UNESCO's “Assisting Bioethics Committees” Project: First Training Session in Paraguay

Within the context of UNESCO's “Assisting Bioethics Committees” (ABC) project, the Bioethics Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean of UNESCO's Montevideo Office will organize the first training for the National Bioethics Committee of Paraguay in the city of Asunción, from 6 to 8 March 2018.

During an intensive 3-day training, three international experts will teach the Committee in the fundamental issues needed for it to become operational. They will focus on the elaboration of regulations, statutes, advisory and educational programs, and will also respond to the needs expressed by the Committee's members.

The training will allow members, not only to get a comprehensive understanding of the internationally-agreed norms on Bioethics and Human Rights, but also to conduct situational analysis, to identify ethical dilemmas at the global level and in their country.

The “Assisting Bioethics Committees” (ABC) project, in the framework of which this session takes place, offers to countries participating to address their needs, tailoring the trainings to the needs of each country and each newly-established institution.

Implemented as one part of UNESCO’s bioethics capacity building initiative, derived from the “Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights”, this project guides the countries in the development of their National Bioethics Committees (NBC) over a course of 3 years providing them with one training per year and a variety of resources.

Led by both UNESCO staff and international experts from among UNESCO’s partners, the content of the trainings rely on a series of guides that UNESCO has produced specifically for this aim, and also on the UNESCO Bioethics Core Curriculum, which is primarily designed around the internationally-agreed ethics standards but also around internationally-agreed human rights standards, while it acknowledges and invites local variation.

Special consideration is given to promoting gender equality in terms of the content of materials used for training and the development of the agendas and plans of the National Bioethics Committees.