Mr. Chairman,
Allow me in the first place to extend our appreciation to the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, for his election as Chairman of the Committee. Our delegation wishes him and the rest of the distinguished elected members of the Bureau success in performing their responsibilities, and we offer them our full support. We also thank the Austrian Ambassador Jan Kickert, and his team for their fruitful work at the head of the Committee on Information last year.
Our delegation endorses the statements by the Observer State of Palestine, Chair of the Group of 77 and China. We also support the statement by the Plurinational State of Bolivia on behalf of the Group of Friends of Spanish.
We welcome the presence of Ms. Alison Smale, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications and we thank her for presenting the Secretary-General's reports on the activities carried out by the Department. We reiterate our willingness to provide our support to the work of the Organization in the field of information.
Mr. Chairman,
In analyzing the report submitted by the Secretary-General contained in document A/AC.198/2019/2 on strategic communications services, our delegation notes and acknowledges the significant efforts made to promote communication campaigns on eleven important issues discussed and promoted by the United Nations. We must say, however, that the issues on disarmament, and in particular nuclear disarmament, vital for the survival of humanity, have not been considered among the priority campaigns of the Department, a matter that shall be corrected.
In said document, we appreciate the addition of the section on Multilingualism, which reports the publication of information in 97 languages, as well as in Braille, by the United Nations Information Centers.
Regarding the report contained in document A/AC.198 / 2019/3 on the news service, information is provided on the work done and the improvements achieved through the digital media, and when analyzing the website of the United Nations we note with satisfaction the launch of several new websites, which require the use of the six official languages, a requirement that has been raised on several occasions by this Committee. We hope that this practice will be followed in the future.
When looking at the information about the increase in the number of followers in social networks, we observe that in the six official languages, as well as in Swahili and Portuguese, there has been a significant increase, which satisfies us and it is an additional evidence of the validity of the use of all the official languages in the diversification of the information that the Department is able to provide to all corners of the world.
In the chapter on News Services, we note with satisfaction that the Department ensures that the public has access to timely, balanced and accurate information in both traditional and new formats; this will allow the information to reach those places where traditional information methods are still used.
In the century of new information and communication technologies, it is regrettable that, according to UNESCO, globally, at least 750 million young people and adults - two thirds of them women - still cannot read and write and 250 million children fail to achieve basic literacy training. For them, especially in underdeveloped countries, using a computer is still an illusion.
We support the Secretary-General when he points out the need to reform how information and communications are managed to create rapid, strategic and integrated communications that ensure that the messages of the United Nations reach people in the languages they understand, through platforms of digital and traditional media, and that make them involved.
We must also work to reduce and eliminate the growing digital divide between developed and developing countries.
Mr. Chairman,
Our delegation also recognizes the work of the Department of Global Communications to provide quality documents and services in the six official languages; however, we reiterate our concern about the disparity that still exists between the use of English and the other five languages.
Although progress has been made, unfortunately the press releases are only published in French and English, relegating the other official languages of the Organization to a second place.
We draw attention to the importance of Spanish as the second most spoken language in the world and the second most used in websites and other products of the United Nations, and we emphasize that the evident interest of Spanish-speaking peoples in the work of the United Nations demands an appropriate response from the Department of Global Communications.
In the reform of the Department, the priorities established by the Committee on Information, in particular multilingualism should be taken into account and, in addition, consultations with the Member States should be considered. The reform should not lead to the elimination of proven communication tools.
We reaffirm our support for the Special Information Programme on the Question of Palestine, which facilitates the provision of training for Palestinian journalists.
The Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, declared in its resolution 65/119, of December 10, 2010, is coming to an end and we have not yet been able to achieve the end of colonial and subordination relations of a group of territories called indigenous. A new international effort will be needed and a Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism will be established, for which the Department of Global Communications and its network of United Nations Information Centers should continue to promote greater awareness and dissemination of information on this goal.
Mr. Chairman,
Cuba is making progress in the process of computerization of its society, which is a priority of the Cuban State. The ICT sector is part of the strategic goals within the Economic and Social Development Plan until 2030, which includes connectivity and Internet access.
I use few data to show the development achieved in our country:
- We have 678 internet navigation rooms, with 2,259 navigation spots in hotels and other entities;
- There are 981 WI-FI public navigation areas in the country, covering all the existing municipalities and also another 423 WI-FI areas of other entities that provide Internet access service to the public, for a total of 1,404 public areas;
- There are more than 2 million permanent Internet navigation accounts through the Cuban "NAUTA" platform to have access to email and Internet services offered by ETECSA, the public operator in Cuba.
- Additionally, more than 50 million temporary navigation accounts have been sold since the service started to be provided.
- Home Internet access service has been provided since September 2017, which is improving, and the total number of users is still low with almost 79,000 users;
- Since December 6, the commercialization of mobile phones Internet services with different options of data offers began. To date, there are more than two million users that comply with the technological conditions to access the service and more than five and a half million data packages have been sold. The number of users that use data in the 4G network is still low, although it is increasing.
This progress has been made thanks to the political will of the Cuban government, which is hampered by the illegal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the Government of the United States against Cuba, which persists and intensifies with new unilateral and illegal sanctions against my country like the implementation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which will negatively impact our development programs in this field.
Likewise, once again we reiterate before this Committee our total rejection and condemnation of the permanent radio and television aggression by the United States Government against Cuba, which is contrary to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and various provisions of the International Telecommunication Union
Through illegal radio and television broadcasts, the Cuban radio spectrum has been permanently attacked from abroad, broadcasting programs specially designed to incite the overthrow of the constitutional order established by the Cuban people. On average in 2018, 1,653 hours a week were illegally broadcasted to Cuba from the territory the United States through 20 frequencies, violating the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, international law and the provisions of the International Telecommunication Union.
Between January and February of 2019, on average, 1,676.30 hours a week were illegally broadcasted to Cuba from the territory of the United States through 20 frequencies.
The use of communications technologies must be fully compatible and in accordance with the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations and must respect sovereignty, non-interference in the internal affairs of States and internationally recognized standards of peaceful coexistence among them.
Cuba rejects the announcement by the Department of State, on January 23, 2018, of the decision to convene an "Internet Task Force", composed of US government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations, aiming at promoting in Cuba a "free and unregulated flow of information". According to the announcement, this task force will "examine the technological challenges and opportunities for expanding Internet access and independent media" in Cuba.
We express once again the strongest protest and condemnation for the US government intention to flagrantly violate Cuban sovereignty, with respect to national competence to regulate the flow of information and the use of the mass media, we also reject the attempt to manipulate the Internet to carry out illegal programs for political and subversion purposes.
To conclude, we reaffirm Cuba's commitment to promoting the establishment of a fairer and more equitable new world information and communication order. You can count on the support of our delegation for this purpose.
Thank you very much