UNCTAD is launching a Science and Technology Diplomacy Initiative at a forum to be held in Geneva on 10 June. The forum is intended to inform and solicit delegations´ views on the Initiative, which has been developed and will be implemented by UNCTAD in cooperation with the Science, Technology and Innovation Program at Harvard University´s Kennedy School of Government.
The Science and Technology Diplomacy Initiative seeks to make trade diplomats and policy makers more aware of the scientific underpinnings of trade issues and to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to negotiate and make informed decisions in international negotiations where science and technology play a role. This will be done through a series of training workshops and seminars.
Keynote speakers will be Professor Werner Arber of the University of Basel, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medecine (1978) for his work on biotechnology; Professor Mohamed Hassan, Executive Director of the Third World Academy of Sciences in Trieste and Secretary-General of the Third World Network of Scientific Organizations; and Professor Calestous Juma, former Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and currently Professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of the Science, Technology and Innovation Program at Harvard University´s Kennedy School of Government.
The forum, which will take place from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. in the Palais des Nations, will examine some of the key issues related to trade and technology transfer. It is being held just one day prior to the second meeting of the WTO Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology.
