This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

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. 
 
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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.) 
 
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IPDC COUNCIL: 
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¶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. 
 
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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.) 
 
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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. 
 
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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