Questions Relating to Information Resolutions

A/RES/78/80 A-BView PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 53 Questions relating to information, published in 2023.

What else is in this group?

77 documents · 1979–2025

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2025).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/84 A-B	Questions relating to information resolutions	—	–
2024	A/RES/79/93 A-B	Questions relating to information resolutions	—	–
2023	A/RES/78/80 A-B	Questions relating to information resolutions	—	–
2022	A/RES/77/128 A-B	Questions relating to information resolutions	—	–
2021	A/RES/76/84 A-B	Questions relating to information resolutions	—	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 subjects

Information Dissemination Information Services Knowledge Management Mass Media Multilingualism Public Information Technical Cooperation Training Programmes

What’s in this document?

172 operative paragraphs

A

Urges all countries, organizations of the United Nations system as a whole and all others concerned, reaffirming their commitment to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and respect for all human rights, including the right to hold opinions without interference and the right to freedom of expression in accordance with article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,³ including freedom to seek, receive and impart information, as well as to the importance of the principles of freedom of the press and freedom of information, as well as to those of the independence, pluralism and diversity of the media, deeply concerned by the disparities existing between developed and developing countries and the consequences of every kind arising from those disparities that affect the capability of the public, private or other media and individuals in developing countries to disseminate information and communicate their views and their cultural and ethical values through endogenous cultural production, as well as to ensure the diversity of sources and their free access to information, and recognizing the call in this context for what in the United Nations and at various international forums has been termed “a new world information and communication order, seen as an evolving and continuous process”:

³See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.

To cooperate and interact with a view to reducing existing disparities in information flows at all levels by increasing assistance for the development of communications infrastructures and capabilities in developing countries, with due regard for their needs and the priorities attached to such areas by those countries, and in order to enable them and the public, private or other media in developing countries to develop their own information and communications policies freely and independently and increase the participation of media and individuals in the communication process, and to ensure a free flow of information at all levels;

To ensure for journalists the free and effective performance of their professional tasks and condemn resolutely all attacks against them;

To provide support for the continuation and strengthening of practical training programmes for broadcasters and journalists from public, private and other media in developing countries;

To enhance regional efforts and cooperation among developing countries, as well as cooperation between developed and developing countries, to strengthen communications capacities and to improve the media infrastructure and communications technology in developing countries, especially in the areas of training and dissemination of information;

To aim at, in addition to bilateral cooperation, providing all possible support and assistance to developing countries and their media, public, private or other, with due regard to their interests and needs in the field of information and to action already adopted within the United Nations system, including:

The development of the human and technical resources that are indispensable for the improvement of information and communications systems in developing countries and support for the continuation and strengthening of practical training programmes, such as those already operating under both public and private auspices throughout the developing world;

The creation of conditions that will enable developing countries and their media, public, private or other, to have, by using their national and regional resources, the communications technology suited to their national needs, as well as the necessary programme material, especially for radio and television broadcasting;

iii

Assistance in establishing and promoting telecommunication links at the subregional, regional and interregional levels, especially among developing countries;

Facilitation, as appropriate, of access by developing countries on mutually agreed terms to advanced communications technology available on the open market;

To provide full support for the International Programme for the Development of Communication of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which should support both public and private media.

B

I.Introduction

Requests the Secretary-General, in respect of the global communications policies and activities of the United Nations, to continue to implement fully the recommendations contained in relevant resolutions;

Reaffirms that the United Nations remains the indispensable foundation of a peaceful and just world and that its voice must be heard in a clear and effective manner, and emphasizes the essential role of the Department of Global Communications of the Secretariat in this context;

Underlines that the reform of the Department of Global Communications with a view to adapting its capacity and work to the current trends of global communication should take into account the priorities set out by the Committee on Information as the main subsidiary body mandated to make recommendations relating to the work of the Department, and also underlines in that regard the importance of continuing the process of consultation with Member States;

Calls upon Member States to promote and facilitate international cooperation aimed at the development of media, information and communication facilities and technologies in all countries, with a particular focus on capacity-building of developing countries;

Reiterates its concerns about the exponential spread and proliferation of misinformation, disinformation and information manipulation, thereby increasing the need for the dissemination of factual, timely, targeted, clear, accessible, multilingual and science-based information, and emphasizes the need for all Member States to stand together to address the challenge of disinformation and misinformation, including on the Internet and other digital technologies;

Re-emphasizes the importance of ensuring public access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of the press, as well as the right to privacy, and also recognizes the importance of the promotion and protection of the safety of journalists in this regard;

Condemns unequivocally all attacks, reprisals and violence against journalists and media workers such as torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest, arbitrary detention and expulsion, as well as intimidation, threats and harassment, online and offline, including through attacks on, or the forced closure of, their offices and media outlets, in both conflict and non-conflict situations;

Stresses the importance of the full respect for the right to seek, receive and impart information, as included in the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and in this regard for the freedom of journalists to have access to information and the right of the general public to receive media output, and that the safety of journalists and media workers is indispensable to ensuring these rights;

Emphasizes that all forms of disinformation can negatively impact the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals;

Reiterates its condemnation of all forms of propaganda, in whatsoever country conducted, which is either designed or likely to provoke or encourage any threat to peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, as well as its request to the Government of each Member to take appropriate steps, within its constitutional limits, to promote, by all means of publicity, friendly relations among nations based upon the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations;

Urges the Department of Global Communications to recommend that the United Nations system consistently use in its communications the terminology of resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and strongly observe the principle of impartiality, while duly reflecting the positions of all Member States, without any discrimination;

Calls upon States to refrain from providing support to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts, including support in establishing propaganda platforms advocating hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, including through media, Internet and other digital technologies, and emphasizes in this regard the key importance of full respect for the right to freedom of opinion and expression as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;⁶

⁶See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.

Stresses that Member States should abstain from using information and communications technologies in contravention of international law, including the Charter, and encourages Member States to consider better ways to cooperate, consistent with international law, in addressing threats posed by the use of information and communications technologies for terrorist purposes;

Affirms the important role that the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and full respect for the freedom to seek, receive and impart information plays in strengthening democracy, promoting pluralism and multiculturalism, enhancing transparency and press freedom, and countering disinformation;

Recognizes that disinformation and information manipulation undermine the promotion of peace and cooperation and have the potential to incite discrimination, hostility and violence, in particular against people in vulnerable situations, including in natural disaster situations, armed conflicts and situations involving the use or threat of use of force, and affirms the responsibility of States to counter, as appropriate, and in accordance with human rights law, the dissemination of disinformation;

Condemns unequivocally measures taken by Member States in violation of international human rights law aiming to or that intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or the dissemination of information online and offline, aiming to undermine the work of journalists in informing the public, including through practices such as Internet shutdowns or measures to unduly restrict, block or take down media websites, such as denial of service attacks, and calls upon all Member States to cease and refrain from these measures, which cause irreparable harm to efforts at building inclusive and peaceful knowledge societies and democracies;

Stresses the importance of the provision of clear, timely, accurate and comprehensive information by the Secretariat to Member States, upon their request, within the framework of existing mandates and procedures;

Reaffirms the central role of the Committee on Information in United Nations global communications policies and activities, including the prioritization of those activities, and decides that recommendations relating to the programme of the Department of Global Communications shall originate, to the extent possible, in the Committee and shall be considered by the Committee;

Requests the Department of Global Communications, including its network of United Nations information centres, following the priorities for the period 2023–2024 set out by the General Assembly in its resolution 77/128 B, to pay particular attention to the promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the Assembly and recent United Nations conferences, the maintenance of international peace and security, including peacekeeping operations, the development of Africa, the promotion of human rights, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, climate change and the environment, the effective coordination of humanitarian assistance efforts, the defence of multilateralism, the promotion of justice and international law, disarmament, the fight against disinformation and misinformation, drug control, crime prevention and combating international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and global efforts to combat and sustainably recover from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, including through global equitable access to and distribution of safe and effective vaccines, in particular to developing countries;

Also requests the Department of Global Communications and its network of United Nations information centres to pay particular attention to the outcomes of all major United Nations conferences, forums and summits and the progress in implementing their outcomes;

Notes the contribution of the Department of Global Communications to the preparatory process for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration,⁷ in line with the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants;⁸

⁷Resolution 73/195, annex.

⁸Resolution 71/1.

Encourages the Department of Global Communications to support the efforts of Member States and the United Nations system in implementing the actions recommended in the Progress Declaration of the first International Migration Review Forum, convened from 17 to 20 May 2022, which was endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 76/266 of 7 June 2022, in their commitment to eliminate all forms of discrimination, including racism, systemic racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, stigmatization, hate speech, hate crimes targeting migrants and diasporas as well as negative stereotyping and misleading narratives that generate negative perceptions of migration and migrants, including by reviewing, developing and implementing relevant legislation, policies and practices and promoting evidence-based public discourse, inter alia in partnership with local authorities, migrants, diaspora communities and the media, bearing in mind the role of migrants as agents of sustainable development and as rights holders, and in their commitment to protect freedom of expression in accordance with international law, recognizing that an open and free debate contributes to a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of migration; and to report thereon to the Committee on Information at its forty-sixth session;

II.General activities of the Department of Global Communications

Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General on the activities of the Department of Global Communications;⁹

⁹A/AC.198/2023/2, A/AC.198/2023/3 and A/AC.198/2023/4.

Requests the Department of Global Communications to ensure, through recruitment and training, that its workforce reflects equitable geographical distribution, is diverse from a multilingual perspective and has the language skills necessary to effectively carry out its duties;

Also requests the Department of Global Communications to maintain its commitment to a culture of evaluation and to continue to evaluate its products and activities with the objective of enhancing their effectiveness, and to continue to cooperate and coordinate with Member States and the Office of Internal Oversight Services of the Secretariat to ensure transparency and accountability of its operations in a more effective manner;

Recalls the launch of the 2020 global communications strategy for the United Nations developed in all official languages by the Department of Global Communications that is aimed not only at informing people about the state of the world and how the United Nations works to make it better, but also at motivating and empowering people to take action, and commends the Department for its role in promoting the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development;

Supports and encourages coordination between the Department of Global Communications and the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure consistency in the messages of the Organization;

Calls for intensified cooperation with the United Nations system for the effective dissemination of scientific knowledge, best practices and information regarding, inter alia, diagnostics, drugs, vaccines, and relevant guidelines, to prevent and respond to the emergence of diseases, including zoonotic infections, and pandemics, including through promoting a One Health approach;

Urges the Department of Global Communications to support, as appropriate, the efforts of the United Nations system, as well as United Nations country teams, to highlight the impact and long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women, children, including girls, and particularly older persons, and people in vulnerable situations;

Notes the efforts of the Department of Global Communications to continue to publicize the work and decisions of the General Assembly and its subsidiary bodies, and requests the Department to continue to enhance its working relationship with the Office of the President of the General Assembly;

Encourages continued collaboration between the Department of Global Communications and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in the promotion of culture and in the fields of education, the advancement of communication and multilingualism, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 76/268, including through multilingual education, as vehicles for sustainable development using existing resources and bridging the existing gap between the developed and the developing countries;

Notes with appreciation the efforts of the Department of Global Communications to work at the local level with other organizations and bodies of the United Nations system to enhance the coordination of their communications activities, urges the Department to encourage the United Nations Communications Group to promote linguistic diversity in its work, and reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to report to the Committee on Information at its forty-sixth session on progress achieved in this regard;

Encourages the Department of Global Communications to continue to engage and collaborate with regional and other organizations in its efforts to promote greater awareness and understanding of the work of the United Nations, with a particular focus on the current partnerships between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations;

Reaffirms that the Department of Global Communications must prioritize its work programme, while respecting existing mandates and in line with regulation 5.6 of the Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning, the Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation,¹⁰ to focus its message and better concentrate its efforts and to match its programmes with the needs of its target audiences, including the linguistic dimension, on the basis of improved feedback and evaluation mechanisms;

¹⁰ST/SGB/2018/3.

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to exert all efforts to ensure that publications and other information services of the Secretariat, including the United Nations website, the United Nations News Service and United Nations social media accounts, contain comprehensive, balanced, objective and equitable information in all official languages about the issues before the Organization and that they maintain editorial independence, impartiality, accuracy and full consistency with resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly;

Underlines the critical need to address violations of the relevant international rules and regulations that govern the area of broadcasting, including television, radio and satellite broadcasting, in the most appropriate manner;

Reiterates its request to the Department of Global Communications and content-providing offices of the Secretariat to ensure that United Nations publications are produced in all six official languages, as well as in an environmentally friendly and cost-neutral manner, and to continue to coordinate closely with all other entities, including all other departments of the Secretariat and funds and programmes of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates, in order to avoid duplication in the issuance of United Nations publications;

Encourages, in this regard, the Department of Global Communications and the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management of the Secretariat to develop new collaborative arrangements to enhance multilingualism in other outputs in a cost-neutral manner, bearing in mind the importance of ensuring the full and equitable treatment of all the official languages of the United Nations, and to report thereon to the Committee on Information at its forty-sixth session;

Emphasizes that the Department of Global Communications should maintain and improve its activities in the areas of special interest to developing countries and, where appropriate, other countries with special needs, and that the activities of the Department should contribute to bridging the existing gap between the developing and the developed countries in the crucial field of public information and communications;

Reiterates its growing concern that the issuance of daily press releases has not been expanded to all official languages, as requested in previous resolutions and in full respect of the principle of parity of all six official languages, recalls the relevant report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the Department of Global Communications,¹¹ and reiterates its request that the Department, as a matter of priority, proactively explore options for delivering daily press releases in all six official languages, in accordance with the relevant General Assembly resolutions, at the latest by the forty-sixth session of the Committee on Information, and report thereon to the Committee at that session;

¹¹A/AC.198/2023/3.

Notes with concern the recent trends that contribute to undermining credible, transparent and fact-based information, and encourages the Department of Global Communications to continue to promote unbiased and impartial information about the work of the United Nations, to identify specific proposals in this regard and to report thereon to the Committee on Information at its forty-sixth session;

Notes with appreciation the work of the Department of Global Communications in sharing accurate, timely, relevant and multilingual information about the COVID-19 pandemic and the United Nations system response to it, and in helping to counter the proliferation of misinformation, disinformation and information manipulation in this regard;

Requests the Department of Global Communications to make specific efforts aimed at identifying and raising awareness about misinformation and disinformation, based on information and best practices shared by Member States, United Nations entities, civil society and the private sector, and to propose ways to address such a challenge in accordance with international human rights law, within existing resources;

Urges the Department of Global Communications to support the efforts of the United Nations system to eradicate all forms of hatred, intolerance and discrimination, including based on religion or belief, harassment, racism, hate speech, xenophobia and related intolerance, particularly in the response to the global crisis emanating from pandemics such as COVID-19, and notes with concern the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the existing inequalities within our societies and regrets that, in that context, persons belonging to racial and ethnic minorities and to other groups, including Asians and people of Asian descent, especially women and girls, have been victims of racist violence, threats of violence, discrimination and stigmatization;

Takes note of the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech, and encourages the Department of Global Communications to establish and further strengthen partnerships with new and traditional media to address hate speech narratives and to promote tolerance, non-discrimination, pluralism and freedom of opinion and expression;

Multilingualism and global communications

Emphasizes that multilingualism, as a core value of the Organization, entails the active involvement and commitment of all stakeholders, including all United Nations duty stations and offices away from Headquarters;

Underlines the responsibility of the Secretariat in the mainstreaming of multilingualism into all of its communication and information activities, within existing resources on an equitable basis, calls upon the Department of Global Communications to consider it as an integral part of its strategic approach and to continue to work with the Coordinator for Multilingualism on best practices throughout the Secretariat to fulfil this responsibility, and requests the Secretary-General to report on such best practices and their implementation in his upcoming report to the Committee on Information, bearing in mind the provisions of resolution 76/268;

Emphasizes the importance of making use of all the official languages of the United Nations, ensuring their full and equitable treatment in all the activities of all divisions and offices of the Department of Global Communications with the aim of eliminating the disparity between the use of English and the use of the five other official languages, in this regard reaffirms its request that the Secretary-General ensure that the Department has the necessary capacity in all the official languages to undertake all of its activities, and requests that this aspect be included in future programme budget proposals for the Department, bearing in mind the principle of parity of all six official languages, while respecting the workload in each official language;

Expresses appreciation for the efforts of the Department of Global Communications in highlighting some recent important communications and messages of the Secretary-General in non-official languages, such as Portuguese, Hindi, Kiswahili, Persian, Bangla and Urdu, in addition to official languages, and in order to promote multilingualism, and encourages the Department to disseminate them in all six official languages, as well as in non-official languages whenever appropriate, within existing resources;

Welcomes the ongoing efforts of the Department of Global Communications to enhance multilingualism in all of its activities, stresses the importance of ensuring that the texts of all new public United Nations documents in all six official languages, information materials, global promotional campaigns and all older United Nations documents are made available through the United Nations websites and are accessible to Member States without delay, and further stresses the importance of fully implementing resolution 76/268 and subsequent resolutions on multilingualism;

Encourages the Department of Global Communications to build upon its efforts to implement multilingual policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, and requests the Secretariat to disseminate information in the six official languages, on the activities and decisions of the main organs of the Organization, and its subsidiary bodies;

Also encourages the Department of Global Communications to continue its ongoing efforts to incorporate the working method of having thematic focal points, currently applied by the language units of the United Nations websites, as a best practice of multilingualism to improve the quality of the content of the websites;

Supports and encourages the continued use by the Department of Global Communications of Bangla, Hindi, Kiswahili, Persian, Portuguese, Urdu and the 128 languages in use by the United Nations information centres in addition to the official languages, when appropriate, and within existing resources, according to the target audience, with a view to reaching the widest possible spectrum of audiences and extending the United Nations and Secretary-General’s message and communication to all corners of the world in order to strengthen international support for the activities of the Organization;

Encourages the Department of Global Communications to continue its long-standing and ongoing efforts to promote multilingualism through global outreach in languages other than official languages, and to mobilize adequate resources, including by exploring innovative financing options as well as voluntary contributions;

Bridging the digital divide

Requests the Department of Global Communications to contribute to raising the awareness of the international community of the importance of the implementation of the outcome document of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society¹² and of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communications technologies, emerging particularly from the fourth industrial revolution, can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide, within and among countries, including by commemorating World Telecommunication and Information Society Day on 17 May;

¹²Resolution 70/125; see also A/C.2/59/3 and A/60/687.

Reiterates its call upon all relevant United Nations entities, within their mandates and existing resources, and all other stakeholders to continue to work together to regularly analyse the nature of digital divides, study strategies to bridge them and make their findings available to the international community, as well as to promote public and private initiatives that aim to bridge the digital divide;

Takes note of the Secretary-General’s Road Map for Digital Cooperation¹³ and proposals set out in his report entitled “Our Common Agenda” relating to digital cooperation to outline shared principles for a digital future for all Member States to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;¹⁴

¹³A/74/821.

¹⁴Resolution 70/1.

Network of United Nations information centres

Emphasizes the importance of the network of United Nations information centres in enhancing the public image of the United Nations, in communicating messages on the United Nations to local populations, especially in developing countries, bearing in mind that information in local languages has the strongest impact on local populations, and in mobilizing support for the work of the United Nations at the local level;

Welcomes the work done by the network of United Nations information centres, including the United Nations Regional Information Centre, in favour of the publication of United Nations information materials and the translation of important documents into languages other than the official languages of the United Nations, encourages information centres to continue their important multilingual activities in the interactive and proactive aspects of their work and to develop web pages and content in social media in local languages, encourages the Department of Global Communications to provide the necessary resources and technical facilities, with a view to reaching the widest possible spectrum of audiences and extending the United Nations message to all corners of the world in order to strengthen international support for the activities of the Organization, and encourages the continuation of efforts in this regard;

Recognizes the support of the network of United Nations information centres to the resident coordinator system during the COVID-19 pandemic, to promote the information and guidance from the United Nations system, including the World Health Organization, to contribute to countering the proliferation of disinformation and misinformation and to disseminate messages and information about relevant activities of United Nations funds and programmes and specialized agencies;

Stresses the importance of rationalizing the network of United Nations information centres, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to continue to make proposals in this direction, including through the redeployment of resources where necessary, and to report to the Committee on Information at its successive sessions;

Reaffirms that the rationalization of United Nations information centres must be carried out on a case-by-case basis in consultation with all concerned Member States in which existing information centres are located, the countries served by those information centres and other interested countries in the region, taking into consideration the distinctive characteristics of each region;

Requests the Department of Global Communications, through the United Nations information centres, to strengthen its cooperation with all other United Nations entities at the country level and in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework in order to enhance coherence in communications and to avoid duplication of work, and in that regard notes the ongoing United Nations reform, which, inter alia, calls for the integration of the information centres into the resident coordinator system, to ensure coordinated, coherent and strategic communications on local and global issues across the United Nations system and through the information centres, including the United Nations Regional Information Centre, taking into account the needs and inputs emerging at the country level, and requests the Secretary-General to include comprehensive information on this process in his next report;

Stresses the importance of taking into account the special needs and requirements of developing countries in the field of information and communications technology for the free flow of information and knowledge in those countries;

Emphasizes the importance of implementing the 2030 Agenda at all levels, and in this regard requests further the Department of Global Communications, through the United Nations information centres, as appropriate, and especially in developing countries, to cooperate with other United Nations entities at the country level to ensure that people have the relevant information and awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals;

Stresses the importance of efforts to strengthen the outreach activities of the United Nations to those Member States remaining outside the network of United Nations information centres, through resident coordinator offices, using the mechanism established by the United Nations development system reform between the Department of Global Communications and the resident coordinator system, to provide communications support, and encourages the Secretary-General, within the context of rationalization, to extend the services of the network of information centres to those Member States;

Also stresses that the Department of Global Communications should continue to review the allocation of both staff and financial resources to the United Nations information centres in developing countries, taking into account the specific needs of the least developed countries in this regard, and requests the Secretary-General to include in the next report comprehensive information on the functioning of the United Nations information centres, including the outcome of the review of the effective and efficient allocation of staff and financial resources to United Nations information centres and the possible measures to improve the operation of the centres in developing countries;

Welcomes the support of some Member States, including developing countries, in offering, inter alia, rent-free premises for the United Nations information centres because of lack of funding, bearing in mind that such support should not be a substitute for the full allocation of financial resources for the information centres in the context of the programme budget of the United Nations;

Notes the steps taken by the Secretariat to address the concerns of many Member States regarding the impact of measures taken by the Secretariat in previous years in relation to the information centres in Cairo, Mexico City, Pretoria and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, among others, and requests the Secretary-General to further report on and to explore ways to strengthen these and other United Nations information centres around the world, especially in Africa, keeping in mind the need to do so within existing resources;

Also notes the discussions between the Department of Global Communications and the Government of Angola on the establishment of the information centre in Luanda to address the needs of Portuguese-speaking African countries, and reiterates its request to the Secretary-General, in coordination with the Government of Angola, to accelerate the establishment and operationalization of the centre in Luanda and report on its status to the Committee on Information at its forty-sixth session;

III.Strategic communications services

Reaffirms the role of the strategic communications services in devising and disseminating United Nations messages by developing communications strategies, with the overall emphasis on multilingualism from the planning stage, in close collaboration with the substantive departments, United Nations funds and programmes and the specialized agencies, in full compliance with their legislative mandates, in accordance with the priorities set out by the Committee on Information;

Recognizes that the network of United Nations information centres, especially in developing countries, should continue to enhance its impact and activities, including through strategic communications support, and calls upon the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of this approach to the Committee on Information at its successive sessions;

Encourages the Department of Global Communications, in coordination with the Department of Peace Operations and the Department of Operational Support of the Secretariat, to update the 2017 policy on strategic communications and public information, bearing in mind the key role of strategic communications in the effective implementation of peacekeeping mandates and acknowledging the risks that misinformation and disinformation pose to the implementation of mandates by United Nations peacekeeping operations and the safety and security of its personnel, especially those operating in complex, multidimensional and challenging environments;

Promotional campaigns

Notes with appreciation the work of the Department of Global Communications in promoting, through its campaigns, issues of importance to the international community, and requests the Department, in cooperation with the countries concerned and with the relevant organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, to continue to take appropriate measures to enhance world public awareness about such themes, inter alia, reinforcing multilateralism and international cooperation, unprecedented humanitarian crises and needs in the world, the 2030 Agenda, South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation, United Nations reform, the eradication of poverty, sustainable urban development, conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, climate change, sustainable management of forests, combating desertification, conservation of biodiversity and other environmental issues, conflict prevention, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and sustaining peace, refugees and migrants, people forcibly displaced by conflict and other means that violate human rights and international law, culture and development, disarmament, decolonization, human rights, gender equality, the rights of children, persons with disabilities and migrant workers, strategic coordination in humanitarian relief, especially in natural disasters and other crises, communicable and non-communicable diseases, the needs of the African continent, the strategic partnership between the African Union and the United Nations, the nature of the critical economic and social situation in Africa and the priorities of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development,¹⁵ the special needs of the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island developing States and the countries that have met the criteria for graduation from the least developed country category, the importance of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and the activities that underlie them, such as corruption, embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion, safe havens that create incentives for the transfer abroad of stolen assets, money-laundering and illegal exploitation of natural resources, the identification, freezing and recovery of stolen assets and their return to their countries of origin in a manner consistent with the United Nations Convention against Corruption,¹⁶ combating human trafficking and modern slavery, combating transnational illicit trafficking, including in cultural heritage, the permanent memorial to and remembrance of the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, the initiative on a world against violence and violent extremism, dialogue among civilizations, the culture of peace and tolerance and the consequences of the Chornobyl disaster, as well as prevention of genocide;

¹⁵A/57/304, annex.

¹⁶United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2349, No. 42146.

Requests the Secretariat, in particular the Department of Global Communications, to contribute to the observance of international days and celebrations established by the General Assembly and to play a role in raising awareness and promoting these events, in a cost-neutral manner, where appropriate, in accordance with the respective Assembly resolutions, and in cooperation with the specialized agencies in charge of their implementation, where appropriate;

Requests the Department of Global Communications and its network of United Nations information centres to raise broad awareness and to engage in a comprehensive and multilingual promotional campaign and coverage, on an equal basis, of all summits, international conferences and high-level meetings mandated by the General Assembly, including those to be held in 2024;

Notes that 2023 marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights¹⁷ and that 2024 marks the forty-fifth anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women adopted on 18 December 1979,¹⁸ as well as the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted on 20 November 1989,¹⁹ and requests the Department of Global Communications to raise awareness of and disseminate information on these human rights instruments;

¹⁷Resolution 217 A (III).

¹⁸United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378.

¹⁹Ibid., vol. 1577, No. 27531.

Recognizes the communication efforts led by the Department of Global Communications in promoting the review conferences of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and their preparatory processes, in particular the production of various multimedia materials, including videos, images and graphics, to promote the conferences and the issues before them in the six official languages of the Organization, and in this regard encourages the Department to continue this practice in promoting high-level meetings, including through the use of traditional and new media such as social media, as appropriate;

Recalls its resolution 75/267 on Global Media and Information Literacy Week, and requests the Department of Global Communications and its network of United Nations information centres to commemorate Global Media and Information Literacy Week in the way that each considers most appropriate, including by focusing on commemorative, educational and public awareness activities that tackle the issue of disinformation and misinformation, within their existing resources;

Also recalls its resolution 76/227 of 24 December 2021 on countering disinformation for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and Human Rights Council resolution 49/21 of 1 April 2022 on the role of Member States in countering the negative impact of disinformation on the enjoyment and realization of human rights, and urges all stakeholders to promote media and information literacy, as a way to empower all people and facilitate digital inclusion and global connectivity, and to assist in countering disinformation and misinformation, within their existing resources;

Requests the Department of Global Communications and its network of United Nations information centres to continue raising awareness of and to disseminate information in a cost-neutral manner on the Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, declared by the General Assembly in its resolution 75/123 of 10 December 2020;

Recalls its resolutions 68/237 of 23 December 2013 and 69/16 of 18 November 2014 on the International Decade for People of African Descent, and requests the Department of Global Communications and its network of United Nations information centres to continue raising awareness of and to disseminate information on the International Decade, in accordance with the programme of activities for the implementation of the International Decade adopted by the General Assembly,²⁰ in a cost-neutral manner;

²⁰Resolution 69/16, annex.

Also recalls its resolution 72/239 of 20 December 2017 on the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (2019–2028), and requests the Department of Global Communications and its network of United Nations information centres to raise awareness of and to disseminate information on the Decade;

Further recalls its resolution 74/135, in which it proclaimed the period 2022–2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, and requests the Department of Global Communications and its network of United Nations information centres to draw attention to the critical loss of Indigenous languages and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize and promote Indigenous languages;

Welcomes the political declaration adopted at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, held on 24 September 2018²¹ to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela, in which the period from 2019 to 2028 was recognized as the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace, and in this regard requests the Department of Global Communications to raise awareness of and to disseminate information on the Decade;

²¹Resolution 73/1.

Notes with appreciation the work of the Department of Global Communications and its network of United Nations information centres to disseminate information on the International Year of Millets and the International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace, both in 2023, as proclaimed in its resolutions 75/263 of 3 March 2021 and 77/32 of 6 December 2022, respectively, and further encourages the Department to promote awareness on the International Year of Camelids in 2024, as prescribed in resolution 72/210 of 20 December 2017;

Underlines the importance of the Department of Global Communications integrating multilingualism in the planning and implementation of promotional campaigns, including the design of logotypes and isologotypes in different languages, where appropriate, as well as the use of hashtags for social media campaigns in more than one language, taking into account the needs of the target audiences;

Encourages the Department of Global Communications to develop partnerships with the private sector and relevant organizations that promote the official languages of the United Nations and other languages, as appropriate, in order to promote the activities of the United Nations in a cost-neutral manner, and to report thereon to the Committee on Information at its forty-sixth session, and in this regard welcomes the partnership with airlines that provide to their customers in-flight programmes featuring United Nations activities;

Role of the Department of Global Communications in United Nations peacekeeping operations, special political missions and peacebuilding

Requests the Secretariat to continue to ensure the active involvement of the Department of Global Communications from the planning stage and in all stages of future peacekeeping operations and special political missions through interdepartmental consultations and coordination with other departments and offices of the Secretariat, in particular with the Department of Peace Operations, the Department of Operational Support, the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and the Peacebuilding Support Office;

Recognizes the coordination between the Department of Global Communications and the relevant United Nations departments in disseminating information on the Secretary-General’s Action for Peacekeeping initiative as well as on the progress of its implementation taking into account views expressed by the Member States;

Requests the Department of Global Communications, the Department of Peace Operations, the Department of Operational Support, the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and the Peacebuilding Support Office to continue their cooperation in raising awareness of the new realities, successes and challenges faced by peacekeeping operations, especially multidimensional and complex ones, in conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding efforts and by special political missions, and continues to call upon them to develop and implement a comprehensive communications strategy on current challenges facing United Nations peacekeeping, countries on the agenda of the Peacebuilding Commission and special political missions, in consultation with Member States as appropriate;

Encourages the Department of Global Communications to consider continuing to issue relevant communication materials on the contribution and ongoing activities of peacekeeping operations in coordination with the relevant United Nations entities in commemoration of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on 29 May;

Stresses the importance of enhancing the public information capacity of the Department of Global Communications in the field of peacekeeping operations and special political missions as well as its role, in close cooperation with the Department of Peace Operations, the Department of Operational Support and the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, in the process of selecting public information staff for United Nations peacekeeping operations or missions, and in this regard invites the Department of Global Communications to second public information staff who have the skills necessary to fulfil the tasks of the operations and special political missions, taking into account the principle of equitable geographical distribution in accordance with Chapter XV, Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter, and to consider views expressed, especially by host countries, when appropriate, in this regard;

Expresses deep concern over the attacks on peacekeepers and other United Nations personnel in the field, urges the Department of Global Communications to further improve its communication strategies to address the issue of anti-United Nations propaganda, which can result in such attacks, in coordination with relevant United Nations departments and field missions, and requests the Secretary-General to include an update on this issue in his next report to the Committee on Information;

Emphasizes the critical importance of strategic communications to the performance of peacekeeping operations in a rapidly changing communications landscape, encourages the Department of Global Communications, within existing resources, to support relevant departments and offices of the Secretariat in continuing to develop, in close consultation with Member States and making use of their best practices, guidelines and training materials on strategic communications to be implemented at all levels of peacekeeping operations, with the objective of integrating strategic communications into planning and decision-making, and giving due consideration to the feedback of local populations and host States;

Notes with great concern the increasing amount of disinformation and misinformation directed against United Nations peacekeeping operations, which may negatively impact missions and peacekeepers, and requests the Department of Global Communications, within existing resources, to support the efforts of United Nations peacekeeping operations to provide accurate content, including in local languages and in coordination with national authorities, as appropriate, to help to strengthen the understanding of their mandates, manage expectations and garner trust and support among relevant stakeholders, notably host Governments and local communities, and contribute to countering disinformation and misinformation by developing expertise to identify, monitor, analyse and respond to it in order to strengthen the ability of United Nations peacekeeping operations to implement their mandates and enhance the safety and security of peacekeepers;

Requests the Department of Global Communications to coordinate with the Department of Operational Support and the Department of Peace Operations to raise awareness to reduce the environmental footprint in the field as part of the implementation of the environment strategy for peace operations;

Emphasizes the importance of the peacekeeping gateway on the United Nations website, and requests the Secretariat to continue its efforts to support the implementation of the mandates of the peacekeeping missions by further developing and maintaining their websites and to ensure that their communications strategies are tailored to address the host Governments, the local populations, the troop and police-contributing countries and other relevant stakeholders;

Welcomes promotional campaigns of the Department of Global Communications showcasing troop- and police-contributing countries, and encourages the Department to develop more effective and integrated communications strategies to highlight the contributions of individual troop- and police-contributing countries in an equitable manner;

100

Encourages the Department of Global Communications to pay tribute to the peacekeepers who have served at great personal risk during the pandemic and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of peace, thereby also recognizing the efforts of troop- and police-contributing countries;

101

Requests the Department of Global Communications, in the context of its promotion of the United Nations peacekeeping activities, to highlight the work and mandate of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations;

102

Requests the Department of Global Communications and other relevant departments and offices of the Secretariat to continue to cooperate in implementing an effective outreach programme to explain the zero-tolerance policy of the Organization regarding sexual exploitation and abuse and to inform the public of the outcome of all such cases involving United Nations staff and related personnel, including cases where allegations are ultimately found to be legally unproven, as appropriate and consistent with all United Nations rules and regulations, and about steps taken to protect the rights of the victims and ensure adequate support for the witnesses, and stresses the importance of the Department of Global Communications in showcasing the compact proposed between the Secretariat and troop-contributing countries in that regard, as well as all the activities related to the circle of leadership;

103

Notes the importance of communication activities and the dissemination of information relating to sustaining peace and peacebuilding efforts, in particular, peacebuilding activities carried out by the peacekeeping missions, meetings and activities of the Peacebuilding Commission, country-specific configurations, the Peacebuilding Support Office and the Peacebuilding Fund, and requests the Department of Global Communications to enhance its cooperation with these entities in that regard, in particular through increased usage of social media within existing resources, with a view to widening outreach of their important work and encouraging national ownership;

Role of the Department of Global Communications in strengthening dialogue among civilizations and the culture of peace as a means of enhancing understanding among nations

104

Recalls its resolutions on dialogue among civilizations and the culture of peace, and requests the Department of Global Communications, while ensuring the pertinence and relevance of subjects for promotional campaigns on this issue, to continue to provide the support necessary for the dissemination of information pertaining to dialogue among civilizations and the culture of peace, as well as the initiative on the Alliance of Civilizations, and to take due steps in fostering the culture of dialogue among civilizations, promoting the initiative on a world against violence and violent extremism in accordance with General Assembly resolution 72/241 of 20 December 2017, and promoting cultural understanding, tolerance, respect for and freedom of religion or belief and effective enjoyment by all of all human rights and civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, and requests a briefing by the Secretariat on the measures taken to disseminate information pertaining to dialogue among civilizations and the culture of peace, before the next session of the Committee on Information;

105

Invites the United Nations system, especially the Department of Global Communications, to continue to encourage and facilitate dialogue among civilizations and to formulate ways and means to promote dialogue among civilizations in the activities of the United Nations in various fields, taking into account the Programme of Action of the Global Agenda for Dialogue among Civilizations;²²

²²Resolution 56/6, sect. B.

106

Calls for strengthened efforts of the Department of Global Communication to foster a global dialogue on the promotion of a culture of tolerance and peace at all levels, based on respect for all human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief and the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and strongly deplores all acts of violence against persons on the basis of their religion or belief and such acts directed against places of worship, as well as all attacks on and in religious places, sites and shrines, which are in violation of international law, and recalls its resolutions 73/296 of 28 May 2019,²³ 76/254 of 15 March 2022²⁴ and 76/250 of 20 January 2022;²⁵

²³Entitled “International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief”.

²⁴Entitled “International Day to Combat Islamophobia”.

²⁵Entitled “Holocaust denial”.

107

Recalls its resolution 69/312 of 6 July 2015, in which it acknowledged the achievements of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the efforts of the High Representative of the Secretary-General for the Alliance of Civilizations, as well as the declarations adopted by the Global Forums of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations,²⁶ and welcomes the continuing support of the Department of Global Communications for the work of the Alliance, including its ongoing projects;

²⁶Madrid, Spain; Istanbul, Türkiye; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Doha, Qatar; Vienna, Austria; Bali, Indonesia; and Baku, Azerbaijan.

108

Welcomes and encourages the various initiatives at the local, national, regional and international levels to enhance interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation and to strengthen people-to-people bonds;

IV.News services

109

Stresses that the central objective of the news services implemented by the Department of Global Communications is the timely delivery of accurate, objective, evidence-based and balanced news and information emanating from the United Nations system in different supports and formats, including print, radio, television and the Internet, including social media platforms, to the free, independent, plural and diverse media and other audiences worldwide, with the overall emphasis on multilingualism from the planning stage, and reiterates its request to the Department to ensure that all breaking news stories, and news alerts are accurate, impartial and free of bias, and are objectively selected for publication while adhering to the Department’s editorial standards;

110

Encourages the Secretary-General to continue the preparations for a global code of conduct that promotes integrity in public information through an inclusive approach that involves all relevant stakeholders within existing resources;

111

Recognizes the efforts of the Department of Global Communications to mainstream and consolidate news and multimedia content through the coordinated and centralized UN News online portal, which provides content in both traditional and digital format in the six official languages, as well as in Hindi, Kiswahili, Portuguese and Urdu, and in this regard requests the Secretariat to continue those efforts by seeking to ensure that those services provide content in an equitable manner in all official languages, as well as in Portuguese and Kiswahili, including by encouraging the sharing of best practices among language sections;

112

Also recognizes the important role of television and video services provided by the Department of Global Communications, and notes the recent efforts in making available online broadcast-quality video that can be streamed or downloaded by smaller broadcast outlets that do not have access to satellite feeds;

Traditional means of communication

113

Welcomes the sustained efforts of United Nations Radio, which remains one of the most effective and far-reaching traditional media available to the Department of Global Communications and an important instrument in United Nations activities, to enhance the timeliness, presentation and thematic focus of its multilingual programmes on United Nations activities and to ensure the widest possible dissemination of its programming to media outlets using the most suitable platforms and formats, and requests the Department to continue producing and disseminating the programmes, in accordance with client needs;

114

Also welcomes the ongoing efforts being made by the Department of Global Communications to disseminate programmes directly to broadcasting stations all over the world in the six official languages, with the addition of Portuguese, Kiswahili, Urdu, Bangla and Hindi as well as other languages, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to include in his upcoming report to the Committee on Information detailed information about such partnerships with broadcasting stations as well as statistics about their multiplying impacts on potential audiences;

115

Requests the Department of Global Communications to continue to build partnerships with local, national and regional media outlets (print, broadcast and digital) to extend the United Nations message to all corners of the world in an accurate and impartial way, and requests the News and Media Division of the Department to continue to take full advantage of modern technologies and equipment;

116

Welcomes the completion of the inventory of the first seven decades of United Nations analogue audiovisual history, and, recognizing the importance of the audiovisual archives of the United Nations, stresses the urgency of digitization of the remaining 40 per cent of the archives in order to prevent further deterioration of these unique historical archives, encourages the Department of Global Communications to prioritize the development of collaborative arrangements for the digitization of these archives while preserving their multilingual character, in a cost-neutral manner, and to report thereon to the Committee on Information at its forty-sixth session, and recalls the contribution of Oman in this regard;

117

Notes, in this regard, the proposed strategy for the digitization of the United Nations audiovisual archive materials for long-term preservation, access and sustainable management,²⁷ and requests the Department of Global Communications to revise and update for consideration by the relevant bodies both a detailed proposal for the mass digitization of the remaining audiovisual collections, within existing resources, and report on solicitation efforts and plans for voluntary contributions to fund the digitization and storage and long-term preservation of the audiovisual archives;

²⁷A/AC.198/2014/3, annex.

United Nations website and social media

118

Reaffirms that the United Nations website is an essential tool for Member States and for the general public, the media, non-governmental organizations and educational institutions, and in this regard reiterates the continued need for strengthened efforts by the Department of Global Communications to regularly maintain, update and improve it;

119

Recognizes the potential of United Nations websites and social media accounts to offer multilingual and multimedia digital content, integrating written, spoken and visual elements in all of the official languages, and encourages the Department of Global Communications to work towards such an objective;

120

Also recognizes the efforts made by the Secretariat to implement the basic accessibility requirements for persons with disabilities to gain access to and take part in the work of the United Nations in person or online, including through the work of the Accessibility Centre at United Nations Headquarters, calls upon the Department of Global Communications to continue to work towards compliance with accessibility requirements on all new and updated pages of the website, with the aim of ensuring its accessibility for persons with different kinds of disabilities, and in this regard encourages the Department of Global Communications and the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management to further cooperate and identify potential synergies;

121

Further recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened pre-existing inequalities and that persons with disabilities have been disproportionately affected by the impact of the pandemic, and in this regard encourages the Department of Global Communications to continue to promote the design, development, production and distribution of accessible information and communications at an early stage, so that these become accessible at minimum cost;

122

Recalls the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy, welcomes the development of the United Nations Disability-Inclusive Communications Guidelines, which provide guidance on how to create inclusive and accessible content, requests the Secretary-General to report to the Committee on Information at its forty-sixth session on progress achieved in this regard, and recalls its resolution 77/240 of 16 December 2022 on promoting and mainstreaming easy-to-understand communication for accessibility for persons with disabilities, in this regard;

123

Reaffirms the need to achieve full parity among the six official languages on all United Nations websites, and urges the Secretary-General to strengthen his efforts to develop, maintain and update multilingual United Nations websites, including United Nations Web TV, its video content and metadata, and the web page of the Secretary-General in all the official languages of the United Nations, from within existing resources and on an equitable basis;

124

Notes with concern that the multilingual development and enrichment of the United Nations website in certain official languages has improved at a much slower rate than expected, and in this regard urges the Department of Global Communications, in coordination with content-providing offices, to advance actions taken to achieve full parity among the six official languages on the United Nations website;

125

Recalls paragraph 49 of its resolution 76/268, notes with concern the disparity between the English and the non-English languages on the websites maintained by the Secretariat, urges the Secretary-General to lead the efforts of all offices and departments of the Secretariat to take concrete action to address such uneven development, and in this regard calls upon all stakeholders, including the Department of Global Communications, content-providing Secretariat entities and the Office of Information and Communications Technology of the Secretariat, to continue their collaboration, within their respective mandates, so as to achieve full parity among the six official languages on all United Nations websites developed and maintained by all Secretariat entities, in full conformance with the principles of multilingualism and in compliance with the relevant resolutions addressing multilingualism and accessibility for persons with disabilities, by making every effort to translate materials currently available only in English and by providing offices and departments with technological solutions that comply with the principle of parity, from within existing resources;

126

Reaffirms its request to the Secretary-General to ensure, while maintaining an up-to-date and accurate website and social media, the equitable distribution among all official languages of financial and human resources within the Department of Global Communications allocated to the United Nations website and social media, to ensure engagement with full respect for the needs and the specificities of all six official languages;

127

Welcomes the cooperative arrangements undertaken by the Department of Global Communications with academic institutions to increase the number of web pages available in official and non-official languages, and requests the Secretary-General, in coordination with content-providing offices, to extend such cooperative arrangements, in a cost-effective manner, to all the official languages of the United Nations, bearing in mind the necessity of adherence to United Nations standards and guidelines;

128

Requests the Department of Global Communications to ensure, to the extent possible within existing resources, that its guidelines on minimum standards for multilingualism, which serve as a guide for website developers and managers, ensure the full and equitable use of all the official languages of the United Nations in websites within the un.org domain, continue to be developed and updated, and are applied consistently across Secretariat entities and their respective subdivisions, requests the Department to exert restraint in granting waivers, and encourages the Department to explore the possibilities of applying these norms to websites under different domain names in a cost-neutral manner, while ensuring the development of a control mechanism of the implementation of the guidelines, within existing resources;

129

Encourages the continuation of live webcasts of public meetings of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and their respective subsidiary bodies, as well as of the Security Council, with interpretation services, and requests the Secretariat to make every effort to provide full access to archived videos in all official languages of all past open formal United Nations meetings with interpretation services, in strict observance of the principle of full parity of the six official languages of the United Nations, in order to promote transparency and accountability within the Organization, and in that regard requests the Department of Global Communications, the Office of Information and Communications Technology and the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management to collaborate, on a cost-neutral basis, to explore cost-efficient technological options to ensure equal availability, searchability, completeness and user-friendly presentation of webcast archives in all official languages on the United Nations website, and requests the Secretary-General to report to the Committee on Information at its forty-sixth session on progress achieved in this regard;

130

Reaffirms the need to enhance the technological infrastructure of the Department of Global Communications, including the United Nations information centres, on a continuous basis in order to widen the outreach of the Department and to continue to improve the United Nations website in a cost-neutral manner;

131

Encourages the Department of Global Communications, in collaboration with the Office of Information and Communications Technology, to continue its efforts to ensure that technological infrastructures and supportive applications in the United Nations fully support Latin, non-Latin and bidirectional scripts in order to enhance the equality of all official languages on the United Nations website;

132

Acknowledges the increasing importance of social media in order to reach the widest possible audience, and as such welcomes the growing popularity of the United Nations official social media accounts across all languages, and encourages the Department of Global Communications to continue to expand, within existing resources, its multilingual presence across platforms, including those showing a trend in growth outlets, including new social media platforms, by providing timely updates on the work and priorities of the Organization in the six official languages of the United Nations, as well as additional non-official languages whenever appropriate;

133

Underlines the importance that, in the implementation of its multilingual social media strategy, the Department of Global Communications ensures full parity among the official languages of the Organization, and in that regard stresses the need for United Nations social media campaigns to use content suitable for each language, including hashtags and other labels, and requests the Secretary-General to report to the Committee on Information at its forty-sixth session by providing available analytics, classified by official languages, as well as Kiswahili, Portuguese and Hindi, on audiences of social media accounts managed by the Secretariat;

134

Recalls that, in paragraph 47 of its resolution 76/268, the General Assembly welcomed the renewed efforts of the Secretary-General to conduct a comprehensive review of the United Nations websites, presenting the status of content in non-official languages, and noted with appreciation the innovative ideas, potential synergies and other cost-neutral measures proposed in the report of the Secretary-General on multilingualism²⁸ to reinforce the broader multilingual development and enrichment of the United Nations websites, as appropriate, and requests the Secretary-General to present an updated version of the review to the Assembly at its seventy-ninth session;

²⁸A/73/761.

V.Library services

135

Welcomes the efforts of the Department of Global Communications to implement the recommendations of the Strategic Outlook 2025 of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, a result of the Library working group on improvement of knowledge and electronic library services;

136

Commends the steps taken by the Dag Hammarskjöld Library and the other Secretariat libraries, members of the Steering Committee for Libraries of the United Nations, to put forward the New York pledge: United Nations libraries mobilize to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and calls upon United Nations Secretariat libraries to work with the Dag Hammarskjöld Library on practical cooperation in devising modern library and knowledge services and electronic platforms, in a cost-neutral manner;

137

Reiterates the need to maintain a multilingual collection of books, periodicals and other materials in both hard copy and electronic formats, accessible to Member States and others, ensuring that the Dag Hammarskjöld Library continues to be a broadly accessible resource for information about the United Nations and its activities, including through a multilingual home page, from within existing resources;

138

Welcomes the initiatives taken by the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, in its capacity as the focal point, to expand the scope of the regional training and knowledge-sharing workshops organized for the depository libraries in developing countries to include outreach in their activities;

139

Acknowledges the role of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library in enhancing knowledge-sharing and networking activities to ensure access to the vast store of United Nations knowledge for delegates, permanent missions of Member States, the Secretariat, researchers and depository libraries worldwide;

140

Recalls paragraph 80 of its resolution 74/252 of 27 December 2019, and requests the Secretary-general to digitize and preserve the print heritage of the Organization (1946–1993) currently held in the basements of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library and make it available online through the United Nations Digital Library by exploring all possible avenues, including voluntary contributions and support from other stakeholders;

VI.Outreach services

141

Stresses that the central objective of the outreach and knowledge services implemented by the Department of Global Communications is to promote awareness of the role and work of the United Nations by fostering dialogue with global constituencies, such as academia, civil society, educators, students and youth, with the overall emphasis on multilingualism from the planning stage, in close collaboration with the substantive departments, specialized agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations;

142

Notes with serious concern that many outreach and knowledge services are not yet available in all official languages, and in this regard urges the Department of Global Communications, as a matter of priority, to mainstream multilingualism into all outreach and knowledge services, bearing in mind the importance of making use of all the official languages of the United Nations and ensuring their full and equitable treatment in all the activities of the Department, with the aim of eliminating the disparity between the use of English and the use of the five other official languages;

143

Encourages the United Nations Academic Impact to take effective steps to facilitate exchanges between the United Nations and institutions of higher education and academic, research and scientific communities in all regions to support the common principles and purposes of the United Nations, contribute to the realization of the 2030 Agenda, foster global citizenship and fill knowledge gaps, while recognizing the role of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and its constitution;

144

Notes the continued growth of the United Nations Academic Impact, calls upon the Department of Global Communications to promote global awareness of the Academic Impact in order to encourage balanced participation among Member States and their continued support for the initiative, within existing resources, and encourages Member States to support the initiative and promote it among their academic institutions, as appropriate, with a view to their joining it, in accordance with General Assembly resolutions 77/128 A and B;

145

Commends the United Nations Academic Impact for its continued engagement with the global community of scholarship in realizing the objectives of the Organization, requests the Secretary-General to continue to promote this initiative by encouraging eligible institutions of higher education in all regions, especially from developing countries, to enrol and contribute actively to the goals of the United Nations, and in this regard notes with appreciation the cost-neutral partnerships it has successfully initiated thus far with a view to multiplying membership;

146

Welcomes the educational outreach activities of the Department of Global Communications, and requests the Department to continue to reach educators and young people worldwide through a range of multilingual multimedia platforms, including, in particular, in the dissemination of the 2030 Agenda through the educational system, including elementary and secondary schools as well as tertiary institutions;

147

Also welcomes the engagement by the Department of Global Communications with Model United Nations clubs and conferences throughout the world, and requests the Department to continue its efforts to educate Model United Nations organizers and participants about the practices, procedures and norms of the Organization, thereby ensuring the accuracy of simulations and promoting adherence to United Nations values;

148

Notes the efforts of the Envoy of the Secretary-General on Youth in supporting the meaningful engagement of young people on a global scale in close collaboration with other United Nations entities, and recalls its resolution 76/306 of 8 September 2022;

149

Emphasizes the importance of the continued implementation by the Department of Global Communications of the ongoing Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalists’ Fellowship Programme for broadcasters and journalists from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, as mandated by the General Assembly, and requests the Department to consider how best to maximize the benefits derived from the Programme by extending, inter alia, its duration and the number of its participants, in accordance with Assembly resolution 35/201 of 16 December 1980;

150

Encourages the UN Chronicle to continue to publish online content in all six official languages to develop partnerships and collaborative educational activities and events with civil society organizations and institutions of higher learning;

151

Acknowledges the historical record that the Yearbook of the United Nations provided in the years it was produced, and welcomes the work of the Department of Global Communications to modernize the reference documentation that it produces and access to such documentation;

152

Requests the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to ensure that, in view of their income-generating nature and the significance of their educational outreach, in particular their impact on increasing numbers of young people, guided tours, including virtual tours, at United Nations Headquarters continue to be made available in all six official languages of the United Nations as well as in non-official languages;

153

Notes the ongoing efforts of the Department of Global Communications to strengthen its role as a focal point for two-way interaction with civil society relating to the priorities and concerns of the Organization identified by Member States, and also notes in this regard the increasing involvement of civil society in United Nations activities, including the outreach activities directed at youth representatives and young journalists;

154

Recalls its resolution 41/68 D of 3 December 1986, commends the World Federation of United Nations Associations and its more than 100 national United Nations associations for the valuable contributions that they have made during the past 77 years through their global activities in the mobilization of popular support for the United Nations, and calls for continued collaboration between the World Federation and the Department of Global Communications in support of their complementary objectives;

155

Commends, in a spirit of cooperation, the United Nations Correspondents Association for its ongoing activities and for its Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial Scholarship Fund, which sponsors journalists from developing countries to come to United Nations Headquarters and report on the activities during the sessions of the General Assembly, and further encourages the international community to continue its financial support for the Fund;

156

Expresses its appreciation for the efforts and contribution of United Nations Messengers of Peace, Goodwill Ambassadors and other advocates to promote the work of the United Nations and to enhance international public awareness of its priorities and concerns, and calls upon the Department of Global Communications to continue to involve them in its global communications and media strategies and outreach activities;

157

Welcomes the continued collaborations between the Department of Global Communications and cultural, sporting and other personalities and characters as well as with global events such as world expos and festivals, throughout the world to promote the issues on the United Nations agenda, as well as an understanding of the role of the Organization itself, while encouraging the Department to reach out to a broader range of nationalities, notes the progress made in working with partners worldwide, and requests the Department to continue efforts to leverage these partnerships to reach mass audiences with content related to the work of the United Nations;

VII.Final remarks

158

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Committee on Information at its forty-sixth session and to the General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session on the activities of the Department of Global Communications and on the implementation of all recommendations and requests contained in the present resolution, and requests the Department to provide a briefing in this regard, before the next session of the Committee;

159

Notes the initiative taken by the Department of Global Communications, in cooperation with the Department of Safety and Security and the Protocol and Liaison Service of the Secretariat, during the annual general debate of the General Assembly, to issue special identification stickers to mission-designated personnel of Member States to enable them to escort media covering the visits of high-level officials to restricted areas, and strongly urges the Secretary-General to continue to improve this practice by acceding to the request by Member States to provide the needed number of additional passes to press and other relevant officers of Member States to allow their access to all areas that are deemed restricted, in order to effectively and comprehensively report on high-level meetings that include officials of delegations of Member States;

160

Requests the Committee on Information to report to the General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session;

161

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-ninth session the item entitled “Questions relating to information”.