Science and Technology for Development

A/RES/50/101View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 95d Science and technology for development, published in 1996.

What other versions does this mandate have?

12 versions · 1981–2012

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/66/211

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2012	A/RES/66/211	Science and technology for development	1,074	76%Compare
2010	A/RES/64/212	Science and technology for development	990	96%Compare
2008	A/RES/62/201	Science and technology for development	982	27%Compare
2006	A/RES/60/205	Science and technology for development	945	18%Compare
2004	A/RES/58/200	Science and technology for development	673	19%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

4 reports · 2003–2013

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2013	A/68/227	Science and technology for development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/66/211
2011	A/66/208	Science and technology for development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/64/212
2005	A/60/184	Implementation of General Assembly resolution 58/200 science and technology for development : report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/58/200
2003	A/58/76	Impact of new biotechnologies, with particular attention to sustainable development, including food security, health and economic productivity report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/56/182

What’s in this document?

21 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the relevant resolutions and decisions adopted by the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 1995 on the basis of the report of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development on its second session;⁸

⁸Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1995, Supplement No. 11 (E/1995/31).

Reaffirms that capacity-building in science and technology in developing countries should remain a priority issue in the United Nations agenda, and urges that international cooperation efforts be intensified and strengthened towards developing countries' endogenous capacity-building in science and technology, including their capacity to utilize scientific and technological developments from abroad and to adapt them to suit local conditions;

Calls upon the international community to meet all the objectives as reaffirmed in chapter 34 of Agenda 21, 5/ in particular those dealing with effective access to and transfer of environmentally sound technologies, including new and emerging technologies and publicly owned technologies, to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed, taking into account the need to protect intellectual property rights as well as the special needs of developing countries, so as to contribute to enabling those developing countries to meet their development-related challenges;

Stresses that it is important for developing countries to adopt and implement their own science and technology policies that support the national effort to achieve sustained economic growth and sustainable development in the light of their respective national conditions, needs, priorities and objectives;

Stresses the need to strengthen the important role of the United Nations in the field of science and technology, particularly through effective policy guidance and better coordination, including in international cooperation in technology assessment, monitoring and forecasting;

Recognizes the role of the private sector in science and technology for development, in particular in the transfer and development of science and technology capabilities;

Also recognizes the role of Governments in science and technology for development, in particular in providing appropriate regulatory frameworks and incentives for the development of science and technology capabilities;

Requests the relevant organizations, funds and programmes of the United Nations, in the spirit of coordination that should prevail in the activities of the United Nations system in the field of science and technology for development, to work in a coordinated manner to develop a catalogue of proved technologies that will enable developing countries to make effective choices from among state-of-the-art technologies;

Calls upon the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and the Commission on Sustainable Development to interact more effectively, through the Economic and Social Council, in carrying out their respective mandates;

Calls upon the supporting secretariats of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and the Commission on Sustainable Development to improve their interaction;

Takes note of the developments at the Consultative Meeting on a Coalition of Resources for Science and Technology for Development and the recommendation of the Economic and Social Council that the Commission on Science and Technology for Development provide a forum for exchanging views and interaction among partners of different networks and coordination schemes;

Reaffirms the need for adequate financial resources on a continuous and assured basis to foster science and technology for development, in particular to promote endogenous capacity-building in developing countries in accordance with their priorities;

Notes with appreciation the measures taken by the Secretary-General in response to paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution 48/179 and invites him to continue to take all necessary measures, including to explore the possibility of organizing a more effective coalition of resources within the United Nations development system, multilateral financial institutions, regional development banks and bilateral funding agencies to ensure the full implementation of programme 17, science and technology for development, of the medium-term plan for the period 1992-1997 and the activities planned for 1996-1997 in the field of science and technology for development, in accordance with specific mandates provided for in the relevant Assembly resolutions;

Takes note that enhanced cooperation could help focus the activities of the United Nations system in the field of science and technology for development for greater impact;

Recognizes the importance of cooperation among developing countries in the field of science and technology, building on their complementarities, and the need for further advancing such cooperation through the establishment and/or the strengthening of national technology and information centres in developing countries and their networking on regional, subregional, interregional and global levels to promote technology research, training and dissemination as well as joint projects in developing countries, and urges the organizations and bodies of the United Nations system and other relevant international, regional and subregional organizations and programmes to provide continued and enhanced support, through technical assistance and financing for such efforts;

Requests the relevant organizations, funds and programmes of the United Nations system to continue to promote the development of effective and mutually beneficial technological cooperation between countries with economies in transition and all other countries, including in the area of new and emerging technologies;

Notes the endorsement by the Economic and Social Council of the decision of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development to select information technologies as the main substantive theme of its work during the inter-sessional period 1995-1997 and to set up panels and/or working groups to analyse, elaborate and make recommendations on issues pertaining to information technologies and their implications for development;

Takes note of the decision of the Economic and Social Council to invite the Commission on Science and Technology for Development to consider ways and means for the formulation of a common vision regarding the future contribution of science and technology for development, taking advantage of the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development, held at Vienna in 1979;

Stresses the potentially important role that the United Nations Fund for Science and Technology for Development should play in enhancing endogenous capacity-building in science and technology in developing countries, and calls on all countries in a position to do so to contribute generously to the Fund;

Reaffirms the need for Governments and regional and international bodies to take measures to ensure that women have equal access to and equal opportunity to participate in scientific and technological areas, especially in areas where they are not represented or are underrepresented;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session on progress in the implementation of the present resolution.

Science and Technology for Development

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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