<
 
 
 
 
×
>
You are viewing an archived web page, collected at the request of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) using Archive-It. This page was captured on 18:15:59 Nov 06, 2015, and is part of the UNESCO collection. The information on this web page may be out of date. See All versions of this archived page.
Loading media information hide
29.09.2015 - UNESCO Office in Nairobi

UNESCO Regional meeting on sustainability science: STI based innovation and development for Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals

Science programme specialists from UNESCO field offices in Africa and representatives from headquarters gather together at UNESCO Regional Office in Nairobi to strengthen UNESCO brand and quality of delivery of science programmes within UNDAF for socio-economic transformation of Africa post-2015. © Masakazu Shibata/UNESCO

28 September, 2015, Nairobi – World leaders have come together at a special UN summit from 25–27 September in New York and adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will then be implemented from 1 January 2016.

Earlier this month, a regional workshop for UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Sector in Africa was organized at UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa in Nairobi to enhance the quality of UNESCO’s contribution and participation to UNDAF and for the new post-2015 sustainable development agenda. More than 20 science programme specialists from UNESCO field offices in Africa and representatives from headquarters took part in the strategic meeting held from 16 to 17 September 2015 in sharing ideas and their experiences to develop strategies and action plans aimed to strengthen UNESCO brand and quality of delivery of science programmes within United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for socio-economic transformation of Africa post-2015.

The SDGs embrace a wider meaning of development than simply growth in GDP. The new framework is vital in setting global norms that will underpin international development efforts. Under this context, the workshop highlighted the interplay of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in the SDGs that will guide national and international jurisdictions to shape investments and policies, as well as drive actions on a range of sustainability issues covering environmental, climate change, social and economic challenges over the next 15 years. Participants openly discussed and expressed their views on past actions on UNDAF and Common Country Programming and on its success and challenges by building on UNESCO’s strengths, resources, partnerships and networks, particularly through science-based approach to strategically frame UNESCO’s combined action in Sustainability Science, Education for Sustainable Development and knowledge society initiatives.

An importance given to STI in Africa was also addressed, reflecting on Organization’s strong cooperation with African Union in Common Africa Position (CAP) on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, Ministerial Declarations and investments. Country level initiatives and regional programmes and projects under the Natural Sciences-related Flagships for Priority Africa were also highlighted to position UNESCO’s in the advancement of the African Union Agenda 2063, especially in the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA) 2024.

Mr. Hubert Gijzen, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa, noted that STI has had dual impact in human development in recent centuries via science-based revolutions, where on the one hand, these science-based revolutions have brought unprecedented economic progress and welfare for many, but on the other hand, the economic benefits came at huge environmental costs. Hubert Gijzen explained, “We must apply a forward looking approach that aims to maximize the benefits and minimizes possible negative spin-offs from new STI based innovations and developments. In that respect we need to learn a lot from mistakes in the past.”

The global challenges require sustainable solutions where STI is essential to facilitate the mobilization of a wave of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Innovation geared towards sustainable development has the potential to lift economic growth, boost social transformation while at the same time contributing to environmental protection and conservation. UNESCO has devoted itself to sustainable development in its programmes for many years and it will continue to assist countries to invest more in STI by providing technical support to form science policies and systems, as well as through institutional and human capacity building taking into account the broad range of country-specific contexts to achieve sustainable development.

Following UNESCO field offices participated in the strategic meeting: UNESCO Liaison Office with the African Union and with the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, UNESCO Regional Office for West Africa in Abuja, UNESCO Regional Office for West Africa (Sahel) in Dakar, UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa in Harare, UNESCO Regional Office for East Africa in Nairobi, UNESCO Regional Office for Central Africa in Yaoundé, UNESCO National Office to Congo in Brazzaville and UNESCO National Office to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Kinshasa.




<- Back to: UNESCO Office in Nairobi
Back to top