About the Natural Sciences Sector

UNESCO works to advance and promote science in the interests of peace, sustainable development and human security and well-being, in close collaboration with its Member States and a wide variety of partners. It is the only United Nations specialized agency, symbolized by the ‘S’ in the acronym, with a specific mandate for science.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development represents a significant step forward in the recognition of the contribution of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to sustainable development. Solutions to today’s global challenges such as climate change and youth unemployment need a multi-sectoral response and in this regard UNESCO mobilizes scientific knowledge in the context of its multidisciplinary mandate in education, culture, the social and human sciences and communication.

Since its foundation in 1945 UNESCO has acted as a catalyst for the establishment of many, now leading, scientific unions and bodies such as CERN; and initiatives with far-reaching implications for sustainable human security and well-being. UNESCO:

• Acts as a platform for sharing ideas and standard setting;
• Catalyses international cooperation in science;
• Promotes dialogue between scientists and policy makers;
• Builds capacity in science.

UNESCO’s international science programmes have long-standing experience in mobilizing the best available fundamental and applied science in their respective fields to serve Member States. They work to develop:

• international cooperation, networking and knowledge-sharing ;
• research, monitoring, and the generation of knowledge;
• human and institutional capacity and educational initiatives;
• sound policies and governance;
• responses to requests for technical assistance from Member States;
• awareness on scientific issues among policy-makers and the general public.

The programmes are:

• Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP);
• Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB);
• International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP);
• International Basic Sciences Programme (IBSP).

Additionally, UNESCO's Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems programme (LINKS) promotes local and indigenous knowledge and its inclusion in global climate science and policy processes, and its World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) produces policy-relevant, timely and reliable information in various fields of water resources developments and management.

These programmes are supported by extensive networks and benefit from the concrete experience gained from the UNESCO designated sites: biosphere reserves, UNESCO Global Geoparks and natural sites inscribed on the World Heritage list.

In addition to these programmes, a body with functional autonomy within UNESCO carries out a specific mandate on ocean sciences: the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO).

The Natural Sciences Sector also implements its programmes through:

• the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), in Trieste, Italy;
• the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, in Montreal, Canada; and
• a network of over 50 associated centres in the fields of water, renewable energy, science policy, biotechnology, geosciences, the basic sciences and remote sensing.

More than 250 of the UNESCO/UNITWIN University chairs are science related.

She has a long standing career as a researcher (University of Cape Town, Institute Pasteur, MIT University Park in Boston, and the French National Institute for Medical Research), and in implementing international programmes for science for development (UN, UNESCO and European Commission).

As Director of the OzonAction at the United Nations Environment Programme, she was responsible for developing and implementing programmes for the Montreal Protocol, providing 148 developing countries with scientific and technical advice and implementing capacity building programmes for the phase out of ozone depleting chemicals. She launched the first global programme for capacity
building for women technicians.

Prior, she was Programme Manager and responsible for the research for development and international cooperation with developing countries, specifically health research in the European Commission. Thereafter, she co ordinated science programmes in Africa for UNESCO in close collaboration with the African Union Ministerial Council for Science and managed the United Nations Cluster for Science and Technology in Africa.

She holds a PhD in Life Sciences from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, HDR (University of Paris V) and is a Member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa. She pursued her research career at the Institute Pasteur in Paris, at the MIT University Park in Boston, and the French National Institute for Medical Research as Director of Research (INSERM). In parallel to her career at the United Nations, Dr Shamila Nair-Bedouelle has been working since 2000 as Director of Research at the University of Paris V. In 2017, Mrs Shamila Nair-Bedouelle was nominated First Class Director of Research at INSERM. Her scientific research was in the field of molecular biology and identification of new targets for anti-microbial compounds. She has also published in numerous scientific journals and is the co-inventor of several patents.