Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PARIS2007
2006-03-29 06:21:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Paris
Cable title:  

UNESCO COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION UPDATE

Tags:  KPAO ECPS ETRD ECON EINT ETTC EAID UNESCO 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002007 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO ECPS ETRD ECON EINT ETTC EAID UNESCO
SUBJECT: UNESCO COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION UPDATE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002007

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO ECPS ETRD ECON EINT ETTC EAID UNESCO
SUBJECT: UNESCO COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION UPDATE

1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Communication and Information (C
and I) Sector of UNESCO held two program council meetings
last week - the International Programme for the Development
of Communication (IPDC) Council and the Information for All

Programme (IFAP) Council. IPDC members elected a new chair
and bureau, reviewed an audit of the program that the
University of Oslo made, assessed progress on these reforms,
and resolved to launch a broad consultation to develop
indicators for media development. Cuba was elected by the
IPDC Council to its bureau as the unanimous GRULAC (Latin
American and Caribbean Group) candidate. IFAP members
elected New Zealand as a new chair, and discussed ethics for
journalists and the possibility of general moral principles
for information ethics on the Internet. Mission paid close
attention to both of these meetings because the Danish
cartoon controversy continues to play a prominent role at
UNESCO. All eyes are on the Arab group and European Union
as they attempt to address this issue in advance of the
Executive Board. The Secretariat also has advised the
Mission that they are planning a conference on the World
Digital Library for the fall. END SUMMARY.

--------------
GRULAC at the IPDC Council:
--------------


2. (SBU) The IPDC Council elected Denmark to a third term
as Chairman of its Bureau. It also elected 7 members: Cuba
(GRULAC),Burkina Faso (Rapporteur),the Netherlands (Group
I) Russia (Group II, re-elected),Afghanistan (Asia Group),
Oman, (Arab Group) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(Africa Group) Each region historically nominates by
consensus a country to the council, and the council may call
a vote if there is not consensus among the regional group.
The GRULAC region notified the UNESCO Secretariat the night
before the elections that Cuba planned to run, and the
Mission, as well as other concerned council members, tried
to persuade various GRULAC members to run. All GRULAC
countries made clear that the decision to nominate Cuba was

theirs alone, and that none of them would oppose Cuba.


3. (SBU) One GRULAC country flatly stated that it was
unwilling to challenge Cuba without instructions from his
government, and added that doing so would provoke his
capital's wrath. He noted that while he personally liked
the Danish IPDC chair and appreciated the Danish
government's financial support of the IPDC, it was still the
country that "brought us the cartoons." The Muslim world,
he stated, was completely different, and there had to be
some respect for their religion and culture. If Denmark, in
these circumstances, could chair the IPDC, he asked, why not
have Cuba, even if they had a proven record of opposing
media freedom? "This is the clash of civilizations, this is
the world we live in today." he added. (COMMENT: Mission
notes that GRULAC is maneuvering in other areas: Other
delegations have advised the Mission that Cuba, Uruguay, and
Venezuela wanted GRULAC to send a group letter to the
Director General criticizing Amcit ADG for Education Peter
Smith's reorganization plans and urging UNESCO to follow up
on recommendations issued by regional UNESCO Ministerial
Conferences. This may be a reference to the recent MOST
Conference in Buenos Aries. There are a few holdouts in
GRULAC that opposed this letter, but they are in the
minority. END COMMENT.)

--------------
IPDC COUNCIL:
--------------


4. The Council discussed a University of Oslo audit of the
IPDC program and its reforms and resolved to develop
benchmarks to help media professionals, policy makers,
development agencies, implementers and project proponents to
analyze the various elements of a media system and to
identify areas where support is required. Israel, France
and other countries expressed interest in better evaluation
tools for IPDC programs. A thematic debate was organized in
cooperation with UNESCO's Information for All Programme
(IFAP) on community radio and blogs.

--------------
IFAP AGENDA
--------------


5. (SBU) Secretariat sources approached the Mission on the
margins of the joint IFAP/IPDC thematic debate to inquire
whether we would support a non-instrument "moral"
declaration dealing with Infoethics principles. The
Secretariat staffer stated that Chile and Peru were

SIPDIS
interested in pursuing this, and speculated that France
might also be interested. He stated that he was trying to
find other countries that would support the project.
(COMMENT: This is a classic example of how the Secretariat
often works at UNESCO - a staffer gets an idea and then
lobbies countries to take it on - not the other way around.
END COMMENT) Mission relayed this conversation to more
senior staff that had not heard of any C and I initiatives
on infoethics beyond general discussion by IFAP members.
The senior staffer noted that some countries active in the
IFAP debate had also pushed for ethics for journalists, a
move that the C and I sector reportedly opposed since it
would hinder media freedom. (COMMENT: The Danish Cartoon
Controversy still looms over UNESCO, as the GRULAC debate
over Cuba's candidacy unfortunately demonstrated. We note
that it has rekindled the "ethics" debate for the Internet
and for journalists yet again. While the Secretariat has a
strong record of commitment to media freedom, the period
ahead may be very bumpy indeed. END COMMENT.)

--------------
DANISH CARTOONS:
--------------


6. (SBU) Mission was advised by the Secretariat that the
most important issue for the C and I Sector at the Executive
Board would be the debate on media freedom and UNESCO's role
after the Danish Cartoon controversy. While some Arab
countries took a harder line than others, the real problem
continued to be division among European Union members. The
Nordics (COMMENT: Norway and Iceland are not in the
European Union. END COMMENT.) were strongly in the corner
of media freedom, while Austria, perhaps leading others as
EU President, wanted more flexibility and dialogue.

--------------
WORLD DIGITAL LIBRARY (WDL):
--------------


7. (SBU) The Secretariat staffer also stated that the
Library of Congress' John van Oudenarem had been in touch
with the Communication and Information sector to follow up
on Associate Librarian for Library Services, Deanna Marcum's
visit to UNESCO. According to the staffer, UNESCO and van
Oudenarem were discussing holding a conference to support
the WDL either in Paris or in Washington in the autumn of

2006. She noted the Secretariat's preference for Paris to
bring parties together on these questions.

8. (SBU) COMMENT: The sensitivity of issues involving
freedom of expression is appearing in multiple UNESCO arenas
in advance of the Executive Board. Mission was surprised to
learn that the Library of Congress (LOC) had gone forward
with joint UNESCO conference plans and notes the continued
need for clarifying the lines of communication between the
USG and UNESCO on the World Digital Library Project. END
COMMENT.

Oliver