Mr. Chair,
Distinguished Delegates,

On behalf of the Group of 77 and China, I congratulate you on your election and assure you of our full cooperation. We commend the outgoing Bureau and thank the Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, Ms. Melissa Fleming, for her report and for the Department's continued efforts to enhance global awareness of the work and principles of the United Nations.

Mr. Chair,

The Group of 77 and China has taken note of the report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the Department of Global Communications contained in document A/80/323.

We commend the Department in advancing the United Nations efforts to combat misinformation, hate speech, and disinformation and to foster international solidarity, as well as supporting the United Nations agenda on issues such as peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights.

Recognizing that safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems have the potential to contribute to progress in all dimensions of development, the Group also notes with concern that their improper or malicious use could undermine information integrity and access to information, particularly through disinformation and misinformation.

Mr. Chair,

The Group underscores the urgent need to bridge the digital divide and promote digital cooperation. Equal access to information and communications technologies is vital to enabling all countries, particularly developing countries, to participate meaningfully in the global digital environment. The Group calls on all stakeholders to expand connectivity, foster collaboration, and promote the dissemination of factual and evidence-based information, ensuring that digital transformation benefits all.

The Group stresses the importance of mainstreaming multilingualism in all of the Organization's activities as an essential pillar for mutual understanding, inclusivity, and diversity. We encourage the Department of Global Communications to mobilize resources to promote multilingualism and address the disparity in the use of all official languages in United Nations public information materials and platforms.

In this context, the Group further emphasizes the vital importance of multilingualism and local content, and encourages all stakeholders to promote the creation of and access to educational, cultural, and scientific content online so as to foster quality of access and ensure that all people and cultures can express themselves and have access to Internet content in all languages, including Indigenous languages.

We strongly urge the DGC to intensify its efforts to combat disinformation, including that directed against United Nations peacekeeping operations, to raise awareness of the new realities, successes and challenges faced by peacekeeping operations and special political missions, and to provide accurate content, including in local languages and in coordination with national authorities, to strengthen understanding of UN peacekeeping mandates, manage expectations, and build trust and support.

In the context of the ongoing review of the Peacebuilding Architecture, we underline the importance of communication activities and the dissemination of information relating to peacebuilding efforts, and welcomes the call for the development of a communication strategy in consultation with the Peacebuilding Commission, country-specific configurations, the Peacebuilding Support Office and the Peacebuilding Fund, with a view to increasing the visibility, raising awareness about the peacebuilding architecture, widening its outreach and encouraging national ownership.

The Group expresses serious concern over attacks against journalists and media professionals, especially the deliberate targeting in Lebanon and Gaza since October 2023. Impunity for such attacks remains a major challenge, and ensuring accountability is essential to prevent future violence.

Mr. Chair,

We commend the Department's global strategic communications response to challenges such as climate change and proliferating conflicts. The Department should continue to enhance public awareness about reinforcing multilateralism and addressing humanitarian crises. We also call for greater focus on disseminating factual, clear, accessible, multilingual, and science-based information, and on promoting messages of tolerance, peaceful coexistence, and interfaith and cultural harmony among all religions and nations.

In conclusion, the Group of 77 and China reaffirms its full support for the Department of Global Communications in fulfilling its vital mandate: to communicate the UN's mission effectively, to combat disinformation while respecting human rights, to bridge the digital divide, to promote multilingualism and accessibility, to strengthen peacekeeping and peacebuilding communications, and to ensure accountability for attacks on journalists.

Together, we must safeguard the United Nations as a source of accurate and reliable information for the global public good.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.