UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION RESPONDS TO ISSUES RAISED IN INFORMATION COMMITTEE DEBATE

10 May 1999

Press Release
PI/1137

UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION RESPONDS TO ISSUES RAISED IN INFORMATION COMMITTEE DEBATE

19990510 Addresses UN International Radio Broadcasting Capacity, Language Parity on UN Web Site, UN Information Centres, among Others

A number of critical issues raised by delegations during the Committee on Information's general debate last week were addressed in a statement by Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Kensaku Hogen, as the Committee met this afternoon.

In the general debate, which concluded on Thursday, 6 May, delegations discussed such topics as United Nations information centres, United Nations radio broadcasting capacity, traditional media, new information technology, and language parity on the Organization's Web site, among other topics.

In his statement today, the Under-Secretary-General said that he shared the view of many delegations that radio, television and print were central in communicating the message of the United Nations. An enormous amount of modernization and innovation had taken place in United Nations radio to expand its quality and reach, and the Department of Public Information (DPI) fully supported the development of an international radio broadcasting capacity for the Organization. The question of resources was key. It was estimated that the cost of developing this capacity would be at least $4 million a year for several years. "I regret to report that no Member State has offered to contribute resources or facilities for the development of that capacity."

On language parity on the Organization's Web site, he said additional resources were required for multilingual Web pages. He informed delegations that, with the support of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie, the DPI would hold this June in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, a seminar on the theme "The Internet as a Tool for Development". Addressing the suggestion that resolutions and other official United Nations documents be made available on the Organization's Web site, he reminded delegations that all official documents were already available in the official languages through the optical disk system. Making them available on the Web site would, thus, cut into the revenues of that income-producing service.

On the topic of United Nations information centres, he said that many delegations commented on the process of integration of the centres with field offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). All information centres, including those that were integrated, were monitored closely and their performance was continuously evaluated, he said. He was well aware of the problems and the concerns regarding integration. He assured the Committee that integration of the centres with field offices had not and would not take place without taking into account the views of the host governments in accordance with relevant provisions of General Assembly resolutions.

Following the statement, the representative of Egypt asked that the Under-Secretary-General's remarks be made available in writing to the delegations.

The Committee then resumed informal consultations on the preparation of its report to the General Assembly's fifty-fourth session.

The Committee will meet again at a date to be announced.

Statement by Under-Secretary-General

KENSAKU HOGEN, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, addressing the closing of the Committee on Information's general debate, said criticisms by delegations on the lateness of reports at the current session were justified. "We have tried to alleviate the situation by making unedited English versions of all documents available to delegations through the members of the Bureau as soon as we had secured the necessary clearances." He regretted the lateness and assured delegations that the situation would not be repeated.

He noted that several delegations had asked for additional information on the activities of the Communications Group, which was made up of senior officials from the Executive Office of the Secretary-General concerned with communications, the Strategic Communications Planning Group in the Department of Public Information (DPI), and from time to time, communication officials of the various programmes and funds. All strategic communications issues, priorities and actions were discussed and decided upon in the Group. The discussion had greatly enhanced the coherence and coordination of the Organization's information activities. The Group met weekly, or more often if necessary, was briefed by him, and made decisions about the overall strategic direction and specific activities of DPI in all areas of its responsibilities.

A number of delegations had emphasized improving the availability of information technologies to developing countries, he continued. He assured them that their views would be taken fully into consideration as reorientation in that area continued. Other delegations had stressed the continued relevance of traditional media and the need to introduce new technology to

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improve quality and outreach of those media. He shared the view on the centrality of radio, television and print publications in communicating the message of the United Nations to a global audience. An enormous amount of modernization and innovation had taken place in United Nations radio, in particular, and there was continued exploration of and investment in new technological horizons to expand and enhance quality and reach.

He said the DPI fully supported the project for the development of an international radio broadcasting capacity for the Organization. The question of resources was, however, key. "We estimated in the report that was before the Committee last fall that the cost of developing this capacity would be at least $4 million a year for several years." In that report, the Secretary- General asked Member States to contribute the resources needed to develop that capacity. "In the seven months that have elapsed, I regret to report that no Member State has offered to contribute resources of facilities for the development of that capacity." A questionnaire soliciting responses in that context would be distributed to all Member States.

He said the pilot project for the development of a direct international radio broadcasting capacity would have enormous impact on the current structure and programming of the United Nations Radio Service. It would not be advisable to initiate such a complex project before there were concrete indications from Member States that at least $8 million, which would be needed for the first two years of the main project, could be mobilized. The Organization's radio services to various African countries were being enhanced and not diminished, he added. Africa remained a primary recipient and user of United Nations radio programme production, which was in Arabic, French, Kiswahili and Portuguese.

Addressing the issue of television innovations, he emphasized that the shift to a new digital standard was expected to continue and would be completed by the year 2006. The Department would need to monitor the development carefully in order to address changes as they arose. Due attention would be given to the level of global acceptance of the new standard before any changes were implemented. The Department had already acquired four replacement television cameras capable of reproducing wide-screen pictures and that equipment could be converted to the digital standard. With the possible exception of converting all television camera cables at Headquarters to fibre optic cable, and provided DPI's biennial capital equipment replacement budget remained at the present level, "we hope to be able to acceptably meet this new television standard at the appropriate time without extrabudgetary funding". Moreover, he stressed, that challenge would have no impact on radio operations.

He said some delegations had urged the DPI to expand its annual training programme for broadcasters and journalists from developing countries, as it was a very useful tool in familiarizing journalists with the work of the Organization. He assured them that the Department shared the view on the

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importance and impact of that programme, since the participants played a very important role as redisseminators once they returned to their own countries. "We would welcome the allocation of additional extrabudgetary contributions for the further expansion of the programme to include a larger number of trainees", he added.

He said the Department was continuing its dialogue and cooperation with representatives of the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA). The most recent meeting dealt with upgrading the facilities assigned to them. In those efforts, however, it must be borne in mind that DPI operated with very limited resources, including a fixed amount of physical space. The Department has also been working closely within the United Nations Security and Safety Service to facilitate access to the Building by all correspondents, while simultaneously ensuring that security measures implemented in the recent past would continue to work to the benefit of all users.

He said enhancement of the multilingual Web pages would require additional resources. In addition, the substantive suggestion to make the Web sites more user-friendly would be taken into consideration. He informed delegations that, with the support of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie, DPI would hold this June in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, a seminar on the theme "The Internet as a Tool for Development". Addressing the suggestion for resolutions and other official United Nations documents to be made available on the Organization's Web site, he reminded delegations that all official documents were already available in the official languages through the optical disk system. Making then available on the Web site would, thus, cut into the revenues of that income-producing service.

A number of representatives had said that the Department should further global awareness and support financing for development, as well as support the forthcoming reviews of the global conferences on issues of economic and social development, he said. The Department was continuing its efforts to ensure that development issues continued to receive very high priority in its work. The DPI regularly produced a variety of information materials, including press releases, background articles, fact sheets, feature articles and radio and television programmes on development issues, and other ongoing outreach activities. The publication Development Update plays an important role in bringing news of the United Nations work on economic and social development issues to the attention of influential readership redisseminators.

The Department had already started working on promoting awareness, understanding and support for the forthcoming series of world conferences and special sessions of the General Assembly, he added. Information activities were well under way for the special sessions of the General Assembly on population and development and on the sustainable development of small island developing States, which were both being held later this year. Information strategies had been prepared for next year's major meetings relating to social

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development and women. Once more details had been decided about the high- level meeting on financing for development, the Department would also prepare a strategy to publicize that meeting.

In the Department's advanced preparations to promote those conferences, it also worked with governments and members of civil society, he said. For example, for the special session of the General Assembly on the follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, the Department had already been in close contact with the Government of Switzerland, the host country, to coordinate planning and information activities. At the national level, United Nations information centres undertook many cooperative activities with government offices, both relating to those special events and on an ongoing basis.

The Department has strengthened its advocacy with civil society organizations on social and economic development issues, he said. For example, during this, the International Year of Older Persons, the DPI had undertaken a number of activities with major non-governmental organizations (NGOs) dealing with the issue.

He said that several delegations had reiterated the need to continue promoting awareness about the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster and the situation in the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan. He assured those delegations that the Department would continue to work with NGOs and offer them all the necessary support in promoting global awareness of that important issue.

On the topic of United Nations information centres, he said that many delegations commented on the process of integration of the centres with field offices of the UNDP and the report of the Secretary-General on that issue. All information centres, including those that were integrated, were monitored closely and their performance was subject to ongoing evaluation. The input of the host government was an important element in that evaluation. The continued informal consultations with host governments were necessary for guiding and enhancing the performance of the centres.

Should the Committee decide to have formal consultations with the host governments regarding the integrated centres, the Department would be happy to conduct such an exercise, he said. However, for such formal consultations to achieve the desired results, a reasonable time frame should be allowed. He was well aware of the problems and the concerns regarding integration. He assured the Committee that integration of the centres with field offices had not and would not take place without taking into account the views of the host government, in accordance with relevant provisions of General Assembly resolutions. The Department and the UNDP were working closely to address those concerns. Such cooperation would serve as an important element in developing guidelines in that regard.

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With regard to the request made by the distinguished representative of Croatia regarding the establishment of an information component within the United Nations Liaison Office in Zagreb, the Department would be guided by the decision of the General Assembly in that regard. In the meantime, it would undertake to provide that Office with the relevant information materials for their redissemination. The representative of Jamaica, speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), reiterated the request for the posting of a national information officer within the multi-country UNDP office in Kingston. The Department was currently studying the possibilities of meeting the information needs of Jamaica and surrounding countries, in cooperation with other United Nations offices and organization represented in the country.

With regard to the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, he said the delegation of Bangladesh said there was a need to increase the number of books and journals in the Library, particularly the publications from developing countries. During the current biennium, the Library has redeployed approximately 25 per cent of resources from printed publications to online services, in order to provide a wider variety of materials more rapidly, conveniently and easily retrievable to a geographically dispersed audience -- including permanent missions at Headquarters and Secretariat staff stationed throughout the world. However, the Library did indeed recognize that print materials were still needed, particulary monograph books.

In the case of periodicals, numerous titles were now available online and, therefore, it was often cost-effective to cut subscriptions to those that were not heavily used. In some cases, journals cost hundreds of dollars per year and the Library had found it economical to pay between $20 to $30 for an occasional article, rather than purchase a subscription. However, heavily used journals were still ordered in print and, in fact, the Library spends more than half a million dollars per biennium for journal and newspaper subscriptions. Books, on the other hand, were not usually available except in print and, since the beginning of 1999, the Library had increased its ordering of titles.

As far as material from developing countries was concerned, the Library had been able to provide some of the best access through ProQuest and NewsEdge, he said. Those services include journals and newspapers, as well as news service reports from developing countries. The Library also subscribes to World News Connection, which provided articles from the indigenous press in developing countries. Also, about 12 per cent of the titles approved for ordering in the current year were published in developing countries.

In response to a question asked by the representative of Jamaica, on behalf of CARICOM, he said the staff of permanent missions were given priority for enrolment in the training courses offered by the Library in documentation, information retrieval and Internet.

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