Regional focus

Priority groups

Over the period 2008-2009, the Division for Science Policy and Sustainable Development is paying particular attention to the following priority groups. These are:

Least developed countries
UNESCO is helping least developed countries to formulate their national STI policies. Countries which have recently requested UNESCO’s assistance include Afghanistan, Benin, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Nepal, Timor Leste and Togo. Read about completed and ongoing reforms under Country Studies.

Africa
UNESCO is contributing to Africa’s Consolidated Plan of Action as concerns improving policy conditions and building mechanisms for innovation.

Arab States
UNESCO and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) are spearheading efforts to implement the Arab Plan of Action for Science and Technology adopted in January 2009. (More)
UNESCO is also working with Arab countries to develop or review national STI policies. The policy for Lebanon was launched in 2006 (More)

Southeast Europe
UNESCO is helping the post-conflict countries of Southeast Europe reconstruct their science systems and integrate pan-European science. In Europe, UNESCO is assisting Albania, Armenia and Serbia to formulate their national STI policies

Small island developing states (SIDS)
UNESCO is contributing to the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy (2005) for the sustainable development of SIDS.

Regional networks

Over the past two decades, UNESCO has set up a number of regional networks which operate under its auspices.

UNESCO is also fostering inter-parliamentary cooperation to improve knowledge-based science legislation. Sub-regional parliamentary fora have been established around the world by UNESCO since 2004.

Read also about two e-learning networks, the Avicenna Virtual Campus and the African Virtual Campus.

Regional centre

The International Centre for South-South Co-operation in Science, Technology and Innovation was inaugurated in Kuala Lumpur in May 2008. The centre functions under the auspices of UNESCO. (More)

Regional projects

Archaeomap
The Archaeomap project – for Archaeological Management Policies – is coordinating the elaboration of integrated science policies for the Mediterranean’s coastal zone in 2008-2009.

Aral Sea
UNESCO is helping the countries around the Aral Sea develop science policies to make their institutions better-equipped to mitigate the ecological and socio-economic damage done to the Aral Sea region over recent decades, within an ongoing project involving the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research which winds up in 2010.

Natural Sciences

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Features