Two members of the Global Young Academy (GYA) – Co-Chair Prof Rees Kassen (Canada) as well as Dr Sherien Elagroudy (Egypt) – are invited to present a statement at the inauguration ceremony of the newly created Scientific Advisory Board of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The ceremony is taking place on 30 January 2014 in Berlin. The GYA members are among six young scientists to address the UN Secretary-General and the invited public at the event.
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon created a Scientific Advisory Board consisting of 26 internationally leading scientists with the task to advise the UN Secretary-General and the Executive Heads of UN organizations on strengthening the interface between science, policy and society – a goal shared with the Global Young Academy. The advisory board hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was officially announced by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in September 2013, and will convene for the first time on 30 and 31 January 2014 in Berlin on invitation of the German Federal Foreign Office.
The focus of the board’s work will lie on overall matters of science, technology and innovation, with an emphasis on sustainable development. Therewith they are not only influencing the approach and priorities of the United Nations towards sustainability and future research in the area by integrating scientific results into global political debates and decision making, but also advising on topics such as the responsible and ethical development in science, or the increase of public visibility and understanding of science. To carry these issues into the future it is important to include the voice of young scientists already at an early stage the stage of the decision making process. “Young scientists have a central role in these discussions, as it is ultimately they who will inherit the decisions we make today about how we move to a sustainable tomorrow”, says Rees Kassen.
More information about the Scientific Advisory Board of the Secretary General of the United Nations can be found at http://www.sab-2014-berlin.de/.