News 2006

Just one in four researchers is a woman

6 December - Women represent less than 30% of scientific researchers in the 89 countries for which data are available, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, which devotes its latest bulletin to the theme of women in science. This figure does mask considerable variation among regions however. In Latin America and the Caribbean, women account for 46% of researchers, a figure topped only in Central Asia (50%). In the rest of Asia, however, this share falls to 15%, as compared to 29% in Africa and 32% in Europe. Read the bulletin.

Sixty years of science policy at UNESCO
17 November - The President of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, pleaded for a stronger role for UNESCO in Africa this - Sixty years ago, UNESCO’s Constitution came into force, on 4 November 1946. To mark the event. UNESCO launched Sixty Years of Science at UNESCO 1945–2005 this week. The book devotes a chapter to the history of science and technology policies at UNESCO and another chapter to the history of statistics at UNESCO. It recalls the highs and lows of science policy over the past six decades. Among the highlights, one could cite the steep rise in budget for science policy in 1960, in recognition of ‘the need to give science the same impetus as had been given to education’ and the adoption by the General Conference in 1974 of the International Recommendation on the Status of Scientific Workers. Among the lows, the disappointing outcome of the Vienna Conference on Science and Technology for Development in 1979. For a list of science policy publications since 1965, many of which are still available online, click here. To order Sixty Years of Science at UNESCO, click here.

President of Congo pleads for stronger UNESCO role in Africa
12 October - The President of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, pleaded for a stronger role for UNESCO in Africa this morning, during an address to UNESCO’s Executive Board. He stressed the twin roles of the Organization in Africa as an agency for intellectual cooperation and technical assistance ‘At a time when the polarization of the world is no longer rooted in doctrinal or ideological differences but, more tragically and ruthlessly, in the danger of confrontation between rich and poor countries, peace appears, in the long term, as the sole and sine qua non condition for the development of our continent,’ declared President Sassou Nguesso. ‘Therefore UNESCO is, to our mind, the best placed institution to support Africa in this multidimensional struggle’. The Republic of Congo is currently working with UNESCO to reform its national science, technology and innovation system.

UNESCO signs tripartite agreement for science parks in South
2 October - A tripartie agreement was signed today by UNESCO, the Korean International Cooperation Agency and Daejeon Metropolitan City to create funds-in-trust for helping developing countries to manage science and technology parks, or ‘technopolises’. The project will focus on fields such as ICTs, biotechnology and other high-tech fields. Over the next five years, KOICA and Daejon Metropolitan City undertake to contribute US$1 million within UNESCO’s programme for University-Industry-Science partnership (UNISPAR). To launch the fund, KOICA has donated an initial sum of US$120,000,00 and Daejeon City a further US$80,000. The funds will be used to conduct capacity building and technical assistance on science and technology park governance in developing countries. To facilitate these activities, a regional network and a pilot project will be developed in Africa, the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean. The project will be inplemented in close cooperation with the World Technopolis Association (WTA). For details, contact the UNESCO focal point.

EUMDIS Partners hold Final meeting at UNESCO
21 September - EU managers of the EUMEDIS programme as well as projects managers and coordinators of each of the five projects with EUMEDIS hold their meeting today in Paris at UNESCO HQ. The purpose of the meeting is to exchange on achieved results and ways and means of ensuring the cooperation among the five project with the aim of sustaining this important effort.

2006 Isfahan Conference on Science and Technology Park:
Serving Knowledge-based business to enhance economic development

19 September - The Isfahan 2006 Conference on Science and Technology Parks is a joint activity between UNESCO (SC/PSD) and the Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT), International Association of Science Park (IASP), the Asian Science Parks Association (ASPA). The Conference was held in the Abbasy Hotel, Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran, from 18 to 19 September 2006. The opening ceremony was attended by Dr M. Zahedi, Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology; Dr M. Reaei, Iranian Secretary of Expediency Council; Dr Chachanat Thebtaranont, President of IASP; Dr Luis Sanz, Director General of IASP; Dr Jong Hyun Lee, Chairperson of ASPA, Dr Chen Bo Park, representative of the World Technopolis Association; and Dr Abdin Salih, Director and Representative of UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office. During the conference, 43 papers were presented. For more information about the conference, Click here.

A Nigerian Parliamentarian S&T Forum launched
29 June - The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, launched the Nigerian Parliamentarian S&T Forum in Abuja on 21 June 2006. The ceremony was a joint activity with ISESCO and the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO. The following eminent personalities attended the Forum : three Ministers, representative of the President of Senate, Senators and Members of the House (drawn from a dozen committees from each of the two chambers), President of the National Academy of Sciences, President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Senior officials of science-based ministries, Directors-general of Research Institutes, representatives of civil society and the media. In addition, Assistant Directors and Legislative officers of the S&T-related parliamentary committees participated in the Forum. This activity is an example of what UNESCO is doing to strengthen the role of parliament in policy-making science, technology and innovation. (More)

Useful links

The Role of Parliaments
The Reform of the S&T System of Nigeria

An action plan for Caribbean science

23 May - A conference organized by the 15-member Caribbean Common Market (Caricom) in Trinidad & Tobago from 9 to 13 May has drawn up an action plan to strengthen science in the sub-region and develop ties between Caribbean researchers and the wider scientific community. As SciDev.Net reports, the plan proposes boosting science teaching in schools, launching a regional science journal and creating sustainable ways to fund research – Caricom nations today devote less than 0.2% of GDP to research and development. Grenada's Prime Minister Keith Mitchell put the lack of scientific development down to the region’s inability ‘to agree on and to implement a policy strategy and action plan for science, technology and innovation’. A lack of coordination between the region's scientific institutions had ‘led to more than two decades of inertia, wasted resources and duplication’, he said, ‘that have left us in the Caribbean scrambling to try to get a focus’. ‘The message is clear’, said Harold Ramkissoon, Executive-Secretary of Cariscience, a UNESCO network of R&D and postgraduate programmes in the Caribbean. ‘Embrace science and technology or be left behind’. Harold Ramkissoon is the author of the chapter on the Caricom countries in the UNESCO Science Report 2005. He also profiled both the Caricom countries and Cuba in A World of Science in October 2005.

After 20 years of cooperation, UNESCO and ISESCO sign up for more

16 May - The Director-General of ISESCO, Abdulaziz Othoman Altwaijri, and UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura signed a new programme of cooperation for 2006-2007 in Paris on 15 May. (More)

A Science, Technology and Innovation Policy for Lebanon

Launching Ceremony

27 April - The Science, Technology and Innovation Policy for Lebanon was launched in Beirut this morning by the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, and the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Fouad Sanioura, in the presence of all government ministers, UN agency representatives and the Lebanese scientific and academic communities. It was UNESCO which set in motion the formulation of a science, technology and innovation policy for Lebanon three years ago. The report launched today is the fruit of the work of four task forces led by UNESCO consultant Peter Tindemans and involving prominent Lebanese scientists and international experts. The Policy is published by the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Lebanon, a key partner in the endeavour. Read an Executive Summary of the report (in Arabic, English and French).