UN COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION SUPPORTS USE OF DIVERSE MEDIA FOR OUTREACH

UN COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION SUPPORTS USE OF DIVERSE MEDIA FOR OUTREACH
New York, May 2 2007 7:00PM
Representatives of United Nations Member States today urged the world body to keep using a wide array of media and languages to deliver its message of peace, development and rights to the peoples of the world, as the UN Committee on Information continued its 2007 debate at UN Headquarters in New York.

"We would like to record our appreciation for the diversity of these activities that have developmental, cultural, and socio-economic impacts," Egypt's representative Amr Kamal Eldin Elsherbini told the session, which opened on Monday with remarks from Committee Chairman Rudolf Christen of Switzerland urging the Organization to use its new technologies to broadcast a clear and coherent message under the new leadership of Under-Secretary-General Kiyotaka Akasaka.

Ambassador Ajai Malhotra of India stressed that the "widest possible spectrum" of technologies be utilized for that purpose, from webcasts and podcasts to more traditional forms such as radio and print.

"Many countries simultaneously straddle several centuries in technological terms, and it is vital that the product presented by DPI is disseminated through a wide menu of media channels," he said.

Israel's deputy permanent representative, Daniel Carmon, marvelled at the fact that meetings held at UN Headquarters can be viewed as they occur anywhere in the world through simultaneous webcasts.

Established by the General Assembly in 1978, the Committee examines the UN's public information policies and activities in light of international relations concerns. Consisting of 110 members, it is also tasked with the promotion of a more equitable world communications order to strengthen peace and international understanding.
2007-05-02 00:00:00.000

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