| |
 |
 |
|
|
|
| Newsletter 03 |
| |
| The quarterly SHS Newsletter provides information on the work of UNESCO in the field of social and human sciences. |
|
| Adopted: a new ethical framework regarding the use of human genetic data - October 2003 (English | Français) |
|
 The challenge for an elaborate organization such as UNESCO is to keep its course well – without distractions – and to communicate with its constituents what it is doing. In the Sector for Social and Human Sciences, we are addressing this issue by developing and publishing our strategies.
The strategy development exercise has involved all of our field and headquarters staff, and has been growing in intensity over the course of more than a year. We consulted widely, with many partners, with UNESCO’s National Commissions and their partners, as well as with other un agencies, so that we could be very precise about what it is we are trying to do and – just as important – what we are not going to do.
The first two such papers – on human rights and on combating racism – were developed for UNESCO Member States to review at UNESCO’s General Conference in October of this year. There, the Members signaled their agreement by a vote of approval. A third strategy paper – on democracy – was studied and confirmed by UNESCO’s Executive Board (a meeting of a smaller number of Member States) in September.3
Thus, the process is still quite new. But it is a vital one. At a staff consultation in July 2003, draft strategies on many of the other themes – gender issues, ethics, urbanism, philosophy, etc. – in the Sector’s work were shared among staff from headquarters and field offices. Regional strategies, not specific to themes, were also studied. This enabled a discussion of the centrality of one theme across the whole of the Sector’s work: creating desirable social transformation.
The extensive consultations have demanded a high degree of participation and teamwork from all the staff, and they are leading toward more precision in the identification of objectives. Where there was a vague consensus, the goal now is to have a clear one, written and publicized so that our partners can easily identify us – what we represent and what we aim to do.
Several strategy papers will be developed in the Sector’s areas of work. As these papers are developed, we will publish their elements in this Newsletter. The feedback has so far been very positive, since circulating these strategies has allowed more people to see more clearly what we are already actively doing, and what our objectives are. We hope that this kind of clarity and transparency will help us identify new partners, as well as better serve our current constituencies.
While strategies are being prepared, to be implemented in the coming years, work started a few years ago is bearing fruit. The latest is the finalization, after close to two years of intensive work, of the International Declaration on Human Genetic Data. The dossier of this issue explains what it is and why such a Declaration was needed.
Pierre Sané
Assistant Director-General
for Social and Human Sciences
p. 3 Human sciences Who knows? / p. 4 Interview Thomas Pogge / p. 9 Human Rights Should poverty be abolished? • Gender equality in Pakistan: the role of boys and men / p. 13 Democracy / p. 14 21st Century Talks Should human cloning be banned? / p. 15 Ethics Ethics of Economy / p. 16 Dossier Declaration International Declaration on human genetic data • Why the need for a Declaration? / p. 22 Social Transformations Beijing 2008: the challenge of social sustainability • Landscape and environment • Successful networking experience / p. 25 Social Sciences A new Declaration for Latin America and the Caribbean / p.27 Human Security Meetings and research to reinforce human security / p. 28 UNESCO-SHS-Prizes United against hatred / p. 29 Just published / p. 32 News UNESCO Philosophy Day • Calendar
|
|
|
 Email this page  Printable version
|
|
|
|
