Capacity-building in science, technology and innovation (STI) governance for parliamentarians in Senegal
Parliamentarians and members of the National Assembly of Senegal, as well as representatives of science-based ministries, universities, associations and academicians took part in a training workshop on STI governance, held at the National Assembly in Dakar, 24 and 25 February 2014. Organized by the Division of Science Policy and Capacity-Building in UNESCO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the African Observatory for STI (AOSTI), the workshop brought information and showed best practices of how Parliaments treat STI related matters within the decision-making process.
By increasing their understanding of the complexities of STI governance, parliamentarians can better participate in STI debates making them more effective when making recommendations and decisions on how to improve national STI systems.
After two days of fruitful discussions, the participants adopted a series of concrete recommendations aimed to foster new approaches and a deeper understanding of STI-related issues for parliamentarians. These include i) the establishment of a Parliamentarian Forum to act as a platform for dialogue between parliamentarians, the scientific community, the private sector, the media, and civil society; ii) the setting up of a partnership programme between parliamentarians and researchers; iii) setting up an internship scheme for young researchers in the parliament.
Over the past ten years, UNESCO has positioned itself as the only international organization developing and implementing a specific programme on STI policies and decision making process within the Parliaments aims at promoting new forms of STI governance based on a science-policy-society interface that maintain a sustainable dialogue between the scientific community, the decision-makers and the societies.
The workshop was organized within the framework of UNESCO’s project for capacity-building in science policy in Africa, funded by the Government of Spain. The project provides support for the development of STI policies and policy instruments in more than 20 African countries, including Senegal.
For more details, contact Ms D. Malpede