Development of public information activities in the field of human rights, including the World Public Information Campaign for Human Rights.

1990/72. Development of Public information activities in the field of human rights, including the World Public Information Campaign for Human Rights

The Commission on Human Rights, Reaffirming that activities to improve public knowledge in the field of human rights are essential to the fulfilment of the purposes of the United Nations set out in Article 1, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, and that carefully designed programmes of teaching, education and information are essential to the achievement of lasting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, Recalling previous General Assembly resolutions on this subject, in particular resolutions 43/128 of 8 December 1988 and 44/61 of 8 December 1989 as well as its own resolution 1989/53 of 7 March 1989, Recognizing the catalytic effect of United Nations initiatives on national and regional public information activities in the field of human rights, Recognizing also the valuable role that non-governmental organizations can play in these endeavours, Believing that a world public information campaign on human rights is a valuable complement to the activities of the United Nations aimed at the further promotion and protection of human rights worldwide,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the development of public information activities in the field of human rights (E/CN.4/1990/19), and supports the general thrust of the proposed programme of implementation of the World Public Information Campaign for Human Rights;

2. Reaffirms the need for information materials on human rights to be carefully designed in clear and accessible form, to be tailored to regional and national requirements and circumstances with specific target audiences in mind and to be effectively disseminated in national and local languages in sufficient volume to have the desired impact, and also for effective use to be made of the mass media, in particular radio and television and audio-visual technologies, in order to reach a wider audience, with priority being given to children, other young people and the disadvantaged, including those in isolated areas;

3. Appreciates the measures taken by the Secretariat to ensure the further production and effective dissemination of human rights information material in national and local languages, in co-operation with regional, national and local organizations as well as with Governments, making full and effective use of the United Nations information centres;

4. Also appreciates the efforts of the Secretariat to establish, within available resources, the collection of basic United Nations information and reference material on human rights and fundamental freedoms at each United Nations information centre, and requests the Secretary-General to provide the Commission, at its forty-seventh session, with a report on the situation in this respect in each information centre on the basis of replies given on a questionnaire prepared to this effect by the Secretariat;

5. Encourages all Member States to make special efforts to provide, facilitate and promote publicity for the activities of the United Nations in the field of human rights, and to accord priority to the dissemination, in their respective national and local languages, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other international instruments, and to information and education on the practical ways in which the rights and freedoms enjoyed under these instruments can be exercised;

6. Urges all Member States to include in their educational curricula materials relevant to a comprehensive understanding of human rights issues, bearing in mind the availability of the teaching booklet published by the Centre for Human Rights, and encourages all those responsible for training in law and its enforcement, the armed forces, medicine, diplomacy and other relevant fields to include appropriate human rights components in their programmes;

7. Notes the special value, under the advisory services and technical assistance programme, of regional and national training courses and workshops in promoting practical education and awareness in the field of human rights;

8. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure the fullest effective deployment of the skills and resources of all the Secretariat units concerned and to make available, within existing resources, adequate funding for developing practical and effective human rights information activities, including those within the programme of the World Public Information Campaign for Human Rights;

9. Takes note of the information provided by the Secretary-General on the budget available for information activities in the field of human rights and requests the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat to make full use of the available resources in the field of human rights in order to expand and update its stock of audio-visual material on human rights, including the production of human rights documentation and films, and to increase the print-run of the information and reference material produced by the United Nations, in particular the Fact Sheet series, for world-wide distribution;

10. Requests the Centre for Human Rights to co-ordinate as necessary, taking fully into account General Assembly resolution 43/128 and in particular the primary role assigned to the Department of Public Information in its own field of competence, the relevant activities of the World Campaign within the United Nations system, and to maintain liaison with Governments, regional and national institutions and individuals concerned in the development and implementation of those activities;

11. Stresses the need for close co-operation between the Centre for Human Rights and the Department of Public Information, inter ala, in the implementation of the aims established for the World Campaign;

12. Asks the Secretary-General to make arrangements for the translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into additional non-official languages and to ensure the availability of the text in both official and non-official languages and in sufficient quantities at United Nations information Centre worldwide;

13. Requests the Secretary-General to take advantage as much as possible, in the implementation of the World Campaign, of the collaboration of non-governmental organizations, including in the dissemination of human rights material, with a view to increasing universal awareness of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

14. Emphasizes the need for the United Nations to harmonize its public information activities in the field of human rights with organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in relation to the dissemination of information on international humanitarian law and, with regard to education for human rights, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and appreciates the efforts made by the Secretary-General to this effect;

15. Requests the Secretary-General. to submit to the Commission, at its forty-seventh session, a report on public information activities with special emphasis on the activities of the World Campaign, including details of the costs incurred in 1990 and the budget envisaged for future activities, as well as a further assessment of the impact of the World Campaign activities undertaken by the United Nations in the field of human rights;

16. Decides to continue its consideration of the question at its forty-seventh session under the agenda item "Further promotion and encouragement of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the question of the programme and methods of work of the Commission".

53rd meeting
7 March 1990
[Adopted without a vote. See chap. XI.]