Background
Global Policy Dialogue Series: ‘Technological and Science-based Solutions to the COVID-19 Challenge’
Thursday, 29 October 2020, 10:00-11:30 a.m. EDT
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake-up call for better cooperation between scientists and policymakers within and across countries. Also, as spelled out in the UN Secretary-General’s report ‘UN Comprehensive Response to the COVID-19’, trust in science and institutions are the necessary vaccines against misinformation that impedes the fight against the virus.
Guidance issued by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) earlier in the pandemic presented a set of recommendations for how the world can improve the way in which science and technology are harnessed to resolve global challenges, while leaving no one behind. It drew upon the emerging response to the crisis as well as ongoing multi-stakeholder conversations in the context of the UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM). Each recommendation, from increased knowledge-sharing to combatting misinformation—is critical to recovery from the pandemic and strengthening the contributions of science towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). See
Six months after issuing that guidance, UN DESA is holding an online dialogue on “Technological and Science-based Solutions to the COVID-19 Challenge” to assess the science-based policies and innovations that have developed during the pandemic, identifying good practices as well as areas where work is still needed. Recognizing that regional cooperation is essential in the sharing and implementation of these solutions, the event will feature a broad panel discussion with experts, followed by a region-specific breakout session led by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, in Arabic.
The discussions will draw from the work of the UN Inter-agency Task Team on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (IATT), including the 10-Member Group to support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism. Online participants will be invited to submit questions at the time of registration and in the Zoom chat during the event. The results of the discussion will be shared with UN leadership and will inform future UN DESA policy briefs on the economic and social effects of the pandemic.
For more details, please click.
Announcements
For participation online, please click.