A/RES/55/136 B U NITED N ATIONS PUBLIC INFORMATION POLICIES AND ACTIVITIES The General Assembly, Reiterating its decision to consolidate the role of the Committee on Information as its main subsidiary body mandated to make recommendations to it relating to the work of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat, Concurring with the view of the Secretary-General that public information and communications should be placed at the heart of the strategic management of the United Nations, and that a culture of communications should permeate all levels of the Organization, as a means of fully informing the peoples of the world of the aims and activities of the United Nations, 1. Reaffirms its resolution 13 (I) of 13 February 1946, in which it established the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat; 2. Expresses its concern that the gap in the information and communication technologies between the developed and the developing countries has continued to widen and that most developing countries are not benefiting from the present information and technology revolution, and, in this regard, underlines the necessity of rectifying the imbalances of the global information and technology revolution in order to make it more just, equitable and effective; 3. Welcomes Liberia and Mozambique to membership in the Committee on Information; 4. Calls upon the Secretary-General, in respect of the public information policies and activities of the United Nations, to continue to implement fully the recommendations contained in paragraph 2 of its resolution 48/44 B of 10 December 1993 and other mandates as established by the General Assembly; 5. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the reorientation of United Nations activities in the field of public information and communications, 4 and encourages him to continue the reorientation exercise, while stressing the need to take into account the views of Member States, and requests him to report thereon to the Committee on Information at its twenty-third session; 6. Welcomes the initiatives that have been taken by the Department of Public Information to strengthen the public information system of the United Nations, and, in this regard, stresses the importance of a coherent and resultsoriented approach being undertaken by the United Nations, the specialized agencies and the programmes and funds of the United Nations system involved in public information activities and the provision of resources for their implementation; 7. Emphasizes that, through its reorientation, the Department of Public Information should maintain and improve its activities in the areas of special interest to developing countries and, where appropriate, other countries with special needs, including countries in transition, and that such reorientation should contribute to 4 A/AC.198/2000/2. 3