A
 
                        Information in the service of humanity
 
      The General Assembly,
 
      Taking note of the comprehensive and important report of the Committee
on Information,
 
      Also taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on questions
relating to information,
 
      Urges all countries, organizations of the United Nations system as a
whole and all others concerned, reaffirming their commitment to the principles
of the Charter of the United Nations and to the principles of freedom of the
press and freedom of information, as well as to those of the independence,
pluralism and diversity of the media, deeply concerned by the disparities
existing between developed and developing countries and the consequences of
every kind arising from those disparities that affect the capability of the
public, private or other media and individuals in developing countries to
disseminate information and communicate their views and their cultural and
ethical values through endogenous cultural production, as well as to ensure
the diversity of sources and their free access to information, and recognizing
the call in this context for what in the United Nations and at various
international forums has been termed "a new world information and
communication order, seen as an evolving and continuous process":
 
      (a)   To cooperate and interact with a view to reducing existing
disparities in information flows at all levels by increasing assistance for
the development of communication infrastructures and capabilities in
developing countries, with due regard for their needs and the priorities
attached to such areas by those countries, and in order to enable them and the
public, private or other media in developing countries to develop their own
information and communication policies freely and independently and increase
the participation of media and individuals in the communication process, and
to ensure a free flow of information at all levels;
 
      (b)   To ensure for journalists the free and effective performance of
their professional tasks and condemn resolutely all attacks against them;
 
      (c)   To provide support for the continuation and strengthening of
practical training programmes for broadcasters and journalists from public,
private and other media in developing countries;
 
      (d)   To enhance regional efforts and cooperation among developing
countries, as well as cooperation between developed and developing countries,
to strengthen communication capacities and to improve the media infrastructure
and communication technology in the developing countries, especially in the
areas of training and dissemination of information;
 
      (e)   To aim, in addition to bilateral cooperation, at providing all
possible support and assistance to the developing countries and their media,
public, private or other, with due regard to their interests and needs in the
field of information and to action already adopted within the United Nations
system, including:
 
      (i)   The development of the human and technical resources that are
            indispensable for the improvement of information and communication
            systems in developing countries and support for the continuation
            and strengthening of practical training programmes, such as those
            already operating under both public and private auspices
            throughout the developing world;
 
     (ii)   The creation of conditions that will enable developing countries
            and their media, public, private or other, to have, by using their
            national and regional resources, the communication technology
            suited to their national needs, as well as the necessary programme
            material, especially for radio and television broadcasting;
 
    (iii)   Assistance in establishing and promoting telecommunication links
            at the subregional, regional and interregional levels, especially
            among developing countries;
 
     (iv)   The facilitation, as appropriate, of access by the developing
            countries to advanced communication technology available on the
            open market;
 
      (f)   To provide full support for the International Programme for the
Development of Communication of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization, which should support both public and private media.
 
                                         B
 
             United Nations public information policies and activities
 
      The General Assembly,
 
      Reaffirming its primary role in elaborating, coordinating and
harmonizing United Nations policies and activities in the field of
information,
 
      Also reaffirming that the Secretary-General should ensure that the
activities of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat, as the
focal point for the public information tasks of the United Nations, are
strengthened and improved, keeping in view the purposes and principles of the
Charter of the United Nations, the priority areas defined by the General
Assembly and the recommendations of the Committee on Information,
 
      Taking note of all the reports of the Secretary-General submitted to the
Committee at its eighteenth session,
 
      Encouraging the Secretary-General to develop a concrete plan to continue
to enhance the public image of the United Nations,
 
      1.    Welcomes the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to membership
in the Committee on Information;
 
      2.    Recalls its decision to consolidate the role of the Committee as
its main subsidiary body mandated to make recommendations relating to the work
of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat;
 
      3.    Calls upon the Secretary-General, in respect of the public
information policies and activities of the United Nations, to implement fully
the recommendations contained in paragraph 2 of its resolution 48/44 B of 10
December 1993;
 
      4.    Takes note of the reductions in the resources allocated to the
Department of Public Information, expresses its concern about the proposals of
the Secretary-General on further reductions in the Department's budget which
might negatively affect the activities mandated by the General Assembly, and
requests the Secretary-General to support the Department of Public
Information, in accordance with section II, paragraph 6, of Assembly
resolution 50/214 of 23 December 1995;
 
      5.    Also takes note of the efforts of the Secretary-General to put
into practice the need for an effective public information capacity of the
Department of Public Information for the formation and day-to-day functioning
of the information components of peacekeeping and other field operations of
the United Nations, and requests the Secretariat to continue to ensure the
involvement of the Department at the planning stage of such future operations
through interdepartmental consultations and coordination with the other
substantive departments of the Secretariat;
 
      6.    Requests the management of the Department of Public Information to
review the Department's publications and proposals for publications to ensure
that all publications fulfil an identifiable need, that they do not duplicate
other publications inside or outside the United Nations system and that they
are produced in a cost-effective manner, and to report thereon to the
Committee at its nineteenth session;
 
      7.    Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General regarding the
review of major publications of the Department of Public Information, and
urges all efforts to ensure timely production and dissemination of its major
publications, in particular the UN Chronicle, the Yearbook of the United
Nations, the World Media Handbook and Africa Recovery, maintaining consistent
editorial independence and accuracy, taking the necessary measures to ensure
that they contain adequate, objective and equitable information about issues
before the Organization and reflecting divergent opinions wherever they occur;
 
      8.    Requests the Secretary-General to conduct a review of existing
publications produced and disseminated by the Department of Public Information
in the sphere of development and to renew his efforts to improve existing
publications or explore the possibility of alternative publications, in such a
manner as to respond to the development-related information needs of people,
in accordance with the requirements that the publications fulfil an
identifiable need, that they do not duplicate other publications inside or
outside the United Nations system and that they are produced in a
cost-effective manner;
 
      9.    Reaffirms the importance attached by Member States to the role of
United Nations information centres in effectively and comprehensively
disseminating information in all parts of the world, particularly in
developing countries and countries in transition, and especially in those
countries where there is a need for greater understanding about United Nations
activities;
 
      10.   Reaffirms also that United Nations information centres meet the
primary objectives outlined by the Committee in its report to the General
Assembly at its forty-second session;
 
      11.   Recalls the report of the Secretary-General on the results of the
trial of integrating United Nations information centres with field offices of
the United Nations system in general, and requests the Secretary-General to
continue the integration exercise in a cost-effective manner and whenever
feasible, on a case-by- case basis, taking into account the views of the host
country and ensuring that the information functions and the autonomy of United
Nations information centres are not adversely affected and to report thereon
to the Committee;
 
      12.   Welcomes the action by some Member States with regard to financial
and material support to United Nations information centres in their respective
capitals, and invites the Secretary-General, through the Department of Public
Information, to consult Member States, where appropriate, on the possibility
of providing the centres with additional voluntary support on a national
basis;
 
      13.   Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the
allocation of resources to United Nations information centres in 1995, and
calls upon him to continue to study ways and means to rationalize and effect
equitable disbursement of available resources to all United Nations
information centres;
 
      14.   Also takes note of the important impact on the functioning and the
fulfilment of the objectives of some of the United Nations information centres
of the development of new technologies such as the Internet and CD-ROM, and
their effect on the dissemination of information, the increase in the number
of United Nations depository libraries in some Member States and the increased
importance of all concerned actors of the international community in their
cooperation with the Organization;
 
      15.   Requests the Secretary-General therefore to submit a report to the
Committee, for its consideration at its nineteenth session, on United Nations
information centres, in particular, on added value, efficiency,
cost-effectiveness and avoidance of duplication, especially in the areas of
new technologies, with a view to offering recommendations on the review,
strengthening and rationalization of their activities;
 
      16.   Reaffirms the role of the General Assembly in relation to the
opening of new United Nations information centres, and invites the
Secretary-General to make such recommendations as he may judge necessary
regarding the establishment and location of these centres;
 
      17.   Recognizes the continued enhanced cooperation between the
Department of Public Information and the University for Peace in Costa Rica as
a focal point for promoting United Nations activities and disseminating United
Nations information materials;
 
      18.   Takes note of the requests of Bulgaria, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti,
Kyrgyzstan and Slovakia for information centres or information components;
 
      19.   Requests the Secretary-General to conduct an evaluation, within
existing resources and without detriment to mandated programmes and
activities, through the services of an independent consultant selected after
an open and transparent selection process, of the functioning of the Dag
Hammarskjold Library, covering, inter alia, its infrastructure, operations,
staffing and budgetary situation, with a view to improving all its services
and taking advantage of new, cost-effective automated and electronic library
information and communication technologies and services and taking into
account previous studies on the subject, and to submit a report thereon to the
Committee at its nineteenth session;
 
      20.   Expresses its full support for the wide and prompt coverage of
United Nations activities through a continuation of United Nations press
releases in both working languages of the Secretariat, namely, English and
French, and stresses the importance of the continued speedy issue and high
quality of those press releases in both working languages;
 
      21.   Encourages the Secretary-General to explore ways and means to
improve the access of United Nations radio to airwaves worldwide, bearing in
mind that radio is one of the most cost-effective and far-reaching media
available to the Department of Public Information and is an important
instrument in United Nations activities, such as development and peacekeeping,
in accordance with its resolution 48/44 B;
 
      22.   Underlines the continued importance for the Department of Public
Information of using traditional and mass media channels in disseminating
information on the United Nations, and encourages the Department to take full
advantage of recent developments in information technologies, such as the
Internet and CD-ROM, in order to improve in a cost-effective, comprehensive
and timely manner the dissemination of information on the United Nations,
taking into account the linguistic diversity of the Organization;
 
      23.   Commends the Department of Public Information for the important
role it played in responding to the increased public interest resulting from
the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations;
 
      24.   Requests the Department of Public Information to continue to
ensure the greatest possible access to United Nations guided tours, as well as
to ensure that displays in public areas are kept as informative, up to date
and relevant as possible;
 
      25.   Invites Member States and relevant international organizations to
submit to the Secretary-General by 15 March 1997 their observations and
suggestions on ways and means of furthering the development of communication
infrastructures and capabilities in developing countries, and requests the
Secretary- General to submit a report thereon to the Committee at its
nineteenth session;
 
      26.   Recommends, in order to continue to facilitate contact between the
Department of Public Information and the Committee between sessions, that the
Bureau of the Committee, together with representatives of each regional group,
the Group of 77 and China, in close contact with the members of the Committee,
should continue to meet on a regular basis and consult at periodic intervals
with representatives of the Department;
 
      27.   Takes note of the contribution made by Member States, in
cooperation with the Department of Public Information and the United Nations
Coordinator of International Cooperation on Chernobyl, to information
activities for the tenth anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, and recalls
its resolutions concerning the consequences of the above-mentioned disaster,
in particular, resolutions 50/31 B of 6 December 1995 and 50/134 of 20
December 1995, encouraging the regular exchange of information with the
countries concerned and with the relevant organizations and bodies of the
United Nations system, with a view to enhancing world public awareness of the
consequences of such disasters;
 
      28.   Recognizes the positive role of the regional seminars held at
Windhoek, Santiago, Almaty and Sana'a for the promotion of independent and
pluralistic media, takes note of the invitation of the General Conference of
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its
twenty-eighth session, in its resolution 4.6 of 15 November 1995, to cooperate
with the Director-General of the Organization in the preparation and
organization of a similar regional seminar in 1997 in Central and Eastern
Europe, depending on the availability of funding, also takes note of the offer
of the Government of Bulgaria to host such a seminar, and invites the
Department of Public Information to provide the requested assistance in
jointly mobilizing the support of various other voluntary funding sources;
 
      29.   Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Committee at its
nineteenth session and to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session on
the activities of the Department of Public Information and on the
implementation of the recommendations contained in the present resolution;
 
      30.   Decides that the nineteenth session of the Committee should last
no more than ten working days, and requests the Bureau of the Committee to
explore ways and means of making optimum use of the Committee's time;
 
      31.   Requests the Committee to report to the General Assembly at its
fifty- second session;
 
      32.   Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-second
session the item entitled "Questions relating to information".