Science, Technology and Innovation for Development

A/RES/72/228View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 21bScience, technology and innovation for development, published in 2017.

What other versions does this mandate have?

3 versions · 2014–2018

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?

6 topics

Developing Countries International Years 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, 2019.

2019A/74/230Science, technology and innovation 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?

39 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms its commitment:

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;

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

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 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;

Also reaffirms the commitments that the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference of Financing for Development has made in, inter alia, science, technology and innovation, as an important action area for sustainable development;

Further 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 entities, 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 essential enablers and drivers of the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and of the full participation of developing countries in the global economy;

Underscores the need to adopt science, technology and innovation strategies as integral elements of national sustainable development strategies that help to strengthen knowledge-sharing and collaboration and scale up investment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, and enhance technical, vocational and tertiary education and training;

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 and encourages efforts to mentor, attract and retain women and girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and research;

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 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 Society2 and to continue its science, technology and innovation activities, including by sharing best practices;

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 in identifying the measures that are needed to integrate science, technology and innovation policies into their national development strategies and ensuring that such policies and programmes are supportive of national development agendas, as appropriate, and in this regard looks forward to the broadened framework being developed by the Conference for national science, technology and innovation policy reviews in order to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals, as appropriate;

Encourages the World Intellectual Property Organization to continue to undertake technical support activities, including helping countries to design, develop and implement national intellectual property and innovation strategies aligned with their development strategies;

Welcomes the establishment and operationalization of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries, takes note with appreciation of the contributions that Turkey has made and of the pledges that the least developed countries and other countries have made to the Technology Bank, and invites Member States and other stakeholders to provide voluntary funding to the trust fund for the Technology Bank so that it can pursue its objectives in the area of science, technology and innovation for the least developed countries;

Recognizes the importance of ensuring that the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries works in close coordination with the various institutions working in the field of science, technology and innovation to foster synergies and avoid duplication of efforts, including, and in particular, working in close cooperation with the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, and vice versa;

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 in order to measure the impact of digital technologies for sustainable development;

Also encourages enhanced capacity-building support for developing countries, including for African countries, the least developed countries, small island developing States, landlocked developing countries and middle-income countries, in order to generate the use of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by sex, age, geography, income, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and other characteristics relevant in national contexts, and further encourages international cooperation, including through technical and financial support, to strengthen the capacity of national statistical authorities and bureaux;

Further encourages existing arrangements and the further promotion of international, regional, subregional and interregional joint multi-stakeholder research and development projects, as well as training programmes and university-to-university collaborations where feasible, by mobilizing scientific and research development resources, facilities and equipment;

Emphasizes that science, technology and innovation are critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and that many developing countries are facing serious challenges in building their national science, technology and innovation base;

Encourages Member States to explore ways and means of conducting national, regional and international technology assessment and foresight exercises on existing, new and emerging technologies to help to evaluate their development potential and mitigate potential negative effects and risk;

Underscores the potential societal impact, including the opportunities and challenges, presented by rapid technological change, including biotechnology, automation technology, robotics and artificial intelligence, acknowledges their potential to transform the labour market, and in this respect emphasizes the need to promote full and productive employment and decent work for all;

Encourages the Commission on Science and Technology for Development to promote, in the spirit of the 2030 Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, international cooperation in the field of science and technology for development;

Also encourages the Commission on Science and Technology for Development to discuss and explore innovative financing models, such as impact investment, as a means of attracting new stakeholders, innovators and sources of investment capital for science, technology, engineering and innovation-based solutions, in collaboration with other organizations, where appropriate;

Encourages Governments, individually and collectively, to support policies that increase financial inclusion and deepen the sources of financing and direct investments towards innovations that address the Sustainable Development Goals;

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;

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;

Welcomes the launch of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism at the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, and in this regard also welcomes the convening of the first and second annual multi-stakeholder forums on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 6 and 7 June 2016 and on 15 and 16 May 2017, as well as the mapping exercise carried out by the United Nations inter-agency task team on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, and calls for voluntary contributions for resources to support the full operationalization of all components of the Mechanism;

Encourages the United Nations inter-agency task team on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals to further refine and update its mapping of science, technology and innovation activities in the United Nations system to:

Guide further efforts at collaboration and capacity-building;

Formulate coherent advice for Member States on aligning national science, technology and innovation frameworks with the 2030 Agenda;

Encourages the United Nations system to take an active role in forging a closer link with national science advisory bodies to optimally leverage science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals;

Calls upon the United Nations funds and programmes and the specialized agencies, at the request of national Governments, to support, as appropriate, technical and scientific cooperation and North-South, South-South, triangular, regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology, innovation and knowledge-sharing, on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, including the Technology Facilitation Mechanism;

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;

Proclaims the year beginning on 1 January 2019 the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements to enhance global awareness of, and to increase education in, the basic sciences, with special attention to the countries of the developing world, to improving the quality of everyday life and, inter alia, for future advances in research and development, and invites the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to serve as the lead agency for the International Year, in collaboration with other relevant agencies, within existing resources;

Calls upon the relevant organizations of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates and resources, to ensure that no one is left behind and no country is left behind in the implementation of the present resolution;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth 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 as well as in supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-fourth session, under the item entitled “Globalization and interdependence”, a sub-item entitled “Science, technology and innovation for sustainable development”.

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Who created this mandate?

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What does this mandate say?

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