Wednesday, September 30, 2020 / 3:15 PM /by CFI.co / Header Image Credit: Xinhua/WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) together with the
UN, specialised agencies and partners today called on countries to develop and
implement action plans to promote the timely dissemination of science-based
information and prevent the spread of false information while respecting
freedom of expression.
WHO, the UN, UNICEF, UNAIDS, the UN Development
Programme (UNDP), UNESCO, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the
UN Global Pulse initiative and the International Federation of the Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), together with the governments of
Indonesia, Thailand and Uruguay held a webinar on the margins of the 75th UN
General Assembly to draw attention to the harm being done by the spread of misinformation
and disinformation, the latter being deliberate misinformation to advance an
agenda.
"As soon as the virus spread across the globe, inaccurate and even dangerous messages proliferated wildly over social media, leaving people confused, misled and ill-advised", said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "Our initiative, called "Verified", is fighting misinformation with truth. We work with media partners, individuals, influencers and social media platforms to spread content that promotes science, offers solutions and inspires solidarity. This will be especially critical as we work to build public confidence in the safety and efficacy of future COVID-19 vaccines. We need a 'people's vaccine' that is affordable and available to all".
"Misinformation and disinformation put health and
lives at risk, and undermine trust in science, in institutions and in health
systems," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "To fight
the pandemic we need trust and solidarity and when there is mistrust, there is
much less solidarity. False information is hindering the response to the
pandemic so we must join forces to fight it and to promote science-based public
health advice. The same principles that apply to responding to COVID-19 apply
to managing the infodemic. We need to prevent, detect and respond to it,
together and in solidarity".
"On top of the immediate impact on pandemic responses,
disinformation is undermining public trust in democratic processes and
institutions and exacerbating social divides", said UNDP Administrator Achim
Steiner. "It's one of the most concerning governance challenges of our time.
UNDP is actively collaborating with Member States, fellow UN agencies, and
other partners to find holistic responses which respect human rights".
"Misinformation is one of the fastest growing
challenges facing children today," said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive
Director. "It takes advantage of the cracks in trust in societies and
institutions and deepens them further, undermines confidence in science and
medicine, and divides communities. In its most pernicious forms, such as when
it convinces parents not to vaccinate their children, it can even be fatal.
Because misinformation is more a symptom than a sickness, countering it
requires more than just providing truth. It also requires trust between
leaders, communities and individuals".
"We can beat COVID-19 only with facts, science and
community solidarity," said Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima. "Misinformation is perpetuating stigma and discrimination and must not come in
the way of ensuring that human rights are protected and people at risk and
those marginalized have access to health and social protection services".
"Since the start of the pandemic, UNESCO has mobilised
its international networks of media partners, journalists, fact-checkers,
community radio stations, and experts, to give citizens the means to fight
against false information and rumours - phenomena that have been exacerbated by
the pandemic," said Audrey Azoulay, the UNESCO Director-General. "Collective
mobilisation to promote quality and reliable information, while strictly
ensuring respect for freedom of expression, is essential. A free, independent
and pluralistic press is more necessary than ever".
"Trust is a cornerstone of our digital world," said
Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union. "Building on the long-standing WHO-ITU BeHe@lthy BeMobile initiative, ITU has
been working with national ministries of telecommunications and health and
mobile network operators since the beginning of this crisis to text people who
may not have access to the internet, providing them with science- and
evidence-based COVID-19 health advice directly on their mobile phones".
WHO and partners urged countries to engage and listen
to their communities as they develop their national action plans, and to
empower communities to build trust and resilience against false information.
"Engaging communities on how they perceive the disease
and response is critical to building trust and ending outbreaks," said Jagan
Chapagain, IFRC Secretary General. "If our response does not reflect the
communities' concerns and perceptions, we will not be seen as relevant or
trusted by affected populations, and the epidemic response risks failure.
More than ever, local responders are at the forefront of this crisis. We need
to recognize the incredible role they play in understanding and acting on local
knowledge and community feedback".
The co-hosts also called on the media, social media
platforms, civil society leaders and influencers to strengthen their actions to
disseminate accurate information and prevent the spread of misinformation and
disinformation. Access to accurate information and the free exchange of ideas
online and offline are key to enabling effective and credible public health
responses.
"UN Global Pulse was set up a decade ago inside the UN
System to pioneer the use of real-time and predictive insights to protect
vulnerable communities in times of crisis", said Robert Kirkpatrick, Director
of UN Global Pulse, the United Nations Secretary-General's initiative on big
data and artificial intelligence (AI). "During this pandemic we have seen a
tremendous increase in requests for advanced analytics from across the UN
System and Member States. We will continue to work with WHO and other partners to
help identify and combat mis- and disinformation".
WHO defines an infodemic as an overabundance of
information, both online and offline. It includes accurate information as well
as mis- and disinformation.
In May 2020, WHO Member States passed Resolution
WHA73.1 on the COVID-19 response at the World Health Assembly. The Resolution
recognises that managing the infodemic is a critical part of controlling the
COVID-19 pandemic: it calls on Member States to provide reliable COVID-19
content, take measures to counter mis- and disinformation and leverage digital
technologies across the response. The Resolution also called on international
organisations to address mis- and disinformation in the digital sphere, work to
prevent harmful cyber activities undermining the health response and support
the provision of science-based data to the public.
Credit:
The post WHO
on COVID-19 pandemic: countries urged to take stronger action to stop spread of
harmful information first appeared on CFI.co. on September 28, 2020
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