Public information

The twenty-second International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East concluded today, with two interactive panel discussions that explored Japanese media coverage of events in that region, as well as the use of innovative visual tools to tell stories conveying the stark realities faced by Palestinians and Israelis alike.

TOKYO, 9 June — In its work to foster peace in the Middle East, the United Nations counted on the diverse contributions of traditional and new media, which played a critical role in promoting transparency and shaping perceptions of the region’s most important challenges, the head of the United Nations Department of Public Information said today, as he opened a two-day international media seminar in Tokyo.

Following two weeks of intense negotiations, the Committee on Information emphasized today the importance of using all official United Nations languages — Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish — and of ensuring their full and equitable treatment in all activities of the Department of Public Information.

Despite expanding mandates and expectations and shrinking resources, the United Nations remained the “repository” of historic and current information for Governments, children, women and men to use to advance the collective human cause, the Organization’s senior communications official told the Committee on Information as it concluded its general debate.

By drawing on all its assets and partnering with a variety of stakeholders, the Department of Public Information was helping the United Nations support peace efforts across Africa, its chief told the Committee on Information today as it opened its thirty-sixth session.