Questions relating to information.

33. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SPECIAL POLITICAL COMMITTEE
115. Questions relating to information

A CO-OPERATION AND ASSISTANCE IN THE APPLICATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF NATIONAL INFORMATION AND MASS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS FOR SOCIAL PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT

The General Assembly, Recalling its resolution 1778 (XVII) of 7 December 1962 and convinced that the establishment and/or development of national information and mass communication systems will play an important role in the promotion of opportunities for the peoples of the developing nations to participate fully in national development and in the promotion of international co-operation, including the efforts to achieve the goals of the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade and the establishment of the new international economic order, Recalling its resolution 3148 (XXVIII) of 14 December 1973 and convinced that the establishment and/or the improvement of national information and mass communication systems will greatly help preserve and enhance the cultural values of a country and will be one of the most efficient methods for transmitting scientific and technological knowledge and the cultural values of a country, Recalling its resolution 31/139 of 16 December 1976, in which, inter alia, it established the need to discuss this item and requested the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to. continue and intensify its programme for the development of mass communication systems, especially for the benefit of developing countries, Desirous that the benefits of co-operation and assistance in the application and the establishment and/or improvement of national information and mass communication systems for social progress and development be considered with a view to disseminating those benefits to all countries regardless of their stages of economic and social development, Recognizing that the potential of the field of communications should be applicable to all developing countries so that it could be used appropriately to enhance further the economic and social progress of developing countries and to allow all developing countries to have equal access to communication technology and principles in order to develop and operate their own communication systems and policies and to have equal access to the channels of information, Noting with appreciation the relevant decisions in the field of mass communications adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its twentieth session, Taking into consideration the need for finding ways existing channels of communication within on, Nations and between developing countries, Convinced that consideration of ways and means of achieving the application and improvement of national information and mass communication systems for social progress and development will pave the way for improved international co-operation in the field of mass communications,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, prepared In co-operation with the International Telecommunication Union;[1]

2. Invites the Secretary-General, in co-operation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and other specialized agencies as well as interested organizations, to carry out consultations on ways and means by which assistance for developing countries can be increased in the field of communication technology and systems for their social progress and economic development;

3. Requests the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, on the basis of the result of the consultations referred to in paragraph 2 above, to draw up a model plan for co-operation and assistance in the application and improvement of national information and mass communication systems for social progress and development, including the elaboration of a proposal for institutional arrangements to systematize collaborative consultation on communication development activities, needs and plans;

4. Requests the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to submit a progress report, in pursuance of paragraph 3 above, to the General Assembly at its thirty-fourth session;

5. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-fourth session the item entitled "Co-operation and assistance in the application and improvement of national information and mass communication systems for social progress and development" and to consider it at that session as a matter of priority.

87th plenary meeting
18 December 1978

B INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN THE SPHERE OF INFORMATION AND MASS COMMUNICATIONS

The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 3535 (XXX) of 17 December 1975 and 31/139 of 16 December 1976 and other relevant resolutions of the General Assembly relating to the question of information, Recalling its resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974 containing the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974 containing the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States and 3362 (S-VII) of 16 September 1975 on development and international economic co-operation, Taking note of the decisions and recommendations on the question of information made by the Fifth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Colombo from 16 to 19 August 1976,[2] and the Conference of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Belgrade from 25 to 30 July 1978,[3] and by the regional conferences on the same subject organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Aware of the fundamental contribution that the information media can make to the establishment of the new international economic order and to the strengthening of peace and international understanding, Taking note with satisfaction of the report of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization[4] and of that organization's contribution to international co-operation in the field of information and communication, Recalling the relevant decisions on information and mass communications adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its nineteenth and twentieth sessions, Recalling the Declaration on Fundamental Principles concerning the Contribution of the Mass Media to Strengthening Peace and International Understanding, to the Promotion of Human Rights and to Countering Racialism, Apartheid and Incitement to War adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its twentieth session, Reaffirming the manifest need to change the dependent status of the developing countries in the sphere of information and communication, Aware of the need to mobilize assistance and make maximum use of all avenues of co-operation for the development of the information and communication systems of the developing countries, Taking into account the widespread hopes that the United Nations and the specialized agencies, notably the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, will help to establish a new, more just and better balanced world information and communication order,

1. Affirms the need to establish a new, more just and more effective world information and communication order, intended to strengthen peace and international understanding and based on the free circulation and wider and better-balanced dissemination of information;

2. Approves the efforts being made to establish this new world order, which should reflect in particular the concerns and legitimate aspirations of the developing countries and the views expressed at the twentieth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization;

3. Stresses the essential role of the United Nations system in the attainment of this objective;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to encourage, through the specialized agencies, especially the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, co-operation and assistance conducive to strengthening the information and communication systems of the developing countries;

5. Requests the specialized agencies to provide co-operation and assistance to the developing countries in order to help them to identify and eliminate obstacles to the establishment of greater reciprocity in the circulation of information and to define needs and objectives in the communication sector by drawing up action programmes and mobilizing the necessary resources to increase their ability to produce and disseminate information;

6. Expresses its satisfaction to the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for his efforts in the sphere of information and communication and requests him to submit to the General Assembly at its thirty-fourth session a report on the activities of that organization in the field of information and mass communications;

7. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-fourth session an item entitled "International relations in the sphere of information and mass communications".

87th plenary meeting
18 December 1978

C UNITED NATIONS PUBLIC INFORMATION POLICIES AND ACTIVITIES

The General Assembly, Recalling its resolution 3535 (XXX) of 17 December 1975 and other relevant resolutions of the General Assembly relating to the question of information, Bearing in mind the report of the Secretary-General on United Nations public information policies and activities,[5] Conscious of the important role which the United Nations public information services should play in better disseminating to world public opinion the aims and achievements of the United Nations, Recognizing to that end the valuable assistance which Member States, the specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations concerned can give to the work of the United Nations public information services, Convinced of the need to strengthen and co-ordination the activities and programmes of the United Nations system in the field of information and mass communications, Bearing in mind the need to have Member States participate more actively in framing policies and programmes of the United Nations system in the field of information and mass communications, Recognizing further the essential role of information in the implementation of international decisions concerning economic and social development, especially those concerning the establishment of the new international economic order, Recognizing to that end the important role which can be played by the Division for Economic and social Information of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat, Considering the need to maintain a balance in the use of the official languages of the United Nations in information handled and disseminated by the Department of Public Information,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General submitted in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 3535 (XXX) and observes with satisfaction the great interest taken by the Secretary-General in improving United Nations public information services;

2. Reaffirms the necessity to foster in world opinion better knowledge of the aims and achievements of the United Nations, including the principles and purpose of the new international economic order;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to ensure the close collaboration of Member States, the specialized agencies, non-governmental organizations and other information bodies in framing public information policies and programme of the United Nations system;

4. Decides to establish a Committee to Review United Nations Public Information Policies and Activities, consisting of forty-one Member States;

5. Requests the President of the General Assembly, having consulted the regional groups, to appoint the members of the Committee on the basis of equitable geographical distribution;

6. Requests the Committee to submit a report the General Assembly at its thirty-fourth session on the policies and activities of the public information services of the United Nations system, giving particular attention to activities in the economic and social sphere;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to enable the Department of Public Information to maintain an adequate balance in the use of the official languages of the United Nations with, inter alia, an increase in the number of publication in the languages which such balance would require;

8. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General Assembly at its thirty-fourth session on developments in the activities of the public information services of the Secretariat;

9. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-fourth session the item entitled "United Nations public information policies and activities".

87th plenary meeting
18 December 1978 The President of the General Assembly subsequently informed the Secretary-General[6] that, in accordance with paragraph 5 of resolution C above, he had appointed the members of the Committee to Review United Nations Public Information Policies and Activities. As a result, the Committee is composed of the following Member States: ARGENTINA, BENIN, CHILE, COLOMBIA, CONGO, CYPRUS, ECUADOR, EGYPT, EL SALVADOR, ETHIOPIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC, GERMANY, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF, GUATEMALA, GUINEA, INDIA, ITALY, IVORY, COAST, JAPAN, JORDAN, LEBANON, NIGER, NIGERIA, SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC, TOGO, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, TUNISIA, TURKEY, UKRAINIAN SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLIC, UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS, UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, YEMEN AND YUGOSLAVIA.

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[1] A/33/144, annex. [2] A/31/197, annex IV, sect. A, resolution 16 [3] A/33/206, annex I, paras. 163-173. [4] A/33/144, annex. [5] A/33/146. [6] A/33/561 and Corr.1 and Add.1