General Assembly General Assembly

 

 
Statement  by  Mr. S. Srinivas Prasad, Minister, on Agenda Item 52 :  Questions Relating to Information' at the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on October 28, 2015
 
 
Mr. Chairman, 
 
Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen
 
We thank the Deptt. of Public Information for the detailed report of its activities for the period March-Sept. 2014. The Deptt. of Public Information (DPI) remains a vital unit for communicating the multifarious activities of the UN to communities all over the world. Its innovative use of new communication tools for this purpose is especially commendable. 
 
The historic 70th Session of the UN has seen the landmark adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2013.  In this connection, the DPI's efforts to highlight the launch of the MDG's Report 2014 - the success of which was a stepping stone for the adoption of the SDGs - by the UNSG at the high level segment of the Economic and Social Council on July 07, 2014 and associated activities is praiseworthy. The DPI's efforts in this direction have enabled the UN to effectively communicate the importance of working towards developmental goals. It is hoped that the DPI will continue to make efforts to maintain focus on the more ambitious and complex SDGs.  We would also like to commend the DPI's key role in achieving a successful outcome for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in 2015. 
 
Mr. Chairman
 
We welcome the creation and launch of the Victims of Terrorism Support Portal in the six official languages for the Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force. In the background of the growing menace of violent extremism, the Portal is an excellent initiative to address the issue of victims of terrorism and the need to develop strategies to help them cope with violent extremism. As one of the countries which has been a victim of externally inspired terrorism for more than two decades, India appreciates this initiative and urges that the DPI uses the Portal creatively to reach other communities worldwide. 
 
In this background of the threat of violent extremism in the world, the DPI has very correctly continued its outreach program on the Holocaust and the organization of the series of activities to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Annual Commemoration of the Rwanda Genocide. We support these initiatives.
 
Mr. Chairman
 
We are also happy to note the DPI's extensive use of the network of UN Information Centers, especially the launch of a series of simultaneous online events and briefings on UN related issues. We, particularly, appreciate the mobilization of the Information Centers for promoting action on environmental issues, including World Water Day. The UN Information Center, New Delhi's initiative of joining NGO partners in a tree planting drive in Srinagar, India, as part of its overall goal of planting a million trees in the next 5 years is commendable. The events to mark the World Press Freedom Day and International Year of Family Planning are welcomed.
 
Mr. Chairman,
 
We are very impressed with the DPI's contribution to the dramatic growth across multiple platforms of the UN's media presence. The detailed report on the impact being made by use of social media sites, radio, television and the internet to put across the message of the UN's outstanding work in many areas of social and economic development across the world is heartening. While the UN's focus has been to expand its reach by using multiple platforms in the six official languages, we urge the DPI to also focus attention on major languages outside the six official languages. 
 
For example, South Asia, with its large and varied needs should merit special attention in this regard. We would like to highlight the fact that India is already one of the world leaders in the use of internet through smart phones. It is in this context that the Indian Govt. is implementing a major program 'Digital India' to not only expand digital penetration in India further, but also to deliver social and development programs through digital platforms. This is expected to build a digital platform of more than 250 million Hindi language speakers and more than 50 million speakers each in other major Indian languages like Bengali, Tamil, Telegu and Punjabi. The reach of some of these languages like Bengali, Tamil and Punjabi would be cross border in South Asia with 160 million people speaking Bengali in Bangladesh and close 150 million people speaking Punjabi in Pakistan in addition to India.  
 
Mr. Chairman,
 
We would also like to record our appreciation for the DPI's efforts to organize communication workshops for senior public information officers from peacekeeping missions on key communications issues. It is vital that the UN's tremendous contributions towards peace building, represented by its peace keeping missions are correctly projected to the communities involved as well as to the international audience at large. We also support the continuous engagement of the DPI with peace keeping in the form of field visits and participation in planning the public information components of specific missions. 
 
We also express our happiness with the DPI's close attention to the UN Academic Impact Initiative. The successful conduct of the International Essay Writing Competition and the Global Youth Forum on June 27, 2014 was appreciable. A matter of satisfaction was that three students who were winners in the Arabic language from Indian universities featured in the list of 60 winners chosen from a worldwide pool of 4000 participants. We would be happy to see the DPI extend its engagement with more Indian educational institutions under the Academic Impact Initiative. 
 
Mr. Chairman,
 
To conclude, we would like to once again reiterate our support and appreciation for the wide ranging programs of the DPI. In a media driven age, we believe that the DPI is one of the most key arms of the UN and needs to be given all attention possible. 
 
Thank You.