Ethics of Science and Technology

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Ethics of Science and Technology
Since its involvement in promoting international reflection on the ethics of life sciences in the 1970s, UNESCO continues to build and reinforce linkages among ethicists, scientists, policy-makers and civil society to assist Member States in enacting sound and reasoned policies on ethical issues in science and technology.

UNESCO pursues its ethical mandate in the two primary work areas of Bioethics and Ethics of Science and Technology, by performing the following major functions:

Laboratory of ideas – addressing the emerging ethical challenges by providing an intellectual forum for multidisciplinary, pluralistic and multicultural reflection on ethics of science and technology via the:

International Bioethics Committee (IBC)
Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee (IGBC)
World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST)
Conference series: Ethics around the World

Standard-setter – pioneering normative action in bioethics:

Clearing house – developing the Global Ethics Observatory (GEObs) – a free global repository of updated information on ethics institutions, experts, legislation, codes of conduct and teaching programmes around the world.

Capacity-builder – providing Member States with the necessary tools and technical support for the enhancement of their national ethics infrastructure:

Assisting Bioethics Committees (ABC)
Ethics Education Programme (EEP)

Catalyst for international cooperation – cooperating with key international stakeholders in the field of ethics of science and technology and fostering coordination among the major actors through the United Nations Inter-Agency Committee on Bioethics.

Photo: © CNRS Photobank, Jérôme Chatin

News

Bioethics and Ethics of Science and Technology: A Regional Documentation Centre to be inaugurated in Cairo 2010-03-25 2:40 pm UNESCO
A Regional Documentation and Information Centre for Bioethics and Ethics of Science and Technology (RDIC-BEST) will be inaugurated on 29 March 2010 in Cairo, Egypt, at the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology of Egypt.

Ethics Teacher Training Course in Croatia 2010-03-10 9:00 am UNESCO
Ethics Teacher Training Courses are set up in order to provide training to ethics teachers with the purpose to enhance their skills and abilities. They aim particularly on training a younger generation of teachers so that ethics teaching programs in the near future can expand and improve in all Member States of UNESCO. The next course will take place at the Inter University Centre in Dubrovnik (Republic of Croatia) from 28 June to 2 July 2010.

Professor Renzong Qiu receives the 2009 Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science at UNESCO 2009-12-11 5:00 pm UNESCO
The Director-General of UNESCO has awarded the 2009 Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science to Professor Renzong Qiu (People’s Republic of China). The laureate was honoured formally by the Deputy Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Marcio Barbosa, on behalf of the Director-General, at a ceremony that took place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 18 December 2009.



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