UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION ADDRESSES COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION, AS IT OPENS TWO-WEEK SESSION

Press Release
PI/1243

UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION ADDRESSES COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION, AS IT OPENS TWO-WEEK SESSION

Kensaku Hogen Highlights Pilot Project for United Nations Radio, Dissemination of Secretary-General’s Millennium Report, Use of Internet

The Department of Public Information would take a dramatic step this year towards direct dissemination of major news on United Nations developments to radio stations around the world in all six official languages, Kensaku Hogen, Under- Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, told the Committee on Information this morning.

Addressing the Committee as it began its twenty-second session, he said that the Department had redeployed $1,760,300 from its approved programme budget for the 2000-2001 biennium, a reflection of its commitment to the project. As indicated in the report on the pilot project for the development of a United Nations international radio broadcasting capacity, that undertaking would not have been possible without airtime partnerships established with local, national and international radio stations and networks in all regions. So far, more than 100 stations in 58 countries had expressed an interest in the new project.

Outlining actions to reorient the Department’s activities, Mr. Hogen said that one of the innovations undertaken to more effectively bring the message of the Secretary-General’s Millennium Report to the General Assembly to the world’s peoples had been its live broadcast by satellite to media worldwide and to special gatherings arranged by United Nations information centres in 10 locations around the world. Another action concerned background briefings for Headquarters-based correspondents and for editorial writers, columnists and reporters in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. The impact of those briefings had resulted in a remarkable amount of coverage that was unprecedented for such a report.

He said that the Department’s focus on traditional media, to which it allocated 90 per cent of its resources, in no way undermined its commitment to exploit fully the powerful reach and impact of the Internet. While Internet access emanated principally from the industrialized world, the day was not too far distant when the medium would become a wide bandwidth channel for delivering top quality sound and pictures into living rooms around the world. The Department wanted to be ready to capitalize on that opportunity when it came.

Elhassane Zahid (Morocco), Committee Chairman, said the Committee’s work was crucial because it would influence United Nations policy in the century ahead.

Committee on Information - 1a - Press Release PI/1243 1st Meeting (AM) 1 May 2000

The programme of the Department of Public Information, as well as the human resources and financial resources for its implementation, had been approved in General Assembly resolution 54/249. All the mandates entrusted to the Committee could therefore be brought to a happy conclusion.

Claude Ondobo Nozana, Director of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said that new technologies did not displace traditional media in support from IPDC. Although massive aid to those media was a thing of the past, the Programme still assisted young countries in that area. The IPDC did not contribute directly to audiovisual productions, except in Central Asia, the Caribbean and Micronesia, where the influence of satellite programmes threatened the local culture.

The representatives of the Netherlands and Egypt spoke on a proposal by the Chairman to amend the agenda and programme of work, which was then unanimously adopted as amended.

Yayan Mulyana (Indonesia) was elected Rapporteur of the Committee to complete the term of his colleague, Sidharto Reza Suryo-Di-Puro, who had left New York.

Brief remarks were also made by the representatives of Iran and the United Republic of Tanzania.

The Committee on Information will meet again at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 2 May, to begin its general debate.

Committee on Information - 3 - Press Release PI/1243 1st Meeting (AM) 1 May 2000

Committee Work Programme

As the Committee on Information began its twenty-second session this morning, it was expected to take up the election of its officers and to adopt its agenda and programme of work. It was also expected to hear a statement by Kensaku Hogen, Under-Secretary-General for Communication and Public Information, and to begin its general debate.

During the general debate, the Committee will consider reports on the Millennium promotional campaign; multilingual development and enrichment of United Nations Web sites; reorientation of United Nations public information and communications activities; allocation of regular budget resources to United Nations information centres in 1999; integration of the centres with field offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); guidelines for the functioning of information centres integrated with UNDP field offices; activities of the Joint United Nations Information Committee (JUNIC); and a proposed medium-term plan for the period 2002-2005.

(For background information, see Press Release PI/1242 of 28 April 2000).

An additional report before the Committee this morning, not available for inclusion in the background press release, concerns development of an international radio broadcasting capacity for the United Nations: progress report on the pilot project (document A/AC.198/2000/6). The report details the progress made with regard to the preparations for the implementation of a pilot project to develop an international radio broadcasting capacity for the United Nations. It provides a summary of the results of two survey questionnaires conducted to determine the readiness of radio networks and satellite distribution systems in different regions to provide airtime for the pilot project.

The survey results reveal that the availability of airtime for the pilot project differs markedly by region, according to the report. Overall readiness is higher in developing countries and among stations without sufficient resources to permit in-depth or daily coverage of the activities of the United Nations. A total of 114 radio stations and networks in 58 countries from all regions expressed interest in participating in the pilot radio project.

The report states that United Nations Radio will need to undergo a general repositioning exercise in order to mobilize resources to meet the daily production and distribution schedule of the pilot project in the six official languages. As the United Nations upgrades equipment and migrates to digital technology, the Radio Service will be better positioned to meet the distribution needs of radio stations that are ready to participate in the project.

Statements

The Committee elected YAYAN MULYANA (Indonesia) as the Rapporteur of the Committee on Information for the remainder of the 1999-2000 term, replacing Sidharto Reza Suryo-Di-Puro (Indonesia).

The Chairman of the Committee on Information, ELHASSANE ZAHID (Morocco), said the twenty-second session would be a historical one. The United Nations, through the Committee, should be better understood. The Committee’s work was crucial, because it would influence the policy of the Organization in the century ahead. It should be a transition of an international era into a global era. The Millennium Summit should receive widespread support from the public and the Member States.

He said that the programme of the Department for Public Information, as well as the human resources and financial resources for implementation of the programme, had been approved in General Assembly resolution 54/249 in Part 7. All the mandates entrusted to the Committee could therefore be expected to be brought to a happy conclusion.

In remarks on the working methods, he said that in its report on the twenty- first session, the Committee had proposed meetings of working groups between the annual session meetings. However, interest in an inter-sessional meeting was limited. Only six Member States had reacted to a letter from the Chairman asking for topics. None of the topics proposed had resulted in sufficient interest. He, therefore, invited all delegations to take advantage of this session to tackle the topics they were interested in.

He proposed an amendment to the Agenda, since many reports presented by Department would not receive substantive examination. He proposed two days of meetings for this new item. Thus, there would be three days of general debate, two days to examine reports, three days of informal consultations and one day for conclusions and recommendations.

PETER MOLLEMA (Netherlands) said that he would like to discuss the suggestion briefly in his group before commenting on it.

HOSSAM ZAKI (Egypt) proposed to suspend the meeting for five minutes for consultations.

After resumption of the meeting, Agenda was amended as follows:

-- After Item 7, insert “8. Consideration of the various reports submitted by the Secretary-General”. The items will be renumbered accordingly.

-- On page 2, the programme of work should include that general debate will take place from 1 to 3 May, and that consideration of reports will be on 4 and 5 May.

The amended agenda was adopted unanimously.

Statement of Under-Secretary-General

KENSAKU HOGEN, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, said that the nine reports before the Committee explained the nature of the many actions under way to reorient the activities of the Department of Public Information and provided details about other specific aspects of the Department’s work. At a time when the Secretary-General was giving priority to reshaping and repositioning the United Nations to meet the demands of a world that was compellingly global in character, the Department was developing creative strategies and new partnerships, and fully utilizing modern information technology to better connect the Organization with all the world’s peoples, a goal to which the Committee was also strongly committed.

Four weeks ago today, he recalled, all arms of the Department had been mobilized to ensure the widest possible outreach for the Secretary-General’s Millennium Report to the General Assembly. One of the innovations undertaken by the Department to more effectively bring the Secretary-General’s message to people in all regions had been the decision to broadcast it live by satellite to media worldwide and, through videoconference, to special gatherings arranged by United Nations information centres in 10 locations around the world.

Another action concerned the embargoed background briefings that were now regularly organized for Headquarters-based correspondents in advance of any important event, he said. Exploiting the affordable communication technology now available, the Department had offered four additional teleconferenced background briefings by the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General for editorial writers, columnists and reporters in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. The impact of those briefings had resulted in a remarkable amount of coverage that was unprecedented for such a report. More than 25 major television broadcast organizations and news distributors had carried the Secretary-General’s statement or its highlights.

He said arrangements had also been made with the European Broadcasting Union, which had carried the entire statement and press conference live, and 15 of whose members had used portions of it. United Nations Radio had provided coverage and dissemination of the report to 37 radio stations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North and South America, and the Caribbean in six languages. Information centres reported that more than 66 television and 92 radio programmes in 29 countries had covered the launch, in addition to over 280 newspaper articles published in 58 countries, based on the press materials provided and disseminated globally by the Department.

The Department would take a dramatic step this year towards disseminating, directly to radio stations around the world, news of major United Nations developments in all six official languages, he said. Reflecting the Department’s commitment to the project, it had redeployed $1,760,300 from its approved programme budget for the 2000-2001 biennium. As indicated in the report on the pilot project for the development of a United Nations international radio broadcasting capacity (A/AC.198/2000/6), that challenging undertaking would not have been possible without airtime partnerships established with local, national and international radio stations and networks in all regions. So far, more than 100 stations in 58 countries had expressed a clear interest in the new project. Members of the Committee and Member States at large were asked to provide contributions to strengthen and sustain the undertaking.

The Department’s outreach for television, including on the weekly CNN programme World Report, was well known, he said. But major challenges loomed for that medium, which was being transformed by rapid changes in technology. In just five years, the Department’s overall television operation would have to convert to the digital standard that would become mandatory in the industry. A comprehensive study of technology requirements across all media was proposed so that the Department could ensure that its capital equipment plans and training programme were tailored accordingly. The aim was to ensure that United Nations media could reach audiences in each region through the most efficient and appropriate technology available.

He said that the Department’s focus on traditional media, to which 90 per cent of its resources was allocated, in no way undermined its commitment to exploit fully the powerful reach and impact of the Internet. The Department was posting on the Internet its products in all the traditional media. While Internet access emanated principally from the industrialized world, the day was not too far distant when the medium would become a wide bandwidth channel for delivering top quality sound and pictures into living rooms around the world. The Department wanted to be ready to capitalize on that opportunity when it came.

The popularity of the United Nations Web site continued to grow at a phenomenal pace, he said. Today, it routinely received more than a million accesses a day, with a year 2000 projection of over 300 million accesses from 48 countries. New sites had recently gone on-line for the Millennium Summit, Bethlehem 2000 and Decolonization and a new site would be launched shortly to publicize the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations. In addition, all Security Council resolutions were now available through the United Nations Web site. A new Documentation Centre consolidated all available parliamentary documents by principal organs and by the end of the year, they were expected to be available through a redesigned interface that would significantly enhance access.

Noting that five large United Nations peacekeeping and political missions had been launched since the Committee’s 1999 session, he said all of them included a public information component. Backstopping those components had become a major activity of the Department. With regard to Palestine, the Department had produced a new photo exhibit, “The United Nations and the Question of Palestine”, which had opened in December and was now part of the guided tour route. A French version would be displayed at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris later this month. The Department was also working on a campaign aimed at publicizing the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

He said that the Department, working closely with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, had implemented information strategies leading to the General Assembly special sessions on women and social development scheduled for next month. The creation of special Web pages on those upcoming events was a new feature used by the Department to increase awareness of the issues before both those sessions. The Department had also focused on issues relating to human rights, including the 2001 World Conference against Racism, through close cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Department had highlighted activities related to the Secretary-General’s initiatives towards business and on the renewed role of the Economic and Social Council.

In March, the Department had organized an interdepartmental, inter-agency meeting on cartography and geographic information science, he said. That event had been the culmination of several years of efforts to bring together colleagues within the United Nations system to address common issues affecting the Organization’s work in those fields and to take steps to establish system-wide policies and procedures regarding the handling of geographic information.

Regarding sales and marketing of publications, he said the Department was capitalizing on electronic technology to enhance dissemination and sales. In March, the United Nations Treaty Collection was launched as a subscription item in cooperation with the Office of Legal Affairs. The new service provided subscribers with instant access to the Organization’s vast collection of international treaties and offered free access to governments, specialized agencies and certain depository libraries, while at the same time generating subscription income from other customers. Special rates were provided for developing countries and non-profit organizations. The renovation of the United Nations Bookshop had paid immediate dividends, with annual sales for 1999 being the second highest ever.

As part of efforts to strengthen the United Nations connection with civil society, he said, the Dag Hammarskjold Library had enhanced its outreach programme for depository libraries through increased training and dissemination activities. There were currently 384 such institutions in 148 countries and territories. In cooperation with United Nations information centres and services, four regional workshops had been organized for depository libraries in developing countries, with emphasis on hands-on training in the use of United Nations resources on the Internet. Two additional workshops would be held this year, in Moscow this month for the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and in Islamabad in August for South-West Asia.

Statements

CLAUDE ONDOBO NOZANA, Director of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said that the support by IPDC emphasized establishing infrastructure for communication, defending freedom of the press, and protection of the professionals working in the area of communication.

The International Programme, established in November 1980, had financed 680 projects for a total of $77,312,909, he said. Four hundred sixty-seven projects were national, and 213 were regional and interregional. Ninety per cent of the voluntary contributions were provided by the countries of the European Union. More than a thousand fellowships for short-term training had been granted, among them for: journalism, offered by the Russian Federation; audiovisual productions, offered by the Republic of Korea; and press management, offered by Israel. Next year, there would be a fellowship for television journalism, offered by Brazil.

On the occasion of its twentieth anniversary, the IPDC had decided to grant priority to developing countries, non-governmental organizations and media organizations, in promotion of press freedom, training, strengthening community media, and acquiring new technologies for public media, he said. That evolution was due to controversy about the new world order of information and communication adopted in 1989 and UNESCO’s new information strategy, which was designed to encourage free circulation of information nationally and internationally without affecting freedom of expression, as well as develop capacity in developing countries to increase their participation.

He said that the new strategy had enabled the Programme to organize, together with the Department of Public Information, a series of seminars on the promotion of independent and pluralistic media. The first and third seminars had established the World Day of Press Freedom and the World Prize for the press. The IPDC also defended freedom of the press, in particular financial support to the Global Alert System (IFEX) in Toronto, Canada. In addition, the Programme had fought for the survival of independent media in zones of conflict and post-conflict, such as Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Kosovo, Rwanda and East Timor, which had received material and technical support.

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Additionally, UNESCO, together with the Foreign Ministry of Switzerland and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, had organized the Year of Freedom of the Press in Geneva on 4 and 5 May 2000, a round table conference on combating hate propaganda in areas of conflict. Other forms of violence, such as screen violence and pedophilia, were also of concern, he said. The UNESCO also focused on the legal aspects of publications. Agreements reached aimed to eliminate import duties on cultural, educational, scientific and informational materials.

In financing projects, IPDC strove to maintain a balance between human resources and materials. The UNESCO not only supplied materials, he said. It had, for instance, standardized and digitalized the 418 characters of thaana, the language of the Maldives. The same had been done for principal Asian languages, such as Chinese, Korean, Hindi, Lao, Nepalese and others, and in Africa, for Bambara, Peul, Soninke, and Ewe, among others. That software, he said, had made it possible for journalists, writers and teachers to have access in their local language to the possibilities offered by the computer.

Training, in the form of workshops and seminars, covered the drafting of news and ethics, and also law and management of information. Much assistance was organized for creating training institutions for information in the more classic areas, such as schools for journalism.

New technologies did not displace traditional media sectors in the support of IPDC, he said. Although massive aid to that sector was a thing of the past, the Programme still assisted young countries, for instance Eritrea, in that area.

The IPDC did not contribute directly to audiovisual productions, except in Central Asia, the Caribbean region and Micronesia, where the influence of satellite programs threatened the local culture. In that regard, he mentioned the informal network INPUT, which organized by region the exchange, planning and selection of programmes. The Programme’s assistance to the written press was focused on feminist publications managed by women.

Community radio was the most demanded media, he said. During a meeting in March of this year in Paris, members of the programme’s Board had decided to focus more on community radio managed by feminist organizations.

“We must ask ourselves whether the IPDC had resources to change things”, he said, quoting Torben Krogh (Denmark), former Chairman of the Board of IPDS. The Programme must rely on developing human resources, which means training, education and research.

MEHDI YOUSEFI (Iran) thanked the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information for the information given to the Committee and congratulated the Department of Public Information for its good work.

MUHAMMAD YUSUF (United Republic of Tanzania) asked why the post of radio producer for the Kiswahili language had not yet been filled.

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