PRESS FREEDOM, PLURALISM OF CONTENT MUST GO TOGETHER, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS IN MESSAGE FOR WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION DAY

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

MESSAGE FOR WORLD TELECOMMUNICATIONS DAY

17 May, 2003

Draft Message for World Telecommunication Day, May 17th.

PRESS FREEDOM, PLURALISM OF CONTENT MUST GO TOGETHER, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS

IN MESSAGE FOR WORLD TELECOMMUNICATIONS DAY

Following is the message by Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan for World Telecommunications Day, 17 May:

The theme of World Telecommunication Daythis year –- “Helping all of the world's people to communicate” –- reminds us once again of the crucial role of communication in all areas of human endeavourendeavour.  It also reminds us that millions of people in the poorest countries are still excluded from the “right to communicate”, increasingly seen as a fundamentalhuman rights to which all women and men are entitled.

There have been tremendous successes in reducing the digital divide.  The number of people using the Internet worldwide has almost tripled, from just over 200 million at the start of 2000 to more than 600 million in 2002, with the number projected to reach 2 billion by 2005.

Developing countries now account for most of new mobile phone subscriptions sold each year.  China is adding 5 million new cell-phone users each month, and the highest rate of growth in the use of mobile phone has been in Africa, albeit from a low base.  In the fixed-line business, four times as many new lines were installed in the developing world as in the developed world in 2001.

But the least developed countries have been largely left out from this progress.  They are the one that could benefit most from access to information and communication technologies, or ICTs, and every effort must be made to bring them on board.

“Helping all of the world's people to communicate” is an integral part ofin line with the Millennium Development Goals, agreed upon by Heads of State and gGovernment at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000.  In particular, the eighth Millennium Development Goal aims “to develop a global partnership for development” and, “in cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications technologies”.  Information and communication technologies must be used to leapfrog bridge the development digital divide and accelerate progress in the poorest corners of the world.

Helping communication for all also means promoting freedom of opinion and expression, the free flow of information and communication, and diversity of content and culture.  Free and informative media are also a cornerstone of the information society and essential to helping all of the world’s people to communicate..  At the same time, the “content divide” between developed and developing countries must be addressed, encouraging media organizations and individuals in developing countries to promote local content, in line with the local culture, and in the local language.  Press freedom and pluralism of content can and must go together in our information society..

Helping the world’s people to communicate will be a major theme of the World Summit on the Information Society, the first part of which takes place in Geneva this December.  The termsm “information society”,” is an attempt to capture the new contours of our times.  Others have called it the “digital era”, or the “information age” have all been used to describe this age.   Whatever term we use, the society we build must be open and pluralistic -- one in which all people, in all countries, have access to information and knowledge. This is the primary goal of the World Summit on the Information Society, the first phase of which will take place this December in Geneva.

The Summit willcan serve as a unique platform to galvanize the international community -- , working in concert with governments, private business and civil society --, to narrow the “digital divide” and laylays the foundations of a truly inclusive global information society.  It is an opportunity that cannot must not be missed.

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