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Background
The collaborative multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals was established pursuant to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as part of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism. The global forum is organized by the United Nations inter-agency task team on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, with the support of a 10-member group appointed by the Secretary-General drawn from the private sector, the scientific community and civil society.
The Forum is convened once a year, as indicated in paragraph 70 of the 2030 Agenda, “to discuss science, technology and innovation cooperation around thematic areas for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, congregating all relevant stakeholders to actively contribute in their area of expertise”, and to “provide a venue for facilitating interaction, matchmaking and the establishment of networks between relevant stakeholders and multi-stakeholder partnerships in order to identify and examine technology needs and gaps, including on scientific cooperation, innovation and capacity-building”.
Sixth African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum
The Sixth African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum (ARSTIF) will be held from 21 to 22 April 2024, in a hybrid format, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The ARSTI Forum reviews SDGs selected the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) which for 2024 will include Goal 1 (Poverty), Goal 2 (Hunger), Goal 13 (Climate Change), Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and Goal 17 (Partnership for the Goals) and the corresponding goals of Agenda 2063.
Theme
The theme of the sixth African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum is ““Effective delivery of science, technology and innovation solutions to reinforce the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063, and eradicate poverty in Africa”. Besides addressing the SDGs under review in 2024 discussed earlier, the theme has been chosen to pay more attention to strengthening STI capacity and capabilities to serve as an effective means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. For African countries with limited R&D capacity, small base of knowledge intensive firms and small industrial base, success in harnessing STI may depend on numerous factors that may include sector driven STI development (e.g. making pharmaceutical, ICT, automotive etc a pillar of the economy) and STI-led development (e.g. seeking leadership or excellence in AI, chip manufacturing, medical services, bioscience etc). It is around these ambitions targets that governments mobilise academia and industry and inspire their societies to achieve greatness.
Objective
The overall objective of the sixth African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum is to conduct the regional follow-up and review of progress made, in order to identify potential mechanisms and measures that countries can deploy to scale up actions, facilitate peer learning and advance transformative solutions to accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the goals of Agenda 2063.
Expected outputs
The sixth Forum is expected to generate the following key outputs:
- Report of the sixth African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum, which will inform the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development and the multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation in New York;
- Outcome documents of special sessions and events, such as the youth bootcamp;
- General guide on special initiative and their growth such as Origin Research and Innovation Labs and the Alliance of Entrepreneurial Universities in Africa.
Expected outcomes
The sixth African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum is specifically designed to foster collaboration, the diffusion of technology and innovation, and scaling up of policy and operational efforts needed to accelerate the contribution of science, technology and innovation to fulfil the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In particular, the following will be the key tangible and intangible outcomes of the Forum:
- Establishment of collaborative arrangements and partnerships between African universities and their partners inside and outside Africa;
- In collaboration with partners, platforms for exchanging information on research, funding, innovations and institutions launched to accelerate technology transfer, collaboration and co-creation among key science, technology and innovation partners in Africa; and
- Increased partners and collaboration to strengthen science, technology and innovation institutional arrangements to drive policy implementation, improve funding mechanisms formed and/or launched.
- Mechanism for fostering Diaspora Engagement in Africa will be explored and shared.
Participants
The meeting will be attended by representatives of all African Member States of the United Nations, the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, the regional economic communities, civil society, business and industry organizations, academic and research institutions, agencies and organizations of the United Nations system, and other international agencies and organizations, together with all development partners. Read More...
