Angelamaria Loreto*

ABSTRACT: Communication is the essential basis of life in its endless shapes. To remove the obstacles to communication an information and communication society is needed centered on human rights and human dignity.
The new information and communication technologies could help, if used in an appropriate way, to solve world problems. To this end an educational methodology is needed permitting everyone to understand the way to reach a solution respecting the reasons of everyone.

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Being aware of the importance of information to ensure an harmonious development of the human being, CEU - the Centre on Human Evolution studies- and IPV - IUS PRIMI VIRI International Association - engaged themselves, since the beginning, in the preparation of the Summit (Prepcom) offering the results of their scientific multidisciplinary studies to help to claryfy a really confused situation. Therefore in the first Prepcom a short paper was submitted "A physiological information for a planetary consciousness" (Trimarchi et al., 2002), stressing that the quality of information is synonimous of the quality of life.

Then during the Ministerial PanEuropean Conference held in Bucarest another paper "The role of neuropsychophysiology in guaranteeing the quality of information in the information society"(Trimarchi,2002) underlined that communication is the essential basis of life in its endless shapes. Unfortunately today we do not have enough knowledge to explain the physiology of conscience. This leads to a distorted communication and to great conflictuality. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights represents a "summa" of the qualitative and informational foundations which must guide communication in order to favour the development of a conscience based, centred and determined by such values. Communication in the respect of human rights combines all information to define dignity, freedom and justice, based on knowledge.

A frequently asked question is how to remove the obstacles to communication, but, as stressed by NGO representatives in the intersessional meeting held in Paris, we often forget that, to this end, an information and communication society is needed centered on the human being as well as on human rights and human dignity. Progress should be at Man's service and not enslave him. But how to conciliate these noble principles with the unbridled search for economic success leading to despise everyone and everything and thus creating very serious and may be irreparable damages, as everyone can see?

The new information and communication technologies could, if used in an adequate way, permit to rise consciousness levels thus contributing to solve world problems. To do so one should start to not consider this sector only for the economic opportunities it offers, as shown by the high differences when speaking of the digital divide among developed and underveloped countries and the socalled civil society.

On these bases the Geneva Summit could be another lost opportunity notwithstanding the many beautiful words and good intentions. UN Secretary General, ITU President, various head of states asserted their will to act so that the Summit will help to solve world problems. But how if universal values are not respected,and the rights of individuals continue to be ignored in favour of the wellbeing of few ones?

The Summit, concluded the Geneva phasis, will continue its works in Tunisia among many doubts because of the difficult situation in this country where human rights are too often ignored. It is hopeful that the socalled final Visionary Declaration of Civil Society, asking for precise measures and referring to the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, could serve as basis for the new Prepcoms that should start probably next March in Tunis or again in Geneva.

But if we do not remove the obstacles from Men minds, a positive solution cannot be expected. In fact an educational methodology is needed permitting everyone to understand the way to reach a solution that respects everyone's reasons. To this end CEU on the basis of thirty years of multidisciplinary integrated studies and research, developed Neuropsycophysiology, a discipline that, starting from the studies on the higher functions of human brain, and of how behaviour is produced, gives tools to promote an education centered on human rights values and allowing to translate abstract principles into consciousness and behaviour.

We can therefore only wish that finally the epoch of words is ending and facts begin to be seen.

* Sociologist; IPV Secretary General; Director CEU Department of Information and Documentation