UN Inter-Agency Committee on Bioethics

Noting the increasing need for international engagement and dialogue in the field of bioethics between different inter-governmental organizations within and outside the United Nations system, further to a consultative meeting convened by UNESCO in September 2001, the UN Inter-Agency Committee on Bioethics (UNIACB) was established in March 2003.

By providing a forum for exchange of information in the field of bioethics and related issues, with special attention to human rights, UNIACB intends to promote coordination and cooperation in the activities carried out by its members.

Membership

Membership in the Committee is open to the Secretariat of intergovernmental organizations and to institutions as follows:

• Members: The United Nations and those specialized agencies that have developed programmes in, or carry out specific activities focusing on bioethics, including its human rights aspects and other related issues;
• Associate Members: Other international and regional intergovernmental organizations and institutions outside the United Nations system, particularly regional agencies of developing countries, engaged in activities relating to bioethics, including its human rights aspect and other related issues.

Composition of UNIACB

Members

• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• International Labour Organization (ILO)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• United Nations University (UNU)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Associate Members

• African Union (AU)
• Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALECSO)
• Council of Europe (CoE)
• European Commission
• International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB)
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
• World Trade Organization (WTO)

Recent Activities of Members and Associate Members

• Meetings of UNIACB
• UNICEF-Innocenti: Ethical Research and Children
• Ethics Teacher Training Course, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 7-11 November 2016
• Ethics Teacher Training Course, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 20-24 February 2017
• Workshop on promoting policy dialogue in bioethics through capacity development of the National Bioethics Committee in Oman, Muscat, Oman, 2-4 April 2017
• UNESCO and the World Health Organization (WHO): Eastern Mediterranean / Arab States Regional Summit of National Ethics & Bioethics Committees, Muscat, Oman, 5-6 April 2017
• Ethics Teacher Training Course, Surabaya, Indonesia, 24-28 April 2017
• Third Regional Ethics Teacher Training Course, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 13-16 June 2017
• Intergovernmental Meeting for the Preparation of a Declaration of Ethical Principles in relation to Climate Change, Paris, France, 27-30 June 2017

More information about UNIACB

• Terms of Reference (in English only)
• Rules of Procedure (in English only)

Permanent Secretariat/Contact

For further information:

Permanent Secretariat
UN Inter-Agency Committee on Bioethics
UNESCO
Bioethics and Ethics of Science Section
Division of Ethics, Youth and Sport
c/o Mr Tee Wee Ang
7, place de Fontenoy
75732 Paris 07 SP
France
Tel. +33 1 45 68 39 45
Email: uniacb(at)unesco.org