerned about the unacceptable actions by NATO in Yugoslavia, especially in the destruction of communications facilities.

V. KROKHMAL (Ukraine) said that, while the establishment of the Information Technology Section of the DPI was to be welcomed, it was very important to maintain the Department's outreach through the traditional media. Radio continued to be one of the most effective and far-reaching instruments in United Nations activities. In that regard, there was a need to verify the main components of the radio broadcasting pilot project, as well as the selective channelling of limited financial and technical resources for it.

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He said it was desirable to continue the efforts of the information centres and the DPI itself to develop information products and publicize United Nations activities in the social and economic fields, which was of considerable interest for countries in the process of economic reform. Also, he had expected establishment of a special long-term information programme to communicate information on the Chernobyl disaster. Unfortunately, as time went by, there had been a tendency to give less attention to the disaster and its related problems. He hoped that the reformed DPI would take his concern into consideration.

DHARSHANA PERERA (Sri Lanka) said the increasing dependency on electronic media might leave behind those communities in the developing world that had no access to advanced modes of information dissemination. Hence, the need to have an outreach to the very core of societies in the developing world through different media, must be taken into consideration. Sri Lanka also wished to stress the importance of balance and impartiality in DPI's publications. The maintenance of editorial independence, accuracy and consistency with General Assembly's decisions were vital principles. Access to information and freedom of the media were vital parts of civil society. In Sri Lanka, responsible journalism had been both the vehicle of promoting change and of creating new opportunities and ideas.

He said the great strides made in human history in the information age had to be harnessed for the benefit of all humanity. However, he was gravely concerned at the abuse of new developments in the information age by extremists forces and terrorist groups. Such factions continued to abuse the facilities of newer technologies to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its front organizations continued to disseminate false propaganda and complete distortion of facts in efforts to discredit the Sri Lankan Government, and in turn mislead the international community.

He said the Liberation Tigers had the singular notoriety of having attacked key Sri Lankan Government institutions with e-mail bombings. That was a hostile act on a sovereign country. Much of their operations were also conducted overseas and within the boundaries of friendly countries. While Sri Lanka stood steadfastly for an open, equitable, credible and balanced information order, it was of paramount importance to also address the abuses that took place within the territorial boundaries of friendly countries. At another level, he cited the bias sometimes shown by a minority of members of the mass media in developed countries.

At the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Durban, South Africa, he continued, members of NAM said that information and communication infrastructure of the developing countries must be improved through the transfer of advanced information technology. It was crucially important that an equitable international information framework based on impartiality and

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balance be established. The significant developments of the present information age could and had been utilized for the betterment of humanity. While much had been done, much still needed to be done. The challenges faced in the fields of the environment and conservation, the spread of HIV/AIDS, narcotic drug abuse and dependency, poverty and economic development, were just some of the issues that a reoriented international information and communications order could address.

MURAT SMAGULOV (Kazakhstan) said that today in his country there was no censorship and the free voices of journalists reflected all the views expressed in her society. Freedom of speech and the rights of journalists, however, still had to be defended. That was why Kazakhstan had prepared a new liberal law on the mass media. The President of his country, addressing the joint session of Parliament in March, had also declared that the leadership of the country was firmly determined to ensure that free speech and free press were fully protected from any forms of pressure. The panel discussion organized by DPI yesterday on World Press Freedom Day demonstrated the important role of the mass media. In that context, DPI's role as the Organization's communication centre became even more important for the strengthening of public support for United Nations activities worldwide.

Without such support, he continued, the Organization could not effectively accomplish its mission. With regard to the integration of United Nations information centres with field offices of UNDP, there were both positive and negative aspects to be considered. The negative concerned the lower level of programme delivery and the narrower range of activities at the country level. The UNDP resident coordinators should do their utmost to rectify such deficiencies and take a greater interest in the work of the integrated information centres, in order to significantly improve efficiency.

He said full mobilization of the public and political support for the United Nations was impossible without such an important component as the Organization's international radio broadcasting capacity. He did not have to explain the advantages of radio, which was the simplest and most accessible means of receiving information for the majority of the world's people. Regarding the design and scope of the pilot project to address the development of the United Nations international radio broadcasting capacity, he expressed his deep concern that DPI did not plan to initiate such a project until there were clear indications from Member States and major broadcasting organizations on the availability of the resources required. In that regard, "we would request DPI to accelerate the circulation among Member States and major broadcasting organizations of a questionnaire prepared to acquire the required information".

EROL AVDOVIC, President of the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA), said his organization was looking forward to cooperating with DPI in a number of areas and there was still room for improvement. Last year, UNCA

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reported that there were some barriers that kept correspondents from collecting information through Secretariat officials. To address that, briefings should be held in the UNCA Club whenever possible, to help the media present the news without discrimination. He added that, while the Secretary- General was a champion of the press, there could be some improvements in his accessibility. He was often not available for personal interviews, especially for journalists who were from developing countries.

He said that, ever since he came to the United Nations in 1992, there had been frequent accusations that favouritism was shown toward those who represented large, corporate publications and agencies. The Committee should take into account the needs of reporters from small organizations and respect their need to be briefed together with large media organizations.

On the briefings in room S-226, he said the rules regarding that room had been totally disregarded. Briefings in that room were not meant to be pep rallies for introducing new programmes, nor was it a place for five-minute speeches from five people with no time for questions. Press briefings should not end in applause. They should be 30 minutes long and, if the speaker was 10 minutes late, UNCA would consider the briefing cancelled. If you want to launch a campaign, then it should be done in a conference room and then adjourned to room S-226 for questions.

Also, little had been done to address the need of some correspondents to be given a space or a desk in Headquarters, he said. Some journalists were to blame for that, with their territorial approach and lack of professional solidarity toward those who were still looking for a desk. However, some of the delegations and permanent missions were to be blamed even more, for their culture of interference in decision-making at the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit. DPI still could not resist diplomatic interventions on behalf of their national correspondents. The issue of office space should be addressed together -- UNCA was ready to work together with DPI in order to neutralize that issue.

Another problem was the "two-tiered" system that had been imposed on all correspondents at the United Nations, he said. All those who were not resident correspondents -- those who did not have an office at Headquarters -- were subject to additional metal detector screening. They also had to enter Headquarters through the visitors entrance at forty-fifth Street and UNCA had been told the measure was taken for security reasons. However, was United Nations security actually improved through application of such a system? The Committee and DPI should reassess that arrangement in order to ensure unhindered access for all UNCA members at Headquarters. There was no room for any kind of discrimination.

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