Asia-Pacific POPIN Bulletin

NEWS

**** Regional population information project funded by UNFPA to 2003

The ESCAP Population and Rural and Urban Development Division recently received word from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) that its regional population information programme has been approved for the new funding cycle, 2000-2003.

The project, which is entitled "Compilation, Packaging and Regular Dissemination of Population Information for Advocacy Purposes" will be jointly conducted with UNESCO as one of major outputs specified in the Population Advocacy Subprogramme Area of the larger Asia-Pacific Regional Population Programme.

The project is designed to carry out population information activities with the aim of increasing national political, administrative and community support for the implementation of population policies and programmes on one hand, and helping to generate a body of knowledge/resources for the use of population-related programmes at the national, subregional and regional levels on the other. The information repackaging and dissemination activities of ESCAP will be focused on population and development, demography and reproductive health, while those of UNESCO will be on adolescent reproductive and sexual health and population education.

Under the project, ESCAP will collect information from various regional and interregional projects, repackage it and disseminate the information through both traditional means such as printed publications and Web-based electronic publications including this Bulletin. It will also create and mount databases on the Internet in order to promote data-based planning and decision-making. Further, it will build the capacity of staff in developing countries, and maintain and expand Asia-Pacific POPIN.

Since its foundation in 1969, UNFPA has given strong support to ESCAP in the field of information development. The results are clearly observable in the increased level of self-reliance and in the skills demonstrated by population information centres and networks in the region. Many of the countries in the region have or will soon have their own population information centres and a number of them produce a variety of different publications to serve the interests of information seekers in their own countries.

The ultimate goal of the secretariat’s work in this regard is to improve the utilization of population data and information for population policy and programme purposes in the developing countries of Asia and the Pacific.

**** ESCAP produces CD-ROM containing IT training modules and data and information on population

The ESCAP Population and Rural and Urban Development Division recently produced a CD-ROM containing training modules developed by the secretariat in cooperation with the China Population Information and Research Centre. The training modules were used in a series of workshops on information technology for population information professionals in the region, which have been conducted in and funded by China over the past several years.

Because of the enormous storage capacity of CD-ROMs, each disk also contains a wide array of population data and information including a number of publications produced by ESCAP on population issues: the full text of the Asia-Pacific Population Journal, the Asia-Pacific POPIN Bulletin, the profiles of Asia-Pacific POPIN countries, the ESCAP Population Data Sheet and various titles published under the Asian Population Studies Series.

The purpose of the CD-ROM is to enable wider dissemination of the training modules and the population data and information they contain, especially for those who could not attend the workshops but who could benefit from the knowledge imparted by the training courses.

One of the advantages of publishing materials in CD-ROM form is that large quantities of textual and graphic information can be put into a single disk, and they can be made available to users who do not have access to the Internet because of infrastructural limitations or financial constraints.

Produced with financial support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the CD-ROM is available on request from ESCAP. Readers interested in obtaining a copy may write to: Chief, Population Information and Communication Unit, ESCAP, United Nations Building, Rajadamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand. Fax: (662) 288-1009; e-mail: yoo.unescap@un.org

**** Annual POPIN training programme to be held at Nanjing

The ESCAP secretariat recently announced that the annual Training Workshop on Information Technology for Population Information Professionals will be held at Nanjing, China from 18 to 22 September. The Government of China is providing funding for the Workshop.

The Workshop is being jointly organized by the ESCAP Population and Rural and Urban Development Division and the China Population Information and Research Centre, which is hosting the event. The Workshop will be held at the Nanjing College for Population Programme Management.

The focus of this year’s session will be on the CDS/ISIS, a software package widely used for textual database management including maintaining bibliographic databases and directory databases, with special emphasis on its Windows and Web versions.

The September to December issue of the Bulletin will provide additional details of the Workshop.

**** Asia-Pacific POPIN members to meet at Beijing

The East and South-East Asia POPIN Consultative Meeting will be held at Beijing from 25 to 26 September. The meeting is being jointly organized by the ESCAP Population and Rural and Urban Development Division, the Secretariat of the Asia-Pacific POPIN, and the China Population Information and Research Centre, the Secretariat of the East and South-East Asia POPIN.

The primary objective of the meeting, which is being funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is to enable member countries to review the programme achievements and activities of the subregion and to draw up plans and programme activities for the coming year.

The recommendations of the meeting and other details will be published in the September to December issue of the Bulletin.

**** United Nations panel issues "action plan" on information and communication technology

Members of Asia-Pacific POPIN will be interested in knowing that the first authoritative global plan to fully incorporate public and private sector viewpoints on overcoming the information and communication technology (ICT) lag found in most developing countries was issued recently at United Nations Headquarters.

The report and action plan were drawn up by a panel of independent experts from government, business and civil society who have led successful  ICT campaigns in developing and transition economies, as well as public and private sector leaders from Europe and the United States.

The report of the meeting of the high-level panel of experts on information and communication technology (available on the Web at http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ecosoc/itforum/expert.htm) will be considered at the United Nations Millennium Assembly, opening in September. The report was also considered at the July high-level meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

The independent experts proposed measures to heighten dramatically the priority given to ICT by countries and international agencies, and suggest means to attract and leverage funding. Drawing from their own experiences, the panelists documented-it-yourself campaigns that have worked even in countries contending with extreme poverty or complex political situations.

"The international community, working in concert with national governments, private business and civil society, is fully capable of reversing the current alarming trend of the growing digital divide", enabling Internet access in home, workplace or community by 2004 for the 80 per cent of the world’s population who are currently unconnected, the report proposes.

Although developing countries have a great potential to compete successfully in the new global market, "unless they promptly and actively embrace the ICT revolution, they will face new barriers and the risk of not just being marginalized, but completely by-passed", the 17-member team warned.

Even though the ongoing information revolution is tying individuals, firms and countries closer and closer together – there are 1.5 billion Web pages in existence, with almost 2 million more appearing on the Internet every day – they are produced by less than 5 per cent of the world’s population, the report noted.

The panel cited ICT’s capacity to rapidly upgrade health and education services. The strong returns on relatively modest investments in electronic equipment and digital skills in those sectors give ample reason to assign priority to ICT in development planning. "ICT brings early, tangible and important benefits to the poor", the report stated.

Reasons are given for optimism that the digital divide can be narrowed, according to the report. Costs of equipment and materials are declining, for instance and, rather than having to pay for new infrastructure, governments in many cases should be able to attract private investment in ICT by stimulating demand.

Policy recommendations

Key elements from the panel’s "International ICT Action Plan" are as follows:

• The United Nations should create, under the leadership of the United Nations Secretary-General but outside the regular United Nations organizational structures, an ICT Task Force charged with bringing together international agencies, private industry, and foundations and trusts to facilitate the expansion of the ICT market in developing countries.
  
  

• A development fund administered by the Task Force should be amassed from hundreds of millions of dollars solicited from such sources as the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (the so-called Turner Fund). Private sector representatives on the panel suggest that the ICT industry is likely to be willing and able to match contributions. Funding would be further leveraged by making grants contingent on being matched with resources of the benefiting country, producing a final return of four dollars on every dollar raised by the United Nations.
  
  

• The United Nations should work with financial institutions and creditor governments to have 1 per cent of the debt of each developing country written off, if the equivalent amount is applied to ICT development. In a similar manner, countries should receive international financing for ICT on the basis of national progress in carbon-fixation (anti-greenhouse effect) activities.
  
  

• At its Millennium Assembly this September, the United Nations should link the right of universal access to ICT services with existing United Nations principles and conventions on human rights and development.

The panel also suggested that the United Nations might serve as an arbitrator or facilitator with respect to certain key legal and policy issues, such as Internet security, Member States’ claims to top-level domain names and representation of developing countries in existing Internet administrative procedures.

The panel concluded that "the international community, especially the United Nations, has a special obligation to assist countries in maximizing the benefits they can secure from ICT". They recommend bringing "greater coherence and synergy to the ICT activities currently undertaken by individual organizations of the United Nations system, including the World Bank, and by the European Union, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and numerous other multilateral and bi-lateral organizations". Special recommendations in the panel report concern the fair and equal participation in the information society, particularly for women. The report calls for equal opportunity in the workplace and in access to education and technology.

Serving on the panel from the ESCAP region are Mr Wang Qiming (China), Ministry of Science and Technology; Mr Srinivsan Ramani (India), National Centre for Software Technology, who was one of the experts who addressed the members of Asia-Pacific POPIN at an expert group meeting in Beijing during October 1998; and Mr Taholo Kami (Tonga), Manager of the Small Island Developing States Network.

(Source: DPI news releases DEV/2252 and PI/1259 dated 19 June)

**** Addressing the "digital gap" between developing and developed countries

How could information technology promote development in the face of the huge "digital gap" between the developed and developing countries? asked a minister speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China during the policy dialogue portion within the High-level Segment of the Economic and Social Council 2000 session held in New York during July. The issue is of importance to members of Asia-Pacific POPIN, because most of them represent countries that face the adverse consequences of the so-called digital gap, or "digital divide".

Other speakers during the session also gave their views on this theme, with some offering possible ways to overcome the "digital divide". Speaking on behalf of the Executive Secretaries of all regional commissions including ESCAP, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Mr Jose Antonio Ocampo, indicated six policy areas in which the process could be addressed: education, equitable access, extension of information technology into social services, development of local and regional software systems, world class telecommunication services, and a good legal infrastructure. The major task of the international community was to support programmes in those areas, he said.

In his comments, the President of the World Bank, Mr James Wolfensohn, said that the ability of individual countries to cross the digital divide depended, among other things, on leadership, which needed to be supportive of computers, and not afraid of them. Governments should create an environment in which information technology could function and where cheap connectivity was possible.

With regard to countries lacking the most basic requisites for climbing the Internet ladder upward, he said it was not a matter of having to choose either computers or bread. The question was how to give people both those things. That involved creating and nurturing a culture of learning. There were no concrete answers, but rather an approach. An Olympian plan was not needed; rather, it was necessary to remain flexible and be user-oriented.

During a separate panel discussion on 7 July, Mr Ravi Sawney, Director of the International Trade and Industry Division, spoke on behalf of Mr Kim Hak-Su, ESCAP Executive Secretary, stating that governments had an important role to play in developing legal frameworks and infrastructure and making sure countries adapted to infusions of information technology. ICT could also be applied to very important social sectors -– education on demand in rural areas, health care, environmental education and gender mainstreaming, he said, pointing out that regional cooperation was also key, as was North-South and South-South cooperation.

Dr Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said that one of the first lessons learned about ICT was that its components were more than tools to do the old jobs in new ways. In some cases they changed the nature of the work itself, opening new possibilities and creating new demands. The use of new technologies had to be firmly based on universal values such as making them accessible to all and using them for constructive ends. The creative use of ICT should also strengthen the strongest elements of diverse cultures.

The UNFPA Web site had gained wide recognition as a credible and attractive source of information on population and development, she said. In the future, ICT use would extend to such areas as building public understanding and commitment for UNFPA goals, raising the quality of reproductive health care, providing basic training and access, fostering solidarity, strengthening networks, and empowering communities and individuals.

Overall, the meeting confirmed that, as the United Nations system entered the new millennium, the overarching goal was to tap more effectively the benefits of globalization for all people in the world.

(Source: DPI news release ECOSOC/5395 dated 5 July)

**** Economic and Social Council establishes information, communication, technology task force

By one of 70 draft actions taken on Friday 28 July before suspension of its 2000 substantive session, the United Nations Economic and Social Council decided to set up an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Task Force. By another draft resolution of its 2000 session, which had begun on 5 July, the Council adopted a resolution on improving the United Nations informatics systems for optimum access by all States.

The theme of this year’s High-level Segment, held from 5 to 7 July, was "Development and international cooperation in the twenty-first century: the role of information technology in the context of a knowledge-based global economy".

The need to bridge the digital gap had been stressed throughout the 2000 substantive session, including with a first-ever Ministerial Declaration on advancing development by fostering "digital opportunity" issued during the High-level Segment of the annual meeting. The Council endorsed the recommendation to set up the task force in order to formulate strategies and forge strategic partnerships for making ICT serve the cause of development.

In his closing address to the meeting’s participants, Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, said: "We must not let the new information technologies become another resource that divides rich and poor nations".

With help from civil society organizations and the private sector, even the remotest corners of the globe could be connected to the new economy and ensure that the rural poor were not left out, said the Secretary-General. Information technology could give many poor countries the chance to leapfrog some long and painful stages in the development process. The United Nations could play a key role in expanding the impact of information technology on development and in promoting digital opportunities.

It was not only information technology that needed resources, he pointed out. All the development goals agreed at the United Nations conferences of the 1990s, such as the International Conference on Population and Development, needed to be implemented. "We must abide by the commitments made, and truly demonstrate global solidarity".

Much was expected of the United Nations. To live up to those expectations, adequate, stable and predictable funding was needed. "I hope that recent trends of stagnation and declining resources will be reversed, so that the United Nations is able to maintain its capacity to help countries make real progress towards the eradication of poverty, the overriding goal we all share", Mr Annan said.

His thoughts echoed the speeches and debate during the general session, the importance of which was reflected in the status of the speakers. For example, during the opening session, HE Mr Lawrence H. Summers, the first Treasury Secretary of the United States ever to address the Council, told the delegates that, without strong policies in developing countries and the right approaches from the industrial world, there would be no effective development and no progress. The importance of the development challenge and the challenges posed by new technologies, including information and communication technology, mandated consensus. Effective implementation was central, he said.

Interventions by participants

The President of the Council, HE Mr Makarim Wibisono (Indonesia), in his opening statement, said that to overcome constraints blocking technological access and connectivity for developing countries, national, regional and global strategies were needed to harness effectively the technological revolution. The crucial role of information and communication technologies in promoting development and eradicating poverty had been chosen as the major theme for the high-level segment.

The Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr Eduardo Aninat, said bridging the digital divide raised the critical issue of connectivity. Some were connected to the latest high-tech communications and others were not. Not surprisingly, the disconnected happened to be the world's poor. Being disconnected carried the high cost of isolation and marginalization, when there was already a growing gap between the rich and poor nations. It was urgent to achieve a balanced pattern of global growth to ensure needed adjustments in financial markets.

Also participating in the policy dialogue were: the President of the World Bank, Mr James Wolfensohn; Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Mr Mike Moore; the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Mr Rubens Ricupero; the executive secretaries of the regional commissions, including Mr Kim Hak-Su, ESCAP Executive Secretary; the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mr Mark Malloch Brown; and the representatives of several countries that are members of Asia-Pacific POPIN.

The joint statement of the five United Nations regional commissions noted that information and communication technology could help bring balance to the regionally varying rate of economic growth and help to achieve the goal of reducing world poverty by half by the year 2015. Government intervention could facilitate the bridging of the present digital divide in a number of areas. Policies could increase opportunities for education and governments could create conditions conducive to equitable access. Governments could also institute measures that would extend ICT benefits to social services. A world-class telecommunication service for every country was a prerequisite for overcoming the divide, as were strong legal infrastructures to protect ICT. Those were all areas in which the international community could lend support to the developing world.

Mr Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that one critically important mission was trying to provide an alternative voice in the debate on globalization, in order to explore how it could be managed in a way that ensured the rewards were spread more equitably. One key area where that could be done was through the smart use and application of information technology. In that regard, UNDP planned to set up a trust fund to support and monitor "e-readiness" at a country level. Comprehensive country assessments would be carried out of existing connectivity, policy frameworks and skill levels. Then, policy support on reform and deregulation that accelerated equitable infrastructure development would be provided.

Mr Atta-Ur-Rahman, Minister for Science and Technology of Pakistan, said that the Chief Executive of Pakistan had declared his intention to establish a South Institute of Information Technology in that country. The process for the establishment of the institute had already started. Pakistan had enhanced its budget for the development of science and technology many-fold. Pakistan, like many other developing countries, had endeavoured to place itself strategically so that it could benefit from the immense potential of information and communication technology, he said. Those policies and efforts were highly unlikely to yield the desired results without the commensurate international effort to place ICT at the service of development.

Mr Mohammad Javad Zarif, Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said that the tremendous potentials of ICT could be developed only through a programme of action based on cooperation and partnership at both national and international levels. At the national level, that involved developing a particular national vision, mustering the necessary political will, formulating a national strategic framework, establishing national priorities and providing an environment conducive to the diffusion, development and use of ICT. All related efforts and programmes should be integrated in a coherent national development strategy.

At the international level, he continued, the United Nations system should assist the developing world in integrating into the networked knowledge-based global economy. That could be done by assisting in such areas as providing secure and reliable connectivity, developing human and institutional capacity and developing content reflective of global diversity. The United Nations was central to achieving connectivity and maximizing the opportunities of ICT because it enjoyed a singularly global position in promoting consensus, building partnerships and harmonizing divergent interests.

Mr Yukio Satoh (Japan) said that in order for ICT to help make the world a better place, it had to be used in a way that created digital opportunities for people in every country – developed and developing. While ICT had the potential to provide valuable opportunities for development, the digital divide remained a concern for all in the emerging information society. The international community had to provide concerted support for the use of ICT by developing countries, with the private sector in developed countries assuming a vitally import role.

He reviewed a series of initiatives his country had taken to promote international cooperation using ICT in development, outlining a number of steps it would continue to take. Those included an announcement at the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit of a comprehensive cooperation package promoting use of ICT in developing countries with an emphasis on four policy dimensions: intellectual assistance for policy and system building; human capacity-building through training and education; infrastructure building and networking; and the use of ICT in development assistance.

Mr Wang Yingfan (China) said that every country should take strong measures to grasp the opportunities for development brought about by "informatization". Second, the international community should create a favourable external environment for developing countries to upgrade their "informatization" levels.

"We believe that the international community, especially the developed countries, should demonstrate the political will to pay more than just lip service to developing countries in the latter’s efforts to bridge the digital divide", he said. That community should also take earnest steps to provide financial support and transfer technology to them and help them to improve education and train high-tech personnel.

Mr Michael Powles (New Zealand) said that the ICT revolution was not yet a global revolution, since half the world's population had never made or received a telephone call and nearly 90 per cent of all Internet users lived in industrialized countries. The ICT was not the panacea for the world's problems, as there was a need to address basic human development needs such as eradicating poverty and providing basic education, health services and shelter. ICT could, however, contribute to meeting those basic needs and provide the opportunity from that basis for speedy and sustainable development.

Those opportunities were never more apparent than for Small Island Developing States. Development there had been constrained by isolation and small internal markets and those countries had lacked opportunities to promote themselves to the world at large. The use of ICT, in the form of Web pages, Internet based marketing and other activities, had led to the growth of new markets and increased revenue from areas such as tourism. ICT had also been crucial in opening up educational opportunities through distance learning programmes and access to information.

Mr Anwarul Karim Chowdhury (Bangladesh) said that the United Nations had to coordinate global efforts to bridge the digital divide. Education, knowledge and expertise should benefit from ICT. Finally, resources should be mobilized for broadening and extending the global networked economy in the developing world.

Mr Nguyen Thanh Chau (Viet Nam) said that access for all was a key for ensuring the effectiveness and sustainability of ICT's contribution to development for all. He called for the promotion of technology transfer, capacity-building and human resources development, and identified the establishment of a strong linkage between ICT development and the common goals of reducing poverty and narrowing the development gap.

Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said that his organization was mandated to promote the "free exchange of ideas and knowledge" and to "maintain, increase and diffuse knowledge". The emergence of a global knowledge-based economy, based on ICT, made the fundamental mission of UNESCO more topical than ever.

Within the community of international organizations seeking to bridge the digital divide, UNESCO could offer an essential contribution. Its natural partners were the professional communities that produced, disseminated, processed and conserved information and knowledge: teachers, scientists, journalists, researchers, librarians, archivists and artists. They were vital intermediaries with all segments of society.

(Source: ECOSOC/5931, ECOSOC/5892, ECOSOC/5893, ECOSOC/5929, ECOSOC/5897 various dates)

**** Connectivity, capacity and content – key information technology challenges faced by developing world

The importance of information technology for socio-economic development was brought out clearly by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette in her address on 5 July at the High-level Segment of the Economic and Social Council on Information and Communication Technologies and Development. Her statement holds many implications for members of Asia-Pacific POPIN, one of the pioneers in the application of information and communication technologies for networking in the region.

"Each year", she said, "the Economic and Social Council session, and especially the High-level Segment, provides a unique opportunity to reflect and exchange ideas on some of the most pressing issues facing the international community. The theme of this year's High-level Segment – Information Technology for Development – is even more than a pressing issue: it is an absolutely critical one", she emphasized.

"The digital revolution holds great promise for economic growth, poverty eradication and development. It has already brought extraordinary benefits to the developed world. And it could improve the chances for poor countries to leapfrog some long and painful stages in the development process, thereby saving considerable time and resources", she told the meeting.

In Asia and other developing regions of the world, "local entrepreneurial efforts, supported by market forces, conducive governmental policies and international aid, have increased the use of information technology, generating employment and wealth", she added.

"Access to the Net provides more than economic opportunities. Indeed, its major impact in poor countries will be in the area of social development. Information technology can facilitate distance learning at low cost. Telemedicine can provide access to up-to-date health and medical information to even the most remote facilities throughout the world. This is what the Health InterNetwork initiative, suggested by the Secretary-General, aims to do. Information technology can also help empower civil society, strengthen democratic institutions and make governments more transparent and accountable".

Having said that, she stressed the words "facilitate" and "help". "Information technology is not a magic formula that is going to solve all our problems", she said. "It is a wonderful tool, but it is not an end in itself".

"This, however, does not make the widening digital divide any less worrisome. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, those countries and communities that need the information technology boost the most are precisely those which are least able to take advantage of it".

"Bringing the benefits of the information technology revolution to the developing world is a formidable task", she stated. "It faces major difficulties in three key areas: connectivity, capacity and content".

In terms of connectivity, Ms Fréchette said that "information technology is empowering only when it is easily and cheaply accessible. So the question is how to ensure information technology access for the poor. There are no simple solutions. With an appropriate regulatory environment, the private sector can provide efficient information technology services at acceptable cost in the major cities of the developing world. But in the countryside, poverty and the costs of connecting remote and under-populated areas mean we cannot rely only on market forces".

"If universal access is the long-term objective", she said, "the near-term information technology goal for the rural poor in the developing world must be to connect communities rather than individuals. This can be done via village telecentres – also referred to as telecabinas, cyber-kiosks and cyber-cafés – or with a single village cell phone, as in the successful Grameen Phone Programme in Bangladesh. By providing the resources needed to invest in digital infrastructure, the donor community can make a vital difference".

As for the second problem, the Deputy Secretary-General said that capacity means "not just the computers to connect to the Internet, but the technological skills needed to use information technology facilities and service them".

"Technological literacy is a must", she emphasized. "We should, however, be clear that there is no leapfrogging when in comes to education. Traditional literacy remains a prerequisite for development. First and foremost, we must be committed to the goal of basic education for all. Meanwhile, technical assistance can make a difference in developing the human capital needed to capitalize on the information technology revolution. In his Millennium Report, the Secretary-General suggested one concrete way to do this. He announced the creation of a United Nations information technology volunteer corps -- UNITES -- which will train groups in those countries in how to use and apply information technology".

In appealing to the meeting participants to respond to this initiative, Ms Fréchette said that "if technical assistance of this kind can help, it should not be limited to North-South transfers. India, for example, has much to teach others about how it is bridging the digital gap".

"The third obstacle is content, which must be relevant to local needs. Because the majority of hosts are located in the developed world, the information available reflects the interests of the population in that part of the world. In addition, 80 per cent of the material currently on the Internet is in English, a language that 75 per cent of the world's people do not speak. The creation of both local content and automatic translation technologies must be encouraged".

The Deputy Secretary-General continued: "Unless we act urgently on all these fronts, the potential of the information technology revolution for advancing socio-economic development will not be realized. Bridging the digital divide will require global leadership and a major commitment of resources. Only the developed nations have the influence, resources and expertise necessary to play this role. But, if it is to succeed, the process must engage all stakeholders: donors, the private sector, civil society organizations and, of course, governments, not least those in the developing world".

As for the United Nations family, she said that it is extensively involved in different aspects of information technology. Various United Nations agencies are working to extend the reach of the new information technologies. "To make real progress in this direction, we must make information technology an integral component of all our development programmes", she stated.

Ms Fréchette said that the international community as a whole must come up with concerted strategies, and the United Nations could help to forge the coalitions needed. "We also need innovative approaches to resource mobilization", she added. "In particular, we must explore incentives to attract private sector investment. To this end, we might consider establishing a ‘Digital Bridge Fund’ to serve as a vehicle for channelling resources and equipment from donors".

"With strong partnerships, appropriate resources and political will, the digital divide can and will be bridged", she promised. "This High-level Segment gives us an opportunity to think creatively about ways in which information technology can advance the development goals agreed at the conferences of the nineties (such as the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development). The follow-up to these important conferences is also high on your agenda".

She concluded her speech by saying that she was sure the discussions during the session would highlight the many ways in which information technology could have an impact on development issues, "from poverty eradication to health, education and the advancement of women".

(Source: DPI news releases DSG/SM/99 and ECOSOC/5894 dated 5 July)

**** United Nations contacts G-8 on information 
technology gap

With concern about the global development gap and the plight of poor countries dominating the preparations for the Group of 8 Summit opening on 21 July in Okinawa, the United Nations forwarded a Ministerial Declaration on the critical importance of closing the "digital divide" to Japanese Prime Minster HE Yoshiro Mori. In doing so, HE Mr Makarim Wibisono, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, asked the Japanese Prime Minister to communicate to the other member countries during their meeting the contents of the declaration approved on 7 July at a ministerial-level meeting of the Council.

The "Declaration on the Role of Information Technology in the Context of a Knowledge-based Economy" voiced a consensus among developing and developed countries, as well as countries with economies in transition, that information and communication technology (ICT) is central to the new knowledge-based world economy, and plays a critical role in "accelerating growth, in promoting sustainable development and eradicating poverty".

But the statement also warned that the information technology revolution could very likely lead to "further widening disparities between and within countries", and that "the majority of the world population still lives in poverty and untouched by the ICT revolution".

The declaration, the end result of months of intergovernmental discussions and private-public sector interchanges, also outlined useful steps to be taken by countries, companies and multilateral agencies, and set in motion steps for creating a global ICT task force linked to the United Nations system.

(Source: DPI news release ECOSOC/5920 dated 21 July)

**** Millennium United Nations World Television Forum to focus on covergence with Internet

The convergence between television, digital technology and the Internet will be the focus of the fifth United Nations World Television Forum, to be held at United Nations Headquarters from 16 to 17 November.

The Forum, entitled "TV@globe: Adding Values in the Digital Era", will convene media industry leaders and experts from every part of the world for a unique perspective on this revolution-in-progress.

As stated by Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in his Millennium Report: "The convergence of information technology, the Internet and e-commerce may well become as transformative as the industrial revolution". The latest international research shows almost 300 million people logging on to the Internet, with 150 million more planning to do so this year.

The Forum, which is expected to draw 1,000 participants, will address the fundamental challenges facing television in the new digital age, region by region. It will also discuss the role of the television industry in bridging the "digital divide"; the innovative experiments emerging from specific programme genres; the positive impact of new media on social communications; and radio’s embrace of digital technology.

A new Web site for the Forum, http://www.un.org/tvforum, was launched on 19 June. The site features online discussions on the themes of the Forum.

(Source: DPI news release PI/1257 dated 14 June)

**** New United Nations depository libraries for ESCAP region

Two more libraries in the ESCAP region, one in China and the other in Palau, have been designated United Nations depository libraries, according to a recent announcement. They are the libraries of the University of Hong Kong (China) and Palau Community College. They become part of an international network of 383 libraries in 143 countries and territories that bring United Nations documents and publications, including those on population, to users around the world.

The University of Hong Kong Libraries became the eleventh United Nations depository library in China. Established in 1911, the University of Hong Kong Libraries is the oldest academic library system in that metropolitan area. The system has over 1.7 million bound volumes, more than 46,700 serial titles and approximately 900,000 audiovisual and non-print items. The University of Hong Kong Libraries is fully automated and its over 72,000 users have online access to international library catalogues and external databases; nine of its staff of 40 professional librarians manage the United Nations deposit, which consists of printed publications and masthead documents, including ESCAP masthead documents, in both Chinese and English.

Palau Community College, founded in 1969 and situated in the capital, Koror, is the first United Nations depository library to be designated in that country. The college library -- the largest library in Palau -- also serves as the de facto national library. In 1995, it became the first library in the country to implement an integrated automation system. Its holdings comprise close to 20,000 volumes; with a seven-member staff, Palau Community College offers all standard library services to about 600 users daily. The United Nations deposit at Palau Community College consists of printed publications and ESCAP masthead documents in English.

Since 1946, the Dag Hammarskj` ld Library at United Nations Headquarters in New York has arranged for the distribution of United Nations documents and publications to users around the world through its depository library system. Of the 383 United Nations depository libraries: 88 are located in the Asian and the Pacific region, with 18 more in Western Asia. These libraries receive United Nations materials, with the understanding that their collections will be maintained in good order and made available to the general public free of charge.

(Source: DPI news release PI/1256 dated 12 June)

**** World Telecommunication Day observed on 17 May

On the occasion of World Telecommunication Day, 17 May, United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, stated that telecommunications play a key role in the development process.

"The challenge ahead is to bridge the information gap and to harness the great power of new technology to promote development", he said in his message. "Poorer countries must receive our help in building up their infrastructure and developing their human resources. In addition, our partnerships with the private sector must be consolidated and expanded".

**** New Web site on population, health and e
nvironment launched

Information on the relationships between population, health and environmental issues is not always easy to find, but now members of Asia-Pacific POPIN may access a new Web site, launched recently by the Population Reference Bureau and the National Council for Science and the Environment of the United States, focusing on these issues.

Called "PopPlanet", the Web site features an online-moderated bulletin board where visitors may post questions, opinions, experiences and observations about population-health-environment projects, research and data as well as network with other visitors with similar interests. Its URL is http://www.popplanet.org

PopPlanet also features profiles for a number of countries around the world; those in the ESCAP region so far are Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. These country profiles provide an overview and in-depth analysis of significant population, health and environment interactions through essays, reports, books, news articles, laws, directories of organizations and services, maps and charts, photographs, databases and other material.

Readers wishing to obtain more information may contact Mr Jonathan Nash, Population, Health and Environment Program, Population Reference Bureau, 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 520, Washington, DC 20009-5279, United States. E-mail: jnash@prb.org

**** Web site re-launched and available for limited free access

Members of Asia-Pacific POPIN will be interested in learning that the Journal Watch Online Web site has been re-launched along with another site called AIDS Clinical Care; both are maintained by the Massachusetts Medical Society. Access to the sites will be free of charge until 2001, at which time access will be restricted to paid subscribers only.

The URL http://www.jwatch.orgcontains the complete archives of all issues of the Journal Watch newsletter titles. Users will be able to browse, search and link to Medline and order document delivery of the original articles. The Web site was developed by HighWire Press at Stanford University in conjunction with the Massachusetts Medical Society.

The current issue of AIDS Clinical Care and archives dating back to 1995 are available at the following URL: http://www.accnewsletter.org/

**** Reproductive health Web site redesigned

A new version of the Reproductive Health Outlook Web site was announced recently by PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health). The entire site has been redesigned in order to simplify navigation, decrease the loading time for each page and facilitate access to the site’s many features and 11 topic areas.

The Web site provides summaries of up-to-date information, syntheses of key references and resources, and links to important sources of reproductive health information available on the Internet.

Readers may access the site by using the following URL: http://www.rho.org

**** New Web site for Cambodia’s population census

Cambodia’s National Institute of Statistics recently announced that a new Web site has been created to provide data and information on the 1998 population census of Cambodia. It may be accessed at the following URL: http://www.nis.gov.kh

**** China launches reproductive health radio service with Web-based promotions

The first reproductive health radio programme of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) World Service and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) to be produced in the Mandarin Chinese language is being broadcast throughout the country twice a week until 5 September.

Two Web sites, "Greenapple" in Beijing and "Dotlove" in Hong Kong, China, are promoting the series, called "Sexwise". Posters and copies of the accompanying Sexwise book are also being used in big cities to promote the programme.

Readers wishing to gain an idea of how the programme is being promoted and the topics it covers may access the following URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/chinese/news/default1.stm

**** Family planning messages transmitted in television drama

Information on a successful television and communications programme to increase awareness of family planning and maternal and child health in Bangladesh is available from the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.

Evaluation of the programme, entitled "Shabuj Shanthi", revealed that about 80 per cent of the urban population and 60 per cent of the rural population watched episodes of the programme. It depicts a charming fieldworker, Bokhul, who travels with her green umbrella to different villages and families to provide needed family planning supplies and health advice for mothers with young children.

Viewers also gained substantial knowledge about HIV/AIDS, childhood diseases and nutrition from watching the programme. The 13-episode series was produced by Asiatic Marketing Communications, the Bangladesh Centre for Communication Programmes and the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Further information on it is available from Johns Hopkins at the following URL: http://www.jhuccp.org

**** New publication on adolescent reproductive health issued

A new publication on adolescent reproductive health that may be of interest to members of Asia-Pacific POPIN for adding to their collections has been issued by the Population Reference Bureau.

Entitled "Social Marketing for Adolescent Sexual Health", the 28-page report describes an innovative project that used social marketing techniques to encourage young people to protect themselves from reproductive health problems such as AIDS and unintended pregnancies.

Readers wishing to obtain copies may write to Ms Donna Clifton, MEASURE Communication, Population Reference Bureau, 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 520, Washington, DC 20009, United States. Fax: (202) 328-3937; e-mail: prborders@prb.org

**** Using distance learning to improve reproductive health provider performance

A practical "how-to" guide for developing distance learning programmes in low-resource settings is available online that may be useful to certain members of Asia-Pacific POPIN.

Entitled "Making It Happen", the guide presents a step-by-step path from conceptualization through evaluation. It was produced by Intrah to provide detailed examples from programme experiences in developing countries.

Readers may obtain a copy of the guide by writing to PRIME II, Intrah, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, 1700 Airport Road, Suite 300, CB 8100, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8100, United States, or access the guide electronically at the following URLs: http://www.intrah.org and http://www.prime2.org

**** Reproductive and child health care conference to be held in India

The Fifth International Congress and Thirteenth Indian Conference on Reproductive and Child Health Care will be held at Nagpur, India from 24 to 26 November, according to a recent announcement.

The theme of the Congress is "Educate and Implement Reproductive and Child Health Care for One- or Two-Child Families". Readers may obtain more information about the meeting by contacting Dr Radia Daoussi, President, Vineeta Rastogi Foundation, at the following e-mail address: rd@globalltd.com

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