Delegates Highlight United Nations Role Disseminating Timely, Objective Information in Multiple Languages, as Fourth Committee Continues Debate
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its general debate on questions relating to information today, with speakers spotlighting the provision of timely, accurate, reliable and impartial information to global and local populations alike.
Angola’s representative, speaking on behalf of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, echoed calls for genuine multilingualism across the Organization’s communications and platforms, a view that featured prominently again in today’s debate. It is essential to promote the United Nations message beyond its six official languages, she pointed out, noting that Portuguese — the world’s fifth most-used language — has 260 million speakers and is the official language in nine countries.
Paraguay’s representative said the Organization must better adapt to the demands of the Spanish-speaking public around the world. To advance true multilingualism, the United Nations must reconsider its working methods to meet the needs of a culturally and linguistically diverse world. Noting that United Nations press releases are mainly issued in English and French, she said that such sources of information must be made available in all six of the Organization’s official languages.
Senegal’s representative was among several speakers who drew attention to increasingly hostile environments faced by United Nations peacekeepers due to the proliferation of misinformation and hate speech against them. She called on the Secretariat to continue to develop communications strategies that will help establish trust between missions and host countries.
Nepal’s representative praised the Department of Global Communications for its media outreach efforts, including on climate change. He appealed for more media content in local languages and commended the United Nations Information Centre in Kathmandu for producing publications and videos in the Nepali language on the COVID‑19 pandemic, human rights and domestic violence.
Côte d’Ivoire’s representative likewise underscored the importance of United Nations Information Centres and the need to provide them with more resources so they can broadcast fact-based information in local languages. The development of information and communications technologies must not be to the detriment of traditional media such as television and radio, he added.
Pakistan’s representative, noting the recent devastating floods in her country, hoped that the United Nations will continue to spotlight the many crises resulting from climate change. She also drew attention to hate speech, discrimination and violence against Muslims in several parts of the world and urged the Department of Global Communications to launch awareness campaigns to counter a rising tide of Islamophobia.
Myanmar’s representative said freedom of expression, freedom of the press and journalists’ activities in his country have been severely restricted since the February 2021 military coup, with the junta forcing at least 12 media outlets to shut down, in addition to deliberate attacks on media personnel both domestic and foreign. He called on the United Nations Information Centre in Yangon to utilize all means to transmit the real situation on the ground and the voices of the people.
Iran’s representative, among others, said that certain countries are taking advantage of their monopoly on modern communications technology to distort and fabricate events and realities, especially in the developing world. She called on the Department of Global Communications to continue to disseminate information about the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on affected countries and their people.
The Russian Federation’s representative said that several countries which view themselves as developed democracies have established a complete regime of censorship in their media spaces. The concentration of media sources and digital service providers within a narrow group of countries risks fragmentation of the global Internet space, he warned, calling for a collective response to that threat.
Ukraine’s representative said the Russian Federation is using propaganda to justify its aggression against his country. Some United Nations documents have used inappropriate terms such as “armed conflict in Ukraine”, he said, urging the Organization to use the vocabulary and full titles of relevant General Assembly resolutions, thus preventing manipulations and misinterpretations by the aggressor State.
The United Kingdom’s representative said that amid an unprecedented global proliferation of disinformation, propaganda and lies, people more than ever look to the United Nations as a source of trusted information. Since the invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin's propaganda machine has been in overdrive, he continued. “The Russian government has lied to the world, lied to Ukrainians, lied to its own people and lied to itself,” he said.
Also speaking today were representatives of Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, El Salvador, Libya, Thailand, Brazil, Japan, Bangladesh, Algeria, Portugal, Ecuador, Cameroon, Tunisia and Slovakia.
Speaking in exercise of the right of reply were representatives of the Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Israel, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Ukraine.
The Fourth Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. on Friday, 21 October, to continue its consideration of questions relating to information.