PRESS CONFERENCE ON WORLD CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE ON WORLD CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE

At a Headquarters press conference this afternoon, background information was provided on the World Conference on Science, which has been organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Council for Science and will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from 26 June to 1 July.

The Director of UNESCO's Office of Public Information in Paris, Helene- Marie Gosselin, told correspondents that the Conference would not be an event "with scientists and about science". Rather, it would be primarily a forum for reflection, aimed at looking at a new contract between science and society. Further, there would be active participation not only on the part of scientists -- most of the Nobel Prize laureates in science would be attending -- but also on the part of representatives of governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society.

The Executive Director of Leadership for Environment and Development (Lead International, Inc.), Julia Marton-Lefevre, who had previously been Executive Director of the International Council for Science, said that the Conference was unique in many ways, but, in particular, because it was the first of its kind having been organized by UNESCO in partnership with a major NGO. It was a totally equal partnership and it was a unique formula, which would be the wave of the future, as more and more professional NGOs got involved in the intergovernmental system.

As a matter of fact, she added, the International Council, which was nearly 100 years old, had been in the field of international cooperation for a much longer time than the United Nations system. The relationship between the Council and UNESCO dated back to the time of the creation of UNESCO in 1946. The Council could contribute a lot to the work of UNESCO, and vice versa. The UNESCO could attract governmental delegations; and the Council, for its part, could attract the widest sectors of the scientific community, ranging from distinguished scientists to younger scientists and even science teachers. Together, the two organizations would be able to attract about 2,000 people to Budapest.

The World Conference was coming at the right time, she continued, as the world was moving into the new millennium and the role of science had been recognized. Scientists were finally coming out of their ivory towers and starting to talk with policy-makers, and the Conference would help advance that movement even further. The scientists were beginning to understand that they needed to look at the world problems not only from the point of view of their own disciplines, but also from the point of view of natural and social sciences together.

The format of the Conference would be "a good mixture of presentations by the world's most distinguished scientists addressing all kinds of issues", she added. Ethics would play an important part and several key speakers would address the issue of the ethical role of science in today's society. There would also be celebration of the past accomplishments of science and reflection on the challenges ahead.

The discussion would concentrate on the need for science to be accessible to all, she continued. There was a huge difference between the development of science in the North and the South. The role of science in development would also be discussed, along with the importance of education. The balance between basic and applied science and the means of reaching the sectors of society not normally involved in sciences, especially girls and women, were also on the agenda.

Continuing, she said her organization was contributing by taking to the Conference "26 mid-career leaders" with a background in science and who had been very active in applying science to the development of their society. She was looking forward to the framework agenda, the draft of which had been thoroughly developed between the scientists and representatives of governments. She was also looking forward to the declaration and, especially, to a follow-up programme to the Conference. The UNESCO had plans to be a point of contact for continued action, and the Council and numerous other NGOs, including her own, would also continue their follow-up efforts after the end of the Conference.

At the end of the press conference, Ms. Gosselin said that a press kit about the Conference was available for correspondents and that information about the event would be available on the Internet in English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian within several days.

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