WIDENING TECHNOLOGICAL GULF BETWEEN DEVELOPED, DEVELOPING WORLD FOCUS OF DISCUSSION IN COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION

Press Release
PI/1244

WIDENING TECHNOLOGICAL GULF BETWEEN DEVELOPED, DEVELOPING WORLD FOCUS OF DISCUSSION IN COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION

Concern over the widening gulf between the developed countries and the developing world amid rapid technological advances dominated the discussion this morning in the Committee on Information, as it continued its general debate on the reorientation of the activities of the Department of Public Information.

India’s representative said that state of the art technologies in mass communications had rendered the world a neighbourhood, but not a community. The gulf between developing and developed countries continued to widen, despite the global nervous system of communications that had emerged. Notwithstanding various measures undertaken or under implementation, the question to be squarely addressed was the extent to which the Department’s reorientation would meet the aspirations of the developing world and succeed in correcting the present bias in the field of information and communication.

The representative of Bangladesh expressed concern that a sizeable percentage of the population in developing countries -- the traditional reservoir of support for the United Nations -- was not fully aware of the full range of the Organization’s activities. Focusing on the developed countries and paying less attention to the developing world had resulted in an imbalance in achieving the Department’s stated goals. It should focus more on publicizing United Nations activities and achievements in social and economic development.

Indonesia’s representative stressed that objective information provided by the United Nations had always been constructive to a peace process between warring parties. That same objectivity should apply to the coverage of peacekeeping operations. Cooperation at the planning and implementation levels between the Department of Public Information and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations was instrumental.

The representative of the Netherlands, on behalf of the Group of Western States and associated countries, referred to the number of journalists that had been killed around the world while carrying out their duties and said the use of violence to silence journalists or obstruct their work must be condemned. Attempts to control or influence the media in order to distort or suppress information or opinions must also be condemned, as must the use of media to incite ethnic hatred and violence.

Also speaking this morning were the representatives of Nigeria (on behalf of the “Group of 77” and China), Senegal, Croatia and Guyana.

The Committee on Information will resume its general debate at 3 p.m. Wednesday, 3 May.

Committee on Information - 2 - Press Release PI/1244 2nd Meeting (AM) 2 May 2000

Committee Work Programme

The Committee on Information met this morning to begin its general debate. (For background information, see Press Release PI/1242 of 28 April and Press Release PI/1243 of 1 May.)

Statements

ARTHUR MBANEFO (Nigeria), on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said that the Group came to the Committee against the background of the Havana Declaration and the Havana Programme of Action. The two documents, resulting from the first ever South Summit, held in Havana, Cuba, last month, were the expression of the Group’s resolve to ensure that international cooperation in the new century truly served the purpose of development and the establishment of a just and equitable global order. The two documents should be circulated as part of the document for the Millennium General Assembly.

He said that the two documents reflected the aspirations of three-quarters of humanity. The various proposals and programmes enunciated in the Havana Programme of Action deserved the support of the Committee on Information, as well as that of the United Nations and its agencies. In pursuit of its mandate, the Department of Public Information (DPI) was in a position not just to ensure the wide dissemination of the Havana Declaration and Programme of Action, but also to assist the Group of 77, particularly in ensuring implementation of certain areas of the Havana Programme of Action.

Information activities helped to build broad-based global support for the United Nations, he said. In doing so, the interest of developing countries must be taken into consideration. In that regard, the Group of 77 had noted the preparatory work on the pilot project on the development of an international radio broadcasting capacity for the United Nations. Having always mentioned the need for balanced information dissemination, the Group would appreciate additional reports on the pilot project.

He said the Group had always supported the integration of United Nations information centres with field offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as one of the most important mechanisms for the Organization’s promotional work. The Group welcomed the proposed guidelines for the functioning of the integrated centres. However, it would appreciate additional information on the status of the centres on a regional basis, including staffing levels and equipment, in order to enable a proper and full assessment of the centres, particularly those in developing countries.

ANWARUL CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh), supporting Nigeria’s statement on behalf by the Group of 77 and China, said his delegation had repeatedly expressed concern that, despite extended organizational structures, a sizeable percentage of the population in developing countries, which had been the traditional reservoir of support for the United Nations, was not fully aware of the full range of the Organization’s activities. That lack of awareness was in a way worse than criticism. Focusing on the developed countries and paying less attention to the developing world had resulted in an imbalance in achieving DPI’s stated goals.

He said that the application of new tools and technology should not be done by scaling down the traditional means of communication that were still the main source of information in most developing countries. More use of radio and television, as well as the establishment of a United Nations news service, could serve that purpose. The Department should focus more on publicizing United Nations activities and achievements in social and economic development. Sustainable human development issues, such as poverty eradication, health, education, women’s rights and empowerment, as well as other relevant social issues, should receive attention. In order to achieve that objective, the Department could play a significant role through its information centres.

Regarding the coverage of United Nations activities, he said that the Department’s press releases should bring out the intergovernmental aspect of the Organization’s work and deliberations. At present, the press releases were too focused on the Secretariat’s role. Bangladesh had been pointing that out for some time, but not much change had been perceived in the traditional and archaic way in which those press releases were prepared.

He expressed satisfaction with the fact that the Dag Hammarskjold Library was gradually becoming a virtual library with world outreach, making United Nations information and other acquired materials electronically accessible to a growing number of users. However, the need to build up the library’s strength in books, journals and other hard copy materials should not be ignored. He strongly requested that the library acquire more publications and periodicals from developing countries.

There was no justification for integrating United Nations information centres with UNDP field offices due to financial constraints, he said. Bangladesh reiterated the need to restore the independent status of the information centre in Dhaka and requested the Department to appoint a full time Director for it. The United Nations should not devote too much time in justifying an action that had been based on a narrowly focused policy.

IBRA DEGUENE KA (Senegal) said that the United Nations would soon be holding the Millennium Summit, a focus for much of the United Nations’ attention. The Summit would give Member States an opportunity to look at the United Nations’ actions and make proposals for the future and the necessity of the organization. He encouraged the world media to cover the event globally and establish a link between the activities of the United Nations and the peoples of the world. The publicity campaign should continue after the event and have a positive impact on the world.

A fairer international order for free and greater dissemination of information was a prerequisite for international peace, he said. The 65 information centres around the world had encouraged better understanding of the United Nations in various sectors of civil society. He called for better distribution of resources among the information centers.

A case-by-case approach seemed to be the best way to give a unified image of the United Nations in the field and carry out savings, he said. There was a need to improve and increase staff, financial resources and training possibilities. He also called for strengthening of the Information Centre in Dakar and supported the launching of international radio broadcast programmes, as well as the multilingual enrichment of the Web site.

IVAN NIMAC (Croatia) said that the symbolic significance given to the year 2000 had provided the United Nations with an opportunity to disseminate its message with a renewed vigour. The public outreach efforts relating to the messages surrounding the millennium had been particularly successful. Nevertheless, the real task should be to harness the interest generated for the furthering of the purposes of the United Nations activities, such as the fundamental, Charter- mandated activities associated with poverty eradication, peace and security, HIV/AIDS and similar issues.

He said the issue of language parity on the United Nations Web site should be measured against two key criteria: increasing language parity; and cost effectiveness. There were, however, other areas that required the Committee’s attention, such as the nature and quality of the information services of DPI, the reorientation of public information in the United Nations, the response of DPI to the impact of new technologies, and the extent of interaction with civil society and its impact upon the United Nations’ public information function.

It was clear, he said, that the more traditional information media, particularly radio, remained the key media for communication of news in most parts of the world. The United Nations’ radio capacity should, therefore, reflect that reality, and he welcomed the redeployment of $1.76 million in DPI’s budget for that purpose. The role of the Information Centres deserved more attention. He noted that Croatia remained on the waiting list of countries that had expressed their readiness to host an Information Centre or information component.

KAMALESH SHARMA (India), supporting the Group of 77 statement, said that state of the art technologies in mass communications had rendered the world a neighbourhood, but not a community. The gulf between developing and developed countries, as also within the countries themselves, continued to widen despite the global nervous system of communications that had emerged. The Department of Public Information had an important role to play in bridging that gap.

While appreciating the increasing use of new technologies, including the Internet, for reaching out directly to the public, he stressed the need for accuracy in the information content released on the United Nations Web site. Otherwise, with the Internet’s rules of speed and immediacy, there was a risk of compromising the Organization’s image and standing. That factor was all the more important in view of the Web site’s vast outreach of more than 260 million accesses a year.

He said that notwithstanding various measures undertaken or under implementation, the question to be squarely addressed was the extent to which the reorientation of the Department would meet the aspirations of the developing world and succeed in correcting the present bias in the field of information and communication. The focus of any information and communication strategy had to be on developmental issues, which were the basic challenge before the developing countries.

Thematic campaigns must truly reflect the development concerns of the international community, he said. They must include multilateral development cooperation and disarmament, particularly nuclear weapons. Furthermore, selective emphasis on a particular human right might not be desirable. Promotion and protection of all human rights, which were interdependent and indivisible, including the right to development, was a cross-cutting area of focus for the United Nations. Thematic campaigns must also focus on the burning issues of the day, such as promotion of democracy, the fight against terrorism and effectively combating the drug menace and international crime.

PETER MOLLEMA (Netherlands), on behalf of the Western Group of States and associated countries, said that while technological innovations, satellite communications and the rapidly expanding Internet brought access to all parts of the world with the touch of the fingertip, not all parts of the world were benefiting to the same extent from those developments. In the Western world, access to the new technologies was far greater than in the developing world. That gap must be taken into consideration when developing a media strategy aimed at a worldwide audience, as the United Nations was obliged to do.

He said it was sad and worrying that at least 39 journalists had been killed around the world while doing their work. Although many people seemed to think that present-day journalism was sensational, subjective or prejudicial, the United Nations would not be able to do its work without an independent and critical media corps. Therefore, the use of violence to silence journalists or otherwise obstruct their work must be condemned. More generally, attempts to control or influence the media with the aim of distorting or suppressing information or opinions must also be condemned, as must the use of media for propaganda, or incitement of ethnic hatred and violence.

Reform was more than simply improving efficiency, he said. The overall objective should be to enhance the effectiveness of United Nations information activities. It was necessary to move away from the approach of trying to do it all and to develop new strategies and approaches. The Department should take an in- depth look at its own policies, its media-mix, its strengths and weaknesses, since new technologies would undoubtedly change the means of communicating in the years ahead.

MAKARIM WIBISONO (Indonesia) said that in recent years, the development of information and communication technologies had been characterized by “e-developments”. He hoped that those developments would bring more benefits to humankind than adverse effects. One of the many factors causing poverty was a lack of access to resources and information. Information and communication strategies and policies that enhanced people’s participation in the development process were one of the answers to the problem.

Information and communication technologies at different levels remained vital to the promotion of high-quality education, he said. In some developing countries, e-education had widened the knowledge gap between the literate and illiterate constituents. The very challenge of e-education was how to respond to the needs of the illiterate and engage them in national education. In spite of its potential contribution to human development, the continuing unequal spread of information and communications technology had brought devastating effects, not only to the process of nation-building, but also in the way development results were distributed. Such technology had also boosted the marginalization of and domination over women.

The role of the Committee was to promote a just, democratic and social order, which could be rendered possible by enhancing mutual understanding, tolerance and open and balanced communications. While enhancing non-traditional means, the Department of Public Information should continue to reach out by the traditional media, such as print, radio and television. He stressed the need for impartiality

and objectivity concerning information activities of the United Nations. Objective information provided by the United Nations had always been constructive to a peace process between warring parties. That same objectivity should also apply to the coverage of peacekeeping operations. Cooperation at planning and implementation levels between the Department of Public Information and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations was instrumental. The central role the Department of Public Information played in the selection of spokespersons for United Nations missions was of great importance.

KOREEN SIMON (Guyana) said that the activities in the field of public information and communication should be reoriented to ensure that the Organization kept in pace with changes and was able to disseminate information about its activities to reach a wider audience. Statistics on the usage of the Web site were encouraging. Although the public was interested in the activities of the United Nations, many people from developing countries did not have access to the Internet.

The reach of the Internet was global, but there were still many who did not have access, she said. Traditional means of disseminating information must continue to be available. The Internet should not replace traditional means. Information centres could play a role in disseminating information to people that did not have access to the Internet. Integration of information centres with field offices of UNDP could be beneficial, but the centres should not lose their autonomy and their ability to provide information. That integration should take place on a case-by-case basis, and adequate resources should be available to provide for changes resulting from it.

The Millennium Summit could be a moment of climax in publicizing the importance of the United Nations, she continued. Through promotional campaigns, public awareness of the role the United Nations played in improving the lives of people around the world could be heightened. The Department of Public Information should, therefore, endeavour to build momentum in its public campaign leading up to the Summit, which would present a unique opportunity to mobilize public support and financing for the United Nations.

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