The Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) is
a Functional Commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC). The CSTD reports directly to the Economic and Social Council
and, through ECOSOC, to the United Nations General Assembly. Secretariat
services for the CSTD are provided by the United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) headquartered in Geneva Switzerland.
CSTD Terms of Reference:
Within the United Nations system there are scores
of bodies, commissions, agencies, programmes, committees, advisory boards
and working groups dedicated to bringing the power of science and technology
to bear on sustainable development problems. Over the years, one of
the greatest challenges faced by the UN has been how to efficiently
and effectively utilize this wealth of scientific and technical knowledge
and experience. In April, 1992, the Economic and Social Council took
what it hoped would be a giant step towards increasing coordination
and cooperation in the field by creating the Commission on Science and
Technology for Development.
This new commission was charged with revitalizing
the work of previous committees in existence since 1979 as well as undertaking
new initiatives, with a focus on increasing cooperation and coordination
and providing policy and programme advice across the UN system. In the
official resolutions passed by ECOSOC and the United Nations General
Assembly, the CSTD's primary responsibilities were identified as: Promoting
and catalysing international cooperation in the field of science and
technology for development, in particular in developing countries, and
in helping solve global scientific and technological problems; Formulating
policy guidelines for the harmonization of policies of the organs, organizations
and bodies of the United Nations system in regard to scientific and
technological activities, on the basis of the Vienna Programme of Action;
Promoting the improvement of linkages between the organs, organizations
and bodies of the United Nations system, with a view to ensuring the
coordinated implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action; Identifying
priorities for activities within the Vienna Programme of Action with
a view to facilitating operational planning at the national, sub-regional,
regional, interregional and international levels; Monitoring the activities
and programmes related to science and technology within the organs,
organizations and bodies of the United Nations system; Promoting the
optimum mobilization of resources in order to enable the organs, organizations
and bodies of the United Nations system to carry out the activities
of the Vienna Programme of Action; Providing directives and policy-making
guidance to the United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology
for Development; The early identification and assessment of new scientific
and technological developments that may adversely affect the development
process as well as those that may have specific and potential importance
for that process and for strengthening the scientific and technological
capacities of the developing countries; Choosing subjects of particular
significance with major science and technology dimensions with a view
to providing an assessment of technology and related policy analysis
in order to facilitate the debate of the question in the Assembly; Providing,
at the request of the Council, such scientific and technical expert
advice as may be necessary for the discharge of the mandate of the Council;
Providing also, through the Council, expert advice to other intergovernmental
bodies of the United Nations system.
The 53 members states of ECOSOC comprise the CSTD.
The geographical distribution of seats at ECOSOC, and hence, the CSTD
are: 13 for Africa; 11 for Asia; 10 for Latin America and the Caribbean;
6 for Eastern Europe; and 13 for Western Europe and Other ( the category
to which Canada belongs).Members are elected to the CSTD for 4 year
terms. The CSTD meets every second year for a two week session, usually
in Geneva, Switzerland.
Associated Bodies to the CSTD:
The Commission on Science and Technology for Development
works closely, on an on-going basis with the Inter-Agency Committee
on Sustainable Development, the High Level Advisory Board on Sustainable
Development, the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable
Development, the Commission for Sustainable Development, the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Secretariat Services) and
the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Brief History of the CSTD
The Commission on Science and Technology for Development
owes its origins to the 1979 United Nations Conference on Science and
Technology for Development held in Vienna. The document produced by
that conference, the Vienna Programme of Action, recognized the need
for coordinative and consultative machinery to harness scientific and
technological advances towards the goal of sustainable global development.
After the Conference, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the
documents' findings and created the Intergovernmental Committee on Science
and Technology for Development.
This new committee did not, however, live up to the
ambitious goals set forth in the Vienna Programme of Action. Throughout
the late 1970's and 1980's, the international community was largely
divided between North and South over the future of science and technology
for development. The oil shocks of the period alerted the industrialized
states to their vulnerability in the area of energy resources and therefore,
took the view that energy efficiency and alternative energy source research
and development programmes should take priority. Meanwhile, the pre-industrialized
states demanded programmes designed to bring basic industrial technology
to their countries through increases in government-to-government Official
Development Assistance (ODA). These competing positions solidified during
the 1980's with one side seeking to explore ways and means of reducing
industrial inputs to sustain production and protect the environment,
and the other desperately trying to develop basic industrial output
to sustain there ever-increasing populations and fragile economies.
In the early 1990's, the logjam was broken by what
has been described as a fundamental "paradigm shift", or way
of looking at development issues. Globally, governments and organizations
began to examine development strategies and programmes in terms of economic,
social and environmental sustainability so that immediate gains would
not come at the expense of future generations. At the United Nations
Conference on the Environment and Development at Rio in 1992 (The Earth
Summit), the international community endorsed a Programme of Action
entitled Agenda 21 designed to provide guidelines and goals for local,
national, regional and global economic, social and environmental policies
and programmes. The United Nations subsequently created the Commission
on Sustainable Development to coordinate and monitor activities designed
to achieve the goals set forth in Agenda 21. In the same spirit, the
UN founded the Commission in Science and Technology for Development
to enhance the United Nations research, development and implementation
capacity.
The first CSTD session was held in New York from the
12th to 23rd of April, 1993. The agenda was dominated by organizational
matters that were necessary to put the Commission on course. The Economic
and Social Council had directed the Commission to begin by examining
policies and mechanisms to promote national, sub-regional, regional
and global linkages of science and technology systems for information
sharing and cooperation; to then do the same for bodies and agencies
within the UN system; to identify and assess past, present and future
trends in science and technology for development; and to look at ways
of using science and technology to promote exports-especially in developing
countries. These directives were translated by the CSTD into a specific
set of substantive themes for consideration at CSTD-1. These included:
scientific capacity-building in developing countries; technology transfers
to developing countries; the conversion of military technology to civilian
uses; the application of science and technology for sustainable development;
and the mobilization of financial resources for science and technology.
Such issues reflected a significant shift in thinking
by the international community concerning the ways in which scientific
and technological expertise could be made available to developing countries
and the purposes for which it should be used. Gone were the old strategies
which put the emphasis on direct government-to-government financial
and technological transfers to address basic needs and promote local
and national self-sufficiency . In future, the Commission recognized
the important role of private business as the primary agent for providing
scientific knowledge and technology for sustainable economic and social
development. New thinking defines the role of governments as providing
the necessary infrastructure, such as education and property rights
to ensure that local populations could take full advantage of new technologies
and processes and that providers of technology will be protected or
compensated for their efforts. Furthermore, while the goal of addressing
the basic human needs of the least developed countries and sections
of the population through science and technology were reaffirmed as
a central principle, the importance of science and technology to developing
the export sector of the economy in developing countries has been advanced.
If national self-sufficiency through import substitution was the driving
force behind science and technology for development in the 1970's and
1980's, globalization and export-led growth will lead the way in the
1990's and beyond.
On the matter of coordination and cooperation within
the United Nations system in the field of science and technology for
development, CSTD-1 recognized that the overlapping mandates and programs
of various agencies, bodies and programs was to be a permanent fixture.
Therefore, the key to increasing efficiency and effectiveness was to
reduce the duplication of effort throughout the system. To accomplish
this, the CSTD began work on setting up an information network to connect
everyone doing work in science and technology for development to facilitate
a greater degree of cooperation and coordination throughout the system.
A program of Science and Technology Innovative Policy
Reviews (STIP's) was approved at CSTD-1, but not fully operational until
the second CSTD session. Under this program, conducted in conjunction
with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),
individual countries can request the CSTD to perform an assessment of
their national science and technology policies, strategies and capabilities
directed towards sustainable development goals and make appropriate
recommendations. Through this program, the CSTD provides services for
individual countries similar to those it provides for the United Nations
System. However, unlike the services provided for the UN, the STIP's
are focused on making recommendations to increase the international
competitiveness of nations in the global marketplace.
At the second CSTD session in 1995, four major reports
were presented to the Commission. The first, "Science and Technology
for Basic Needs", drew attention to the fact that while science
and technology had grown by leaps and bounds, millions were still going
without clean water, enough food or access to reliable energy sources.
One of the chief problems was found to be the appropriateness of technologies
to local conditions. Without the necessary infrastructure such as a
dependable source of electricity, effective communications systems or
basic literacy, local populations were unable to take advantage of available
technology.
Two other 1995 reports, "Science and Technology
for Sustainable Human Development: The Gender Dimension" and "Science
and Technology for Integrated Land Management", were written in
direct support of projects underway in other branches of the UN system.
The first was designed to help in the system-wide reappraisal of policies
and programs concerning gender issues taking place prior to the Fourth
World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace
to be held in Beijing, China in September, 1995. The report on integrated
land management was in direct response to requests for information from
ECOSOC and the Commission on Sustainable Development. One of the sectoral
themes for the CSD in 1995 was to be integrated land management, so
to reduce duplication-one of the principal reasons for the creation
of the CSTD-the Science and Technology Commission was given the task.
The final report, "Strengthening the Linkages
Between National Research and Development Systems and Industrial Sectors"
addressed the need for science and technology to have practical, economically
viable applications for developing nations. On a related matter, the
first STIP was carried out at the request of Columbia.
For the third CSTD session in 1997, the substantive
themes on the agenda included: Information and Communication Technologies
for Development; the continuation of the Science and Technology Innovation
Policy reviews; the Role of the CSTD in Coordinating UN Activities;
and Ways and Means of Commemorating the 20th Anniversary
of the Vienna Conference on Science and Technology for Development in
1999.
Canadian Involvement at the CSTD:
At the CSTD's third session in Geneva in May, 1997,
the Canadian representative was Mr. Andrew Kenton of the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA).
Links:
Ironically, this Commission which has dedicated considerable
effort to promoting information systems and networks does not have an
accessable web site at present. The CSTD is listed at http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ecosoc.htm
as an active hyperlink, but apparently contains no information.
For access to General Assembly and Economic and Social Council Decisions,
Resolutions and other documents see gopher://gopher.un.org:70/11/sec/dpcsd.
Here you can find reference to the CSTD and obtain the document numbers
of CSTD reports.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development site can be
viewed at http://www.unctad.org/en/enhome.htm.
For general information on the United Nations including branches, commissions,
programmes and services see http://www.un.org.
To view the United Nations Development Programme site go to http://www.undp.org/.
