[Media Caucus] Fw: Freedom of Expression Crucial for Information SocietySays UNESCO Director-General

[John Barker]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Kagai" <bill at circuitspackets.com>
To: "African Information Society Initiative - Discussion Forum"
<aisi-l at lyris.bellanet.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2003 8:51 AM
Subject: Freedom of Expression Crucial for Information SocietySays UNESCO
Director-General


> FYI
> Freedom of Expression Crucial for Information Society Says UNESCO
> Director-General
>
> 24-11-2003 (UNESCO):
>
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=13681&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=
> 201&reload=1069798262
>
> The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, on Friday, 21 November,
> convened the Permanent Delegates of Member States to UNESCO for a second
> briefing session on the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS),
> which will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 10 to 12 December 2003 and
> then in Tunis, Tunisia, in 2005.
>
> One of the main reasons for convening the World Summit was to find ways of
> harnessing the potential of knowledge and technology to promote
> international development goals.
>
> For the Director-General it is essential that the Summit also include
> "ethical and intellectual considerations, which embrace such matters as
> social inclusion, youth, gender, cultural diversity, human rights and
> inter-cultural dialogue". It is for this reason that UNESCO has stressed
in
> the preparatory debates that "the Summit needs to address, first and
> foremost, the social, political, cultural and institutional dimensions of
> change". That is why UNESCO has strongly "emphasized the concept of
> knowledge societies as being preferable to the information society as it
> goes beyond issues of connectivity and technological development to
> encompass a broader and more empowering vision that is based on the
> potential of ICT to enhance human development"
>
> Mr Matsuura noted with satisfaction that many of UNESCO's principles,
> namely: equal access to education; universal access to information and the
> preservation and promotion of cultural diversity including
multilingualism,
> are included in the present drafts of the Declaration of Principles and
the
> Plan of Action of the WSIS. " Nevertheless, the headway made so far can be
> considered a success only if there is an unambiguous assurance that
freedom
> of expression is recognized as the fundamental principle underlying and
> informing the development of the information society", he added.
>
> Mr Matsuura expressed his concern that the reference to Article 19 of the
> Universal Declaration of Human Rights is still under negotiation in the
> present drafts. "It is my firm position that it is important to retain in
> the Declaration and the Plan of Action an explicit reference to Article
19",
> he said. Rejecting the idea "that this was a North-South confrontation",
as
> some had said during the preparatory debates, Mr Matsuura stated clearly,
> "What is at stake is the very foundation of a democratic society and this
> has nothing to do with any divide between North and South. Freedom of
> expression is not the monopoly of one geographic region, one culture, one
> civilization. It is about the raison d'être of our Organization and the
very
> foundation of our Constitution". In conclusion, he urged the
Representatives
> of Member States to obtain from their governments the inclusion of "an
> explicit reference to freedom of expression". "Its deletion from the text
> would severely undermine internationally recognized values and previously
> accepted universal principles and thus impair the international treaty
> system. There can be little argument that access to information and
freedom
> must go together", he said.
>
> In the same vein, the Director-General urged delegations to "refrain from
> including any language (.) that could be interpreted as limiting the
> universality of the principle of freedom of expression". Mr Matsuura also
> expressed his concern about "the continuing absence of any reference to
the
> role that media play in the development of knowledge societies". "Explicit
> references to the role of media, including the role of traditional media,
in
> the information society in general and to their independence, pluralism
and
> freedom, in particular, need to be retained in the Summit texts", he said.
>
> (Source Flash Info n°257)
>
> Best regards,
> Eric Muragana
> SANGONeT Media Coordinator
> Tel: (+27- 11)- 838 6943/4; Fax: (+27- 11)- 492 1058
> E-mail: mediatec at sangonet.org.za
> www.sangonet.org.za
> Postal Address:
> Southern African Non-Governmental Organisation Network
> (SANGONeT)
> P O Box 31, Johannesburg, 2000
>
> "Come Thetha with us"
>
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