Focus will be UN Information Department's completed reorientation, as Committee on Information meets at Headquarters 18 - 28 April. Page 1 of 2.

M2 PRESSWIRE-18 April 2005-UN: Focus will be UN Information Department's completed reorientation, as Committee on Information meets at Headquarters 18 - 28 April. Page 1 of 2.(C)1994-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:15042005

The twenty-seventh session of the Committee on Information, the intergovernmental body tasked with reviewing progress in the field of United Nations public information, will be held at Headquarters from 18 to 28 April.

Since 2002, the Department of Public Information (DPI) has undergone a comprehensive review of its management and operations. According to the Secretary-General's progress report on the continuing reorientation of United Nations activities in the field of public information and communications, the reorientation of the Department is now complete, with the Department having implemented those aspects of the comprehensive review which are within the authority of the Secretary-General and are based on existing General Assembly resolutions and guidance provided by the Committee on Information. As a result, the DPI has adopted a new strategic approach that concentrates on key messages forming a part of a coordinated communications strategy.

In addition, the Department has acquired new communications tools that seek to make balanced use of the new communications technologies, especially the Internet, while continuing to improve on its use of the traditional means of communication, including radio and print materials. It has also widened the pool of its communications partners, ranging from public to private and corporate sectors. A new culture of evaluation and performance management has now become an integral part of its activities.

The report notes that the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations this year -- a time of reflection and renewal -- presents the Department with an excellent opportunity to tell the United Nations story in a more dynamic way to more people around the world than ever before. "This is a time not only to tell our story, it is also a time to better equip the Organization for today's challenges and to gain public support for its vital work. It is a time to reinforce the relevance of the United Nations in today's world."

The Department is well prepared to take on the challenge of telling the story of a renewed and revitalized United Nations. To do this effectively, it needs the support of Member States and, in particular, the Committee, its partner in this vital task, the report adds.

Report Summaries

Before the Committee is the progress report of the Secretary-General on the continuing reorientation of United Nations activities in the field of public information and communications (document A/AC.198/2005/2). Over the past 12 months, the United Nations has been in the eye of a media storm in many parts of the world, states the report. Amid allegations of corruption, mismanagement and a lack of transparency and accountability in some of its activities, its efficiency, effectiveness and relevance have been publicly and persistently challenged.

The nature of these criticisms has varied widely: the Organization's image in the Middle East continues to be buffeted as developments unfolding in Iraq and in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict have prompted controversy with regard to the role of the United Nations; in North America and in parts of Europe, there has been strong criticism of alleged corruption and mismanagement in the "oil-for-food" programme; and there has been similar concern voiced over charges of sexual exploitation in peacekeeping operations.

The Department has faced an unprecedented test in mobilizing resources to engage in this public debate simultaneously on so many fronts. As an initial step, it strengthened its monitoring of media around the world, making use of new technologies and intensified efforts by United Nations information centres to provide senior officials with press materials and regular analyses. Moreover, the Department strengthened its media outreach capacity, committing dedicated resources to working with other offices to ensure a coordinated and rapid response to misinformation in the media, as well as the formulation of substantive information for United Nations officials to use when speaking to the press on specific issues. In addition, the Department assisted in the drafting and placement of "op-eds" (opinion articles) by senior officials in newspapers in all parts of the world to further project the Organization's perspective on crucial issues.

Throughout the second half of 2004 and in early 2005, the DPI concentrated on drawing the world's attention to the process of revitalization and reform of the United Nations promoted by the Secretary-General. At the centre of the Department's campaign in support of the renewal were preparations for the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly at the commencement of its sixtieth session in September 2005 to review progress in implementing the United Nations Millennium Declaration.

Aware of the challenge by the Secretary-General to use the Millennium+5 Summit as an opportunity to agree on bold decisions needed to move the world closer to that shared vision, the Department is developing an integrated communications strategy to link the summit with a series of high-profile events, including the launch in December 2004 of the report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which outlined more than 100 proposals on reforming the Organization to enable it to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

From its inception in 2001 and as first reported in 2002, creating a culture of evaluation has been a cornerstone of the DPI reorientation process. The Department's strategic planning through systematic evaluation has been reinforced through cooperation with the Office of Internal Oversight Services. This collaborative project to evaluate all DPI activities has now entered its third and final year. The systematic review of the impact of public information activities has encouraged managers at all levels to focus on the evaluation of programme outcomes. This emphasis on results has underlined the importance of direct and regular contact with users of public information products, to align the work of the Department more closely with the needs of its target audiences.

The process of establishing a culture of evaluation has significantly increased survey activities, which have more than doubled with the introduction of the annual programme impact review. Nearly 10,000 users have had the opportunity to provide their feedback on the usefulness, relevance and quality of a wide range of products, services and activities of the Department. Overall, surveys conducted since 2002 demonstrate that the Department has managed to meet the demands of an average of 80 per cent of its target audiences in terms of usefulness, relevance and quality of DPI products, activities and services. Audience feedback has also helped programme managers identify areas where they need to perform better. For example, based on feedback from users, one of the Department's websites has since been redesigned to better serve their information needs.

Another major challenge for the Department is to monitor and analyse the impact of its communications campaigns and press coverage of United Nations activities. Given budgetary limitations, employing an external company to do so is not a viable option. The Department is, therefore, building its technical infrastructure and internal capacities through training to enable the staff to conduct systematic media monitoring and analysis. This is a priority for the Department in 2005.

The client planning process, initiated in 2003 as part of the reform of the DPI, was further strengthened. The Strategic Communications Division, which has the primary responsibility for this aspect of the Department's work, continued to consult with and advise client substantive departments on strategies and tactics needed to better promote their major activities and get their key messages out. Over a dozen communications strategies were formally devised and agreed upon for priority issues and events and these strategies were then carried out, with coordination across the Department.

The DPI worked on two major fronts this year to address the surge in demand for United Nations peacekeeping: one was to raise awareness about United Nations peacekeeping, particularly the challenges posed by deploying new and expanded missions; the other was to prepare public information components of peacekeeping operations for rapid and effective deployment. A cornerstone of the Department's work in the area of peacekeeping remains its close cooperation with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). Planning and coordination with the DPKO intensified in 2004 as DPI prepared public information materials and disseminated information on the surge to media and United Nations information centres.

The News and Media Division has continued to pursue aggressively its central mandate of bringing, on a daily basis, the news of the full range of the Organization's diverse activities to the world through various media, including print, radio, television, photography and the Internet. A principal focus for the Division's activities over the past year has been the strengthening of partnerships with radio and television broadcasters for the delivery of more audio-visual products to a wider range of audience. This has been achieved through a three-part strategy of enhanced feedback and evaluation with existing partners, outreach to new partners and strengthened coordination with other members of the United Nations family.

The Department has continued to build on its strong existing base of more than 174 partner radio stations in 75 countries.

New partnerships, for example, include Radio 10 in Guatemala, Radio Post Phillip in Australia and Communidad 100 in Argentina and three more stations in China -- Radio Sichuan, Radio Lianing and Radio Ji Lin. One of the major highlights during the year was the launch of a new radio programme dedicated to Africa. A weekly show targeting Asia has been revitalized, and a staff member has travelled to India to produce and promote programmes.

In another effort to broaden its outreach, the Department has received a grant to hire a United States radio reporter to prepare news and feature stories -- "UN Minutes" -- for distribution to radio stations and networks, primarily in the United States. Bloomberg Radio has expressed a special interest in these short programmes, which are more in tune with an American mainstream audience that listens to music programmes intercut with short news segments.

Enhanced distribution is key to improved outreach and, along with most of the United Nations agencies active in the audio-visual field, the Department has led efforts to develop new ways for broadcasters to access its products. These efforts have culminated in an important new initiative which will enable the Department and audio-visual producers throughout the United Nations system to distribute video material promptly from Headquarters and from the field to broadcasters.

Some 10 new significant television partners have joined the growing number of international television partners airing DPI productions. Over the past year, the Department has also worked to increase the placement of public service announcements on United Nations priority issues. Of particular note were the successful television spot series with Forum Barcelona, whose 13 spots were distributed to 175 television stations worldwide, and television spots on the United Nations International Day of Peace from the A&E History Channel. Also, United States cable partners, such as Cable Positive, the United States cable and telecommunications industry's AIDS action programme, have agreed to distribute spots on HIV/AIDS to a wide range of outlets free of charge and on a regular basis. Discussions are also under way with stations on a series of spots commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations.

Confirming the continued relevance of print products, the Department has issued a new, revised edition of Basic Facts about the United Nations. This invaluable book provides a comprehensive yet concise overview of the multifarious activities of the United Nations system, including its work in the political, economic, social and humanitarian spheres, its continuing advancement of human rights and international law, and its successes in the area of decolonization. This completely updated, Internet-friendly edition, provides a bird's eye view of how the far-flung members of the United Nations system work together in support of the progress and well-being of life on our planet.

The report of the Secretary-General on the rationalization of the network of United Nations information centres (document A/AC.198/2005/3) provides information on the implementation of the regionalization initiative in Western Europe and in other high-cost developed countries and sets out the proposed strategy for the implementation of the initiative in other regions.

It states that further progress towards regionalization would require a level of funding not currently available to the Department. The unanticipated reduction of $2 million from the biennium 2004-2005 allocation for the United Nations information centres drained resources that were intended for strengthening centres in developing countries and facilitating the creation of regional hubs. In addition, rising operational expenditures, such as rent, maintenance and utilities, have further strained the centres' budgets. The resources are simply not available to pursue large-scale regionalization around the world.

In the face of these concerns, the Department is recommendinga strategic recalibration of the existing network. Key information centres in each region will be strengthened to enable them to play a greater role in providing broad strategic communications guidance, coordination and support to centres in that region. This would help focus the work of information centres on priority thematic issues and concerns of particular relevance in each region, and would help the Department better fulfil its mission statement by communicating more strategically to achieve the greatest public impact in the field.

The experience gained so far in the establishment and functioning of the regional United Nations information centre in Brussels is also relevant to any further rationalization plan. The regional United Nations information centre opened on 1 January 2004 and moved to its permanent rent-free premises provided by the Government of Belgium in July 2004.

Logistical arrangements, including the set-up of information technology and communications equipment, the creation of a local area network and the installation of the reference library collection were not completed until later in the year.

Since then, the staff have developed the necessary working environment to enable them to assume a leading role in implementing a more robust, coherent and coordinated public information programme in the region. Every effort was made to transfer staff from the nine United Nations information centres in Western Europe that closed on 31 December 2003 to the new regional centre in order to benefit from their skills, experience and institutional memory, to give a jump start to the new operation, and to ensure the continuity of United Nations communications efforts in the region. The recruitment for all professional positions is now complete.

The report states that the Department will proceed to systematically extend a more strategic communications approach to the network of United Nations information centres. This approach is in keeping with the organizational structure put in place with the reorientation of the Department beginning in November 2002, which located the United Nations information centres within the Strategic Communications Division. It will be based on a more regional approach to its public information work at the country level, with the development of regional communications strategies to promote the goals and key activities of the United Nations, and the development of public information activities and materials focusing on priority thematic issues and concerns of the region. To facilitate this, adjustments will be made to the current network of United Nations information centres, including a reallocation of posts, with a view to strengthening its operations and ensuring optimal use of resources within the current budgetary allocation.

The Department has begun to develop this regional communications approach starting with the Middle East and Arab region, and plans a similar approach in other regions, working with the respective regional commissions and other organizations of the United Nations system to develop and implement joint United Nations information strategies. An essential element of the progress towards further physical regionalization of the network of United Nations information centres will be the support of the Member States directly affected by this exercise. After a careful review of the merits of each particular situation, and taking into account the distinctive characteristics of different regions, the Department will continue its consultations with regional groups and with the Member States concerned with a view to extending the regional concept wherever this approach would strengthen the flow and exchange of information.

At the same time, the Department confronts a central dilemma.

The creation of regional hubs required the reallocation of funds released by the closing of national information centres.

This presumed that the level of operational resources available would be adequate for the establishment of viable regional hubs. However, with the resources currently available, it is impossible to create regional hubs comparable to the model used for Western Europe.

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