UN: EU statement on questions relating to information
UNITED NATIONS
General Assembly
Sixty-first Session
Fourth Committee
Agenda item 34: Questions relating to information
Statement on behalf of the European Union by Ms. Heli Kanerva, Minister Counsellor, the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations
New York, 16 October 2006
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Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.
The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, and the EFTA Country Liechtenstein, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Moldova and Ukraine align themselves with this declaration.
*) Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
Informing the peoples of the world about the UN, its goals and activities at a time in which the world is facing new challenges and opportunities and in which the UN is being reformed is a task of huge importance. The UN department of Public Information (DPI) plays a crucial role in providing accurate, impartial, comprehensive and timely information about the UN. The EU fully supports DPI in this important and demanding task. Supplying information on the UN's activities and achievements is crucial in both bolstering UN's support and in achieving the aims of this organisation.
The EU acknowledges the report of the Committee on Information of its twenty-eight session held in 24 April-5 May 2006 and would like to thank the Secretary-General of the report on Questions relating to information. These reports provide member states with a good overview of the work, progress and challenges of the DPI. Whilst acknowledging the breadth of DPI's work the EU would like to highlight the following issues:
-we are pleased to note that the process of the reorientation of UN's public information and communication activities has been continued and welcome DPI's commitment to pursuing genuine reform. The reorientation process undertaken over the last years should make it possible to further rationalise, optimise and make more effective the activities of the DPI and to enhance the visibility and impact of its activities. As we have pointed out in several occasions the EU fully supports the Secretary-General's proposals for the creation of regional UN information centres (UNIC), an ambitious plan which can deliver real benefits. The EU's support to regional UNICs meant that several European countries had to make the difficult decision of closing the UN information offices in their capitals in order for a new regional information centre for Western Europe to be opened in Brussels. The EU wishes to reiterate its support for the regionalisation of UNICs as we believe that in the long run this will increase the efficiency and quality of UNICs services. However, the process of the regionalization should be conducted carefully and it should reflect the specific situation of those countries in which UNICs still exist.
-the EU fully supports DPI's mission statement which echoes the Millennium Declaration and focuses on UN priorities such as poverty reduction, conflict prevention, sustainable development, human rights, HIV/AIDS, combating terrorism and the needs of the African continent. These objectives can only be achieved if people are aware of these issues and the interlinkages between development, security, human rights and the rule of law. The EU acknowledges DPI's commitment to ensuring that people in both developed and developing countries are within the reach of its activities by using both traditional and new communication tools. Also, we need to work together in narrowing the technology gap between the developing and developed countries.
-the EU commends DPI for its efforts to develop a more strategic approach to promoting global awareness of the UN and its work. We welcome the identification of three strategic goals to maximise the effect of DPI's work; pursuing well defined and targeted delivery of information, taking advantage of new developments in information and communication technologies and building partnerships with the civil society.
- the EU is pleased to see further developments in the content and design of the UN website which has become a primary source of UN information. We welcome particularly all efforts aimed at increasing the accessibility of the website for persons with disabilities. Internet is a global communication tool and reaching a global audience makes it imperative to make full use of the UN's linguistic diversity. We congratulate DPI for moving towards parity among official UN languages on the website and urge DPI to continue its work in favour of multilingualism in all its activities.
Please let me take this opportunity to highlight the commitment of the EU to freedom of expression as provided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The EU holds that the freedom of the press is of pivotal importance to all societies and a crucial element of democracy building. We strongly condemn all attempts to control or influence the media with the aim of distorting or suppressing information and opinions. Too many journalists face difficulties and dangers when trying to carry out their profession. This year alone over 75 journalists have been killed, including the recent killing of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. The EU would like to take this opportunity to pay respect to all those journalists who lost their lives while performing their duties in countries all throughout the world.
Thank you Mr. Chairman