UN capacity-building programme on technology facilitation for SDGs

Overview

UN Interagency Task Team Workstream 6 (IATT WS6) on Capacity Building in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for SDGs was formed in 2017 with the responsibility for STI for SDGs capacity building, designing and delivering training courses and workshops on STI Policy for SDGs, particularly for developing countries. The goal is to assist policymakers, public service experts, and key STI stakeholders in keeping abreast of most current approaches to STI policy design, and to enhance their ability to mobilize STI as part of strategies to achieve the SDGs.

Background

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda highlight the importance of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policies and actions for meeting the SDGs. The main instrument established by these initiatives is the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM), as a multi-stakeholder collaborative and partnership-building mechanism to share information, experiences, best practices and policy advice. The UN Interagency Task Team on STI for SDGs (IATT) is one of the several mechanisms to operationalize the TFM.

Evolution and current status of IATT WS6

IATT WS6 was launched after the adoption of the SDGs by the UN’s General Assembly. A training programme was designed and elaborated from 2015 to 2017 and reviewed after the 2nd STI Forum with the completion of a mapping exercise on STI activities carried out by the TFM to identify a focus for the capacity-building activities of the working stream. Following the draft programme, two regional trainings were organized in collaboration with the UN regional economic and social commissions: UN-ESCWA for Arab States (Jordan, April 2018) and UN-ECLAC for Central and South American countries (Panama, May 2019). The UN Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries had also planned capacity development programmes of STI Policy for the LDCs for 2020.  Additional requests for training sessions were made by countries and regions since then.

In response to the global pandemic and the difficulty to convene training activities in presence, IATT WS6 adapted to the situation and delivered a series of online training sessions in 2020. With the successful delivery of the sessions and as requested by countries and regions, more similar online trainings adapted to the local contexts will be delivered in 2021.

IATT WS6 Members

IATT WS6 is open to the participation of all United Nations agencies, funds, programmes, the regional commissions of the Economic and Social Council and additional partnerships outside the UN system. IATT WS6 is currently composed of diverse entities, including among others UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNESCO, UNU-MERIT, WIPO, UNDESA, UNEP, WB, ITU, UNESCWA, UNECA, UNECLAC, UNECE, UNTBLDC and UNESCAP. IATT WS6 also collaborates closely with the 10-Member Group, a group of representatives from the civil society, the private sector, and the scientific community, created to support the TFM. Likewise involved is the European Union’s Joint Research Centre (EU-JRC). The IATT WS6 group meetings are held every two weeks.

The work of the IATT WS6 was coordinated by UNU-MERIT until July 2020 and now is coordinated by UNESCO and UNCTAD.

Current IATT WS6 Coordinators:

Mr. Dimo Calovski 

Economist,  Science, Technology and ICT Branch,UNCTAD

dimo.calovski@unctad.org  

Ms. Kornelia Tzinova

Assistant Programme Specialist, Division of Science Policy and Capacity Building, UNESCO

 k.tzinova@unesco.org