![]() The Department, he added, should highlight issues in Arab countries, such as the cause of Palestine, and intensify its media campaigns to address hate speech, including Islamophobia.Īrgentina’s delegate similarly advocated for the same enjoyment of rights between all six official languages. Instantaneous press releases - which have great value in terms of institutional memory and accountability - are disseminated only in English and French, despite the General Assembly’s renewed mandate on language parity. His Government, for example, has launched comprehensive social reforms which have resulted in historic transformations, increased communication with the world and developed its digital infrastructure. ![]() ![]() Joining the call for the greater use of the Arabic language, the representative of Saudi Arabia encouraged the Department to spotlight the development and progress of Arab countries. To make the world of media more just, equitable and impartial, the international community as a whole must rectify the digital imbalances which are emerging as a new form of inequality between and among States. In that vein, it should mobilize adequate resources to promote multilingualism and do more to increase its efforts to use Arabic. With fake news exacerbating racial, social and religious tensions, the Organization must not only counter and contain this danger, but also raise awareness of both the risks on societies and the responsibility of entities and individuals alike to verify what they share.Īlgeria’s delegate, stressing that this phenomenon must be addressed by collective action, called on the Department to play a leading role by ensuring factual, accessible, timely, accurately targeted and accessible information. The production and utilization of information products in Chinese - the most spoken official United Nations language in the world - must be improved, she asserted. Moreover, the Department must avoid biased views, enhance its communications and consultations with Member States, and strengthen its coverage on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.Įqually important, the representative of Lebanon said, is sensitizing the world about the present dangers of climate change and ensuring that vaccine equity remains at the centre of the Organization’s communications. Beyond simply observing events, it should analyse these processes, he insisted.Ĭhina’s delegate - underlining the Department’s responsibility to provide global audiences with comprehensive, accurate, authoritative and objective news and information within the contemporary media landscape of good and maligned actors - called on the Department to put the principle of multilingualism into practice by balancing the development of content with platforms. The Department should pay attention to important issues, such as food security, the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures and migration - all of which have the same roots. The speaker for Belarus, welcoming the expanded volume of the Department’s public communications which was enabled by multilingualism, said that it undertakes a selective approach in deciding on what to report. The United Nations must also strengthen the use of multilingualism in all six of its official languages - English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish - he urged, emphasizing: “Multilingualism is a value for multilateralism.” Against this backdrop, the Department must continue combating any information which undermines the truth and the Organization’s efforts. Disinformation, however, has unfortunately risen over the past two years. The representative of Morocco pointed out that people around the world - in believing in the United Nations ability to provide solutions to global crises - want information about its role and activities. Concerned by a tidal wave of pressing global challenges from the spike in misinformation and disinformation to widening digital gaps, delegates today underscored the essentiality of multilingualism while outlining several concrete recommendations for the United Nations Department of Global Communications, as the Committee on Information concluded the general debate of its forty-fifth session.
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