News 2009

New Director for Division of Science Policy and Sustainable Development

13 November - Former Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology of Mozambique, Lidia Brito has been appointed Director of the Division of Science Policy and Sustainable Development at UNESCO. Born in 1961, she holds a PhD in Forest Science (1994) and has published numerous articles and publications on education and development. Since June 2008, Ms Brito has been employed as a Senior Consultant at Eurosis, a consultancy firm in Maputo (Mozambique) specializing in strategic planning, knowledge management systems training and capacity-building in project management. Prior to this, she was Advisor for Strategic Planning and External Relations for the City of Maputo. Ms Brito is a member of the Executive Board of the UNESCO-IHE Institute of Water Education (Delft) and of the Council of the United Nations University. She takes up her new functions on 1 December 2009.

Read an interview of Lidia Brito published in UNESCO’s journal, A World of Science, in 2004 during her term of office as Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology.

Launch of Consortium for Science in the South

5 November - The Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Group of 77 officially launched the Consortium of Science, Technology and Innovation in the South (COSTIS) on 4 November, during a ministerial roundtable at the start of the World Science Forum. The launch fulfills the promise of the Declaration adopted by ministers at the First Summit of the G77 and China in Havana (Cuba) in 2004. (More).

Two astrophysicists win Kalinga Prize for Popularization of Science

29 October - In this, the International Year of Astronomy, it is fitting that UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science should have been won by two astrophysicists: Professor Yash Pal from India and Professor Trinh Xuan Thuan from Viet Nam. The prize will be awarded by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura at the World Science Forum in Budapest (Hungary) on 5 November. (More).

President of Tanzania welcomes UNESCO’s participation in ‘Delivering as One’

22 October - In addressing UNESCO’s 193 Member States during the General Conference on 19 October, President Karume of the United Republic of Tanzania took stock of the existing cooperation between UNESCO and Tanzania, highlighting upstream policy advice and the capacity-building of Tanzanian institutions and human resources. He particularly welcomed UNESCO’s participation in the reform of the United Nations, he said, which is ‘Delivering as One’ in Tanzania through UNESCO’s Cluster Office in Dar es Salaam. He also observed that UNESCO was leading the review of Tanzania’s national science and technology policy. (Read about the launch of this project in December 2008).

R&D intensity growing in many countries

16 October - From 2002 to 2007, world expenditure on research and development (R&D) rose by as much as 44% in absolute terms, from an estimated PPP$788.5 billion to PPP$1137.9 billion, according to the latest fact sheet by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. In relative terms, however, the share of world GDP devoted to R&D has remained stable, at 1.7%. The GERD/GDP ratio has nevertheless increased markedly in 62 out of the 106 countries for which data are available. R&D intensity has even more than doubled in 14% of the countries surveyed, including China, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Thailand and Tunisia. In around 20% of countries, R&D intensity has remained stable, although it has fallen considerably in 24 countries (23%). (More).

Launch of Avicenna Virtual Campus in Iraq

7 October - UNESCO has launched the Avicenna Virtual Campus in Iraq, in partnership with the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, to expand access to education and improve the quality of teacher training. The project builds on ongoing endeavours to strengthen the quality of education by promoting partnerships between Iraqi universities and universities abroad. (More).

New Science and Technology Museum opens in Beijing

25 September - The China Science and Technology Museum was inaugurated in Beijing on 16 September. The new premises are located on Beijing's Olympic Green and cover an area of 48,000 m2. The museum will function under the umbrella of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology (CAST), which has described the museum as being ‘the most modern of its kind in China.’ Among the first visitors were Mustafa El Tayeb, Director of the Division of Science Policy and Sustainable Development at UNESCO, and Dato Lee Yee Cheong, Chair of the Board of the International Centre for South-South Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation. (More).

UNESCO and UNECA organize fourth meeting of UN Science and Technology Cluster

1 September - UNESCO and UNECA organized a meeting of the UN Science and Technology Cluster in Geneva, Switzerland, on 4 September 2009, in collaboration with UNEP. This represents an important milestone, given the importance accorded to clusters for meeting regional priorities and for reporting on UN activities in Africa via the Regional Coordination Mechanism. (More).

UNESCO publishes report on S&T in Burundi

10 July - UNESCO has published a report this week which describes the current state of R&D in the Republic of Burundi and proposes a series of recommandations in the form of discussion points for the commissions which will be working on the country’s Strategic Plan for Science, Technology and Research for Sustainable Development. Read the report (in French).

UNESCO publishes study on STI policy for Armenia

10 July - A study published by UNESCO this week proposes specific policy measures for developing science, technology and innovation in Armenia. Recommendations include the promotion of an effective National Innovation System, the consolidation of national science institutes to create a strong network of centres of excellence, the improvement of higher education and lifelong learning in a changing global environment, the development and upgrading of information and communication tools and the development and maintenance of a strong R&D infrastructure. Read the report

A ‘scientific caravan’ needed for Afghanistan

3 July - ‘The challenge for the international community today is to develop a regional network of cultural and scientific cooperation to reconstruct the institutions in Afghanistan,’ Deputy Director-General Marcio Barbosa told a meeting of G8 Finance ministers in Trieste (Italy) on 26 June. ‘As in the days when caravans travelled the Silk Road, we need to create a ‘scientific caravan’ of institutions to help the peoples of the region, in particular Afghanistan,’ he said. Mr Barbosa was addressing a conference on Afghanistan and its geographical context: development of a regional network of cultural and scientific cooperation, on bhealf of the Director-General. The conference was organized jointly by the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Afghanistan recently solicited UNESCO’s assistance in formulating a national science, technology and innovation policy.

Launch of Albania’s National Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation

18 June - The Albanian government launched its National Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation on 17 June, during a conference organized in Tirana, in the presence of Vice Prime-Minister Genc Pollo, the Minister of Education and Science, Mr Fatos Beja, the UN Resident Coordinator, Ms Gülden Türköz-Cosslett and the Director of UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, Mr Engelbert Ruoss. (More)

Mali signs two cooperation agreements with UNESCO

2 June - During the visit of President Amadou Toumani Touré of Mali on 29 May, two cooperation agreements were signed by the Director-General of UNESCO and the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Ms Siby Bellegarde, who accompanied the President. These agreements concern strengthening capacity-building for teachers and schooling girls and, secondly, training Malian researchers at the University of Bamako. This was the President’s second visit to UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. His visit took place during Africa Week at UNESCO.

Presentations from sub-regional workshop now available

26 May - The presentations are now available from a workshop on Capacity Building in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Reviews for the East/North African Region. The workshop was held in Mombasa, Kenya, from 30 March to 4 April 2009. The aim of the meeting was to enable the exchange of ideas and best practices between countries which are in the process of reviewing their STI policy and those having already undergone this exercise, either with UNESCO or independently. (More)

Democratic Republic of Congo welcomes UNESCO support

22 May - UNESCO has offered the Democratic Republic of Congo its continuing support in formulating a national science, technology and innovation policy. A meeting is planned by the country in June to kick-start the process. In March 2008, the Democratic Republic of Congo was one of seven countries which participated in a sub-regional symposium organized by UNESCO and the Congolese National Commission for UNESCO to foster interparliamentary cooperation in Central Africa.

Read the coverage by the Congolese newspaper, Le Potentiel, in its edition of 21 May 2009 (in French).
Read about the interparliamentary symposium

Cape Verde joins virtual campus network

19 May - The African Virtual Campus has gained a fourth partner: Cape Verde. This latest addition brings the number of countries participating in the campus to four with Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. The African Virtual Campus is one of three UNESCO flagship projects contributing to implementation of Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action. The other two concern Capacity-building in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy and Enhancing Science and Technology Education. More

Parliamentarians call for network to support S&T for development in Eastern Africa

10 April - Parliamentarians from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Egypt plan to establish a sub-regional network of parliamentarians in support of science and technology for development. This recommendation is outlined in the Mombasa Declaration adopted on 3 April at the end of a five-day capacity-building workshop in STI policy and scientific forum for parliamentarians organized by UNESCO’s Division for Science Policy and Sustainable Development, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, African Union/New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the Kenya Ministry for Higher Education, Science and Technology.

Read the meeting summary
Read the Mombasa Declaration

UNESCO to G-20: ‘Invest in science, innovation and new technologies’

2 April - UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura has written to the leaders of the Group of 20 nations (G20) meeting in London today to plead the cause of continued investment in development, regardless of the global crisis. He describes education as being fundamental for determining long-term economic development. ‘Investing in science, innovation and new technologies, including green technologies, is also fundamental for stimulating economic growth while contributing to a sustainable environment,’ he adds. ‘UNESCO is already working with many countries, especially in Africa, to develop science policies and build human and institutional capacities in order to promote innovation.’ (More in English, French, Spanish)

UNESCO pledges to assist Azerbaijan in review of strategy for science and technology

24 March - In talks between UNESCO’s Director-General and President Aliyev in Baku on 19 March, the sciences were identified as a new area of bilateral cooperation. Mr Matsuura went on to pledge UNESCO’s assistance in reviewing the country’s science and technology strategy. Up until now, cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and UNESCO has largely been confined to the fields of culture and education. It was Mr Matsuura’s fourth visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan at the invitation of President Aliyev and First Lady Aliyeva.

African observatory for STI and panafrican university among Africa’s priorities

12 March - At the second meeting of the Joint Commission bringing together UNESCO and the African Union (AU) Commission on 9-11 March, the President of the AU Commission, Mr Jean Ping, stressed a number of priorities for the continent: education at all levels, with the flagship project of a panafrican university, the setting-up of an African observatory for science, technology and innovation, and post-conflict reconstruction. With regard to strengthening cooperation in science as part of follow-up to the Addis Ababa Declaration on Science, Technology and Scientific Research for Development adopted by the African Union in January 2007, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura recalled that the strategy encapsulated in the Declaration was deemed by UNESCO to be a major tool for fighting poverty in Africa. (More)

Science perceived as being central to everyday life

6 March - The verdict of an international survey published on 5 March is that the general public has a positive perception of science and scientific careers. The survey polled approximately 10,000 individuals in 10 countries: China, United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, UK and the USA. The international omnibus TNS Worldpanel survey was conducted within a partnership involving the L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO (More in English, French and Spanish)

UNESCO consults on Science, Technology & Innovation Governance in Albania

9 February - Within the framework of UNESCO support to the Government of Albania for the improvement of science, technology and innovation governance, the Director of UNESCO’s Venice office, Engelbert Ruoss, participated in a consultative meeting with Albanian stakeholders in Albania’s capital, Tirana, on 5 February. Organized by the Cabinet of the Deputy Prime-Minister of Albania, Mr Genc Pollo, the consultation focused on Albania’s national strategy for science, technology and innovation. The meeting was preceded by a technical workshop on R&D and innovation statistics and indicators on 4 February at the Ministry of Education and Science in Tirana. Both activities are part of UNESCO’s contribution to the One UN Programme in Albania.

Related Links:
One UN in Albania
Signature of the One UN Programme by United Nations participating Agencies and the Government of Albania
(October 2007, Tirana)
Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators: Trends and Challenges in Southeast Europe
(March 2007, Skopje, FYROM)