Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO’s MOST programme to focus on impact of global economic crisis

Paris, 21 September

Ministers for Social Development from all regions of the world, scientists, and representatives from NGOs and the private sector will analyze together the impact of the global economic crisis during the Ninth Session of the Intergovernmental Council (IGC) of the Management of Social Transformations (MOST) programme, at UNESCO in Paris from 28 to 30 September.

The meeting will be opened by the President of the IGC, Zola S. Skweyiya, former Minister of Social Development (South Africa), and by the Chairperson of the MOST Scientific Advisory Committee, Nazli Choucri (Egypt), renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology scholar. It comprises three main events:

On the first day, the 35 States on the Council will take stock of MOST’s achievements since 2007. A 20-minute film presenting the programme’s activities in the context of the current financial crisis will be screened in the morning, while the latest features of the MOST internet server, a resource giving decision-makers access to policy-relevant information from social science research, will be highlighted in the afternoon.

The second day, Pierre Sané, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Social and Human Sciences, will open an “Inter-regional Forum for Social Development” composed of two round tables. Participants will analyze current national and international responses to the financial crisis with a view to future action.

The first round table will present the measures taken by some African, Latin American, Asian and Arab countries. Participants will include Jordan’s Minister of Social Development, Hala Lattouf; the Minister of Social Coordination of Ecuador, Jeannette Sanchez; the Minister for Solidarity and War Victims of Côte d’Ivoire, Louis André Dacoury-Tabley; and Harjeet Singh, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development in Malaysia. During the afternoon round table, international responses to the crisis will be addressed by eight speakers including Bience Gawanas, the African Union’s Commissioner for Social Affairs, and Faith Innerarity, Jamaica’s Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture.

Following these debates, the IGC will adopt recommendations concerning the programme over the next two years, which will be submitted to UNESCO’s upcoming 35th General Conference (6-23 October).

Launched in 1994, MOST works to build bridges between research, policy and practice. The programme promotes a culture of evidence-based policy-making – nationally, regionally and internationally – and plays the role of a think tank of nations.

• Author(s):UNESCOPRESS
• Source:Media Advisory No. 2009-49
• 22-09-2009