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.
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)
- International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO)
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
- Global Ethics and Bioethics Week - 14-18 October 2019
- Ethics Teacher Training Course, Fiji, 14-18 October 2019
- ICGEB Webinar “Genome Editing – Facts and Implications”, 15 October 2019 (online)
- European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE-European Commission): Open Round Table on the Ethics of Gene Editing, Brussels, Belgium, 16 October 2019 (live casting available)
- UNESCO Roundtable on “Genome Editing: Why Ethics Matter?”, Paris, France, 12 September 2018
Permanent Secretariat/Contact
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
Global Ethics and Bioethics Week - 14-18 October 2019
Global Ethics and Bioethics Week addressed critical issues around bioethics and facilitates dialogue and awareness between participants from multiple and diverse backgrounds and sectors.