Science and Technology

Activities

Although the newly established cluster is yet to be formally convened, it is already working closely with the NEPAD secretariat and other regional organizations on policy and other implementation issues relating to NEPAD. Such involvement includes:

(a) the organization of the preparatory meeting held in Nairobi in October 2003 and the First NEPAD Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology, held in Johannesburg, South Africa in November 2003, for which UNESCO and UNECA provided financial and technical support;

(b) assistance in the development of terms of reference and identification of experts using its extensive knowledge of the African scientific community;

(c) follow-up actions of the Action Plan, particularly on technological entrepreneurship in higher educational institutions, the scientific and technological aspects of the African Green Revolution Initiative, the Strategic Agricultural Commodities, and the NEPAD Centres of Excellence Initiative. The cluster has also been actively involved in the work on the African brain drain, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration, the NEPAD secretariat and the African scientific communities through the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the African Academy of Sciences (AAS).

Way forward

Looking ahead, the cluster envisages:

(a) participating in follow-up activities of the NEPAD plan of action, as approved by the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology; and

(b) linking the NEPAD plan of action on science and technology with the UN science and technology cluster established under the regional consultative meeting in support of NEPAD.