Science, Technology and Innovation for Development

A/RES/68/220View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 21bScience and technology for development, published in 2013.

What other versions does this mandate have?

3 versions · 2014–2018

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/72/228

2018A/RES/72/228Science, technology and innovation for developmentLatestCompare with previous version
2016A/RES/70/213Science, technology and innovation for developmentCompare with previous version
2014A/RES/68/220Science, technology and innovation for development

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 topics

Communication Technology Developing Countries Information Technology Research and Development Science and Technology Science and Technology Policy Technological Innovations Technology Transfer

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2015.

2015A/70/276Science and technology for development report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

28 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms its commitment:

To strengthen and enhance existing mechanisms and to support initiatives for research and development, including through voluntary partnerships between the public and private sectors, to address the special needs of developing countries in the areas of health, agriculture, conservation, sustainable use of natural resources and environmental management, energy, forestry and the impact of climate change;

To promote and facilitate, as appropriate, access to, and development, transfer and diffusion of, technologies, including environmentally sound technologies and the corresponding know-how, to developing countries, and in this regard takes note of paragraph 273 of the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled “The future we want”,Error: Reference source not found in which relevant United Nations agencies were requested to identify options for a facilitation mechanism that promotes the development, transfer and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound technologies by, inter alia, assessing the technology needs of developing countries, options to address those needs and capacity-building, on the basis of which the Secretary-General, taking into account existing models, submitted to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session a report on options for a facilitation mechanism that promotes the development, transfer and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound technologies, also takes note of the decision to hold a series of workshops on, inter alia, the technology needs of developing countries, options to address those needs, including capacity-building, and a technology facilitation mechanism, taking into account existing mechanisms and the need to avoid duplication and promote synergies and coherence, as well as for the Secretary-General to report at its sixty-eighth session on the discussions, options and recommendations arising from the workshops, including on the way forward, as well as on additional input from Member States and the United Nations system, and further takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on options for facilitating the development, transfer and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound technologies, submitted to the Assembly at its sixty-eighth session;

To assist developing countries in their efforts to promote and develop national strategies for human resources in science, technology and innovation through, inter alia, education, basic science and engineering, which are primary drivers of national capacity-building for development;

To the actions agreed upon by the least developed countries and development partners on science, technology and innovation, as outlined in paragraphs 52 and 53 of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011–2020, adopted at the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries;

To promote and support greater efforts to develop renewable sources of energy, including appropriate technology;

To implement policies at the national and international levels to attract both public and private investment, domestic and foreign, including through public and private partnerships, that enhances knowledge, transfers technology on mutually agreed terms and raises productivity;

To support the efforts of developing countries, individually and collectively, to harness new agricultural technologies in order to increase agricultural productivity through environmentally sustainable means;

To encourage the engagement of the private sector to support, through voluntary partnerships, including the transfer of technology and related know-how, developing countries, on mutually agreed terms, through mechanisms such as the Climate Technology Centre and Network of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the climate innovation centres of the World Bank infoDev programme and the Re:Search and GREEN programmes of the World Intellectual Property Organization, and in this regard emphasizes the importance of applying best practices in coordination and sharing of lessons learned within and between partners to avoid duplication and increase impact;

To support better coordination and coherence, including the application of best practices in coordination and the sharing of lessons learned among United Nations agencies and international organizations providing technical assistance and capacity-building in the field of science, technology and innovation directed towards development priorities and needs;

Reaffirms the central role of Governments, with active contributions from stakeholders from the public and private sectors, civil society and research institutions, in creating and supporting an enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship and the advancement of science, technology and engineering, in accordance with national priorities;

Recognizes the current role of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and other relevant United Nations agencies, as well as other relevant organizations, in helping Governments, upon request, to ensure that science, technology and innovation policies are integrated into and are supportive of national development strategies and sustainable development in their countries and that their science, technology and innovation policies and programmes support national development agendas;

Also recognizes that science, technology and innovation, including information and communications technologies, are vital for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and for the full participation of developing countries in the global economy;

Affirms that science, technology and innovation are essential enablers and drivers for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the promotion of the economic, social and environmental components of sustainable development and should be given due consideration in the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda;

Recognizes that full and equal access to and participation in science, technology and innovation for women of all ages is imperative for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women, and underlines that addressing barriers to equal access for women and girls to science, technology and innovation requires a systematic, comprehensive, integrated, sustainable, multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach, and in this regard urges Governments to mainstream a gender perspective in legislation, policies and programmes;

Notes the importance of facilitating access to and sharing accessible and assistive technologies, through the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms and other actions, to advance disability-inclusive development, ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities and promote their empowerment, recognizing that persons with disabilities make up an estimated 15 per cent of the world’s population;

Requests the Commission on Science and Technology for Development to provide a forum within which to continue to assist the Economic and Social Council as the focal point in the system-wide follow-up to the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information SocietyError: Reference source not found and to address within its mandate, in accordance with Council resolution 2006/46, the special needs of developing countries in areas such as agriculture, rural development, information and communications technologies and environmental management;

Encourages the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in collaboration with relevant partners, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations University, to continue to undertake science, technology and innovation policy reviews, with a view to assisting developing countries and countries with economies in transition in identifying the measures that are needed to integrate science, technology and innovation policies into their national development strategies;

Encourages Governments to strengthen and foster investment in research and development for environmentally sound technologies and to promote the involvement of the business and financial sectors in the development of those technologies, and invites the international community to support those efforts;

Encourages efforts to increase the availability of data to support the measurement of national innovation systems (such as the existing global innovation indices) and empirical research on innovation and development to assist policymakers in designing and implementing innovation strategies;

Also encourages existing arrangements and the further promotion of regional, subregional and interregional joint research and development projects, where feasible, by mobilizing existing scientific and research and development resources and by networking sophisticated scientific facilities and research equipment;

Emphasizes that science, technology and innovation are critical in meeting development goals, including sustainable development objectives, and that many developing countries are facing serious challenges in building their national science, technology and innovation base;

Encourages scientific organizations and research institutions dealing with science, technology and innovation to develop dynamic strategic alliances with Governments, the public and private sectors, universities, laboratories and civil society to further expand their fellowship and training programmes, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation;

Calls upon Member States and the United Nations development system, and encourages other stakeholders, as appropriate, to continue to initiate, implement and support measures to improve the level of participation of scientists and engineers from developing countries in international collaborative research, science, technology and innovation projects and to promote investments in order to enhance public knowledge and to achieve sustainable development;

Also calls upon Member States and the United Nations development system, and encourages other stakeholders, as appropriate, to continue to strengthen their support for the different science, technology and innovation partnerships with developing countries in primary, secondary and higher education, vocational education and continuing education, business opportunities for the private sector, science, technology and innovation infrastructure and science, technology and innovation advice for developing countries;

Encourages the international community to continue to facilitate, in view of the differences in levels of development between countries, an adequate diffusion of scientific and technical knowledge and transfer of, access to and acquisition of technology for developing countries, under fair, transparent and mutually agreed terms, in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare for the benefit of society;

Reiterates its call for continued collaboration between United Nations entities and other international organizations, civil society and the private sector in implementing the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, with a view to putting the potential of information and communications technologies at the service of development through policy research on the digital divide and on new challenges of the information society, as well as technical assistance activities, involving multi-stakeholder partnerships;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventieth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution and recommendations for future follow-up, including lessons learned in integrating science, technology and innovation policies into national development strategies.

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What does this mandate say?

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