- Speaker: Melissa Fleming (UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications)
- Date: Friday, May 30, 2025, 6:30-8:30 pm (including reception)
- Venue: Iwasaki Koyata Memorial Hall
- Language: English
- Admission:
I-House members: 5,000 yen/person
Others: 7,000 yen/person
*registration required, drinks and light meal will be provided.
I-House regularly holds members-only events to which a distinguished member is invited as a guest speaker. On May 30, a special-edition lecture will be held featuring Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications at the United Nations.
After the lecture, there will be a reception, where participants will have an opportunity to meet with the speakers and fellow members. This lecture is open to the public, so please take advantage of this opportunity.
“Healthy Incentives for Information Integrity”
The speech will examine the fundamental role of information integrity for sustainable development, peace and security and human rights for all.
It will discuss the impact of information threats – from disinformation and hate to polarized digital spaces to the demise of public interest media – on the ability of the international community to meet the needs of the communities we serve. It will explore a range of solutions, such as enhancing accountability through regulatory guardrails, empowering individuals with more choice, control and access, and more effective research to better understand our information environments.
It will highlight concrete recommendations for the private sector that will both strengthen information integrity and improve the bottom line. It will explore ways in which collaboration between advertisers, advertising platforms, policymakers, civil society and researchers can create a safer and more humane information ecosystem.
Melissa Fleming was appointed UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications in September 2019. She leads the UN’s Department of Global Communications, which informs global audiences about the state of the world and engages them to build support for the work and goals of the United Nations. In this role, Ms. Fleming oversees the Department’s strategic and crisis communications operations, including its multilingual news and digital media services, public outreach programmes, and global campaigns. Under her leadership, the UN Department of Global Communications developed the UN Global Principles for Information Integrity, a blueprint for healthy information ecosystems. Previously, Ms. Fleming served 10 years at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as Spokesperson for the High Commissioner and Head of Global Communications. Prior to that, she was the Spokesperson and Head of Media and Outreach at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). She earlier headed Press and Public Information at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and before that, served as Public Affairs Specialist at Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty. She also worked as a journalist. Ms. Fleming is a TED speaker, the author of the book, A Hope More Powerful than the Sea, and the host of the award-winning UN podcast, Awake at Night. She has published widely on strategic communications and is a frequent public speaker at universities and conferences. She holds a Master of Science in Journalism from the College of Communication, Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts in German Studies from Oberlin College.