11TH SESSION OF THE UN COMMISSION ON SCIENCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 112481 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TSPL TINT UNCTAD ECOSOC AORC SUBJECT: 11TH SESSION OF THE UN COMMISSION ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT ¶1. (U) Summary: The UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) held its 11th Session at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from May 26 - 30, 2008. The current biennial themes of the Commission are "Development-oriented policies for a socio-economic inclusive information society, including access, infrastructure and an enabling environment," pertaining to the Commission's mandate to follow-up on implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) outcomes, and "Science, technology and engineering for innovation and capacity building in education and research," related to the original science and technology (S&T) mandate. Discussions on these themes will conclude next May, with results contained in a draft resolution to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). ¶2. Important meeting outcomes were one resolution on WSIS follow-up and two decisions allowing the continued participation of non-governmental organizations and academic entities in CSTD meetings. Negotiations on the resolution, although difficult, resulted in a solid document containing recommendations for action by UN bodies and other organizations to further WSIS goals and activities. Cuba was the most vehement opponent during negotiations and was confrontational even in the plenary, making two interventions condemning Northern colonialism and openly accusing the U.S. of Internet censorship. ¶3. Productive discussions were peppered with typical prepared statements that included laundry lists of needs and achievements and requests for additional development assistance. Comments from delegations included a lack of balance pertaining to the CSTD's two mandates and the need to explore best practices through country reports submitted in advance of meetings. The U.S. again saw evidence of duplication between CSTD and UNESCO, particularly in the area of S&T and innovation policy reviews for African nations. State Department and USAID S&T Adviser Nina Fedoroff led the U.S. delegation, delivering a keynote speech highlighting the importance of broadband access for universities and research institutions in developing countries. End Summary. -------------- - Meeting with UNCTAD Secretary General Supachai -------------- - ¶4. Before the Session, Dr. Fedoroff had a productive meeting with UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General (SYG) Supachai Panitchpakdi (Supachai). (Note: the CSTD is an ECOSOC commission with Secretariat services from UNCTAD.) SYG Supachai was very engaged and obviously had done his homework in preparation for their meeting, allowing him and Dr. Fedoroff to delve into some technical topics. They discussed genetically-modified organisms, organic farming, addressing the global food crisis, the possibility of a Green Revolution for Africa and the critical need to embrace science to in all of these areas. Supachai invited Dr. Fedoroff to consult with UNCTAD to guide them in encouraging a scientific approach to commodities and agricultural issues in the trade context, as well as helping the CSTD to apply specific scientific solutions to concrete problems (including agriculture). -------------- --- 11th Session of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development -------------- --- ¶5. The agenda included discussions and recommendations on WSIS follow-up and the two biennial themes, with a special feature being discussion of UNCTAD's Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) Review of Angola. ¶6. Important conclusions for each CSTD mandate were: 1) the importance of sharing best practices and success stories from developing countries in building technological, science and engineering capacity, and 2) broadband technology is no longer a luxury, but an essential component to social inclusion and development, permitting truly global knowledge economies. An overarching Information and Communication Technology (ICT) related theme was the "new ICT gap" represented by broadband. ¶7. (U) The meeting opened with high-level opening ceremonies, including remarks from Dr. Nina Fedoroff, Science and Technology Adviser to the United States Secretary of State and USAID. Dr. Fedoroff reinforced the U.S. view that the CSTD dual mandate represents an opportunity to use ICTs to enable science and technology to contribute to development, innovation and capacity building She called for countries to share success stories and best practices and to facilitate broadband access for universities and research institutions. Her complete remarks, on which the U.S. delegation received numerous compliments - notably from the UNCTAD Secretariat, the UK, El Salvador and several African nations - are available at www.state.gov/g/stas/2008/105625.htm. ¶8. In statements, delegations were mostly positive, although some mentioned concern over the lack of balance in the CSTD work program. The UK, U.S. and many developing country representatives, notably Rwanda and Sudan, expressed that the CSTD has become too WSIS-centric and is neglecting its S&T mandate. -------------- Follow-up to the WSIS -------------- ¶9. The report of the Secretary-General on progress made in WSIS implementation was thorough, inclusive and well balanced. It makes reasonable recommendations, including more coordination between facilitators and more participation by stakeholders, and concludes that WSIS implementation is on-track. ¶10. The CSTD still has some trouble constructing balanced, informative discussion panels. French Special Envoy for the Information Society, Bertrand de la Chapelle's moderation of a panel was confrontational; he insisted that Internet access is no longer a luxury and encouraged a more socialist approach to share existing infrastructure. Mr. Graham Butler, President and CEO of BITEK International Inc., a controversial figure, pushed for strong Voice Over Internet Protocol legislation. Art Reilly, an American and Senior Director at Cisco, maintained balanced in both discussions by talking about the rapid return on social and financial investment for governments using e-government solutions and citing the limitations that legislation would place on technological innovation and future investment. ¶11. Internet Governance, multi-stakeholder participation, scheduling and WSIS financing remain issues. Brazil encouraged the UN SYG to inform the UN on the process towards "enhanced cooperation," code for altering the current systems for assigning Internet addresses. El Salvador pointed out that unless the Commission took action at this session, NGOs would no longer be able to participate in CSTD sessions. Many NGOs spoke about the abysmal scheduling and high expense for the plethora of WSIS-related meetings prior to CSTD, and complained about the lack of a WSIS financial mechanism. -------------- CSTD Priority Themes -------------- ¶12. Both SYG reports on the CSTD themes were balanced (note: an American UNCTAD employee penned both theme reports). The report related to the WSIS mandate focused on the importance of broadband infrastructure. ¶13. Several countries suggested that the CSTD should provide templates for country reports on science and WSIS-related activities so that meetings can be more interactive and results-driven. Lesotho encouraged open discussions to share best practices and lessons learned. ¶14. The Cuban delegate's intervention quickly digressed into polemics by stating that measures are needed to rectify U.S. blockage of Cuba's access to fiber optic cables. She also accused the U.S. of censoring 3,000 travel websites advertising trips to Cuba and chastised developed countries for not fulfilling commitments for Official Development Assistance." Based on instructions, the U.S. delegation did not intervene. -------------- -------------- UNCTAD's Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) Review for Angola -------------- -------------- ¶15. The large Angolan delegation was led by Aguinaldo Jaime, Deputy Prime Minister, who praised the Secretariat's professional work and product. The STIP recommends that Angola focus on STI-related investments in key public sectors of education, agriculture and health, and across-the-board measure for a better regulatory framework to encourage investment and innovation. Many delegations commented on the quality of the work. Brazil intervened with a focus on south-south cooperation, saying that it is working to build stronger ties with Portuguese-speaking African countries to aid in their development efforts, particularly in the agricultural sector. -------------- Duplication with UNESCO -------------- ¶16. UNESCO's Division for Science Policies and Sustainable Development in Paris outlined UNESCO's ambitious Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Initiative for Africa. They provided a glossy brochure and stated that the African Union (AU) has enlisted UNESCO assistance in implementing the AU Consolidated Plan of Action for S&T in Africa - 2008-2013. UNESCO has also adopted three related "flagship" projects. The U.S. Delegation urged UNESCO and UNCTAD to cooperate as much as possible on the S&T policy reviews for Africa in light of limited resources, common objectives, and the complementary strengths that the two organizations can bring to such efforts. (Comment: CSTD and UNCTAD coordination with UNESCO on duplicative work on S&T, particularly STIP reviews, has historically been problematic. U.S. has continued to insist on a "One UN" approach whereby the two organizations strengthen cooperation to perform reviews by complementing each others' strengths. End Comment.) -------------- Outcome Documents -------------- ¶17. A group of former WSIS players, including Latvia's Janis Karklins, France's de la Chapelle and El Salvador's Miguel Alcain introduced a draft resolution on WSIS follow-up prior to the meeting, collecting advance comments to facilitate negotiations. This draft resolution was actually penned by Charles Geiger, former Executive Secretariat of WSIS, currently seconded from the Swiss Government to the UNCTAD Secretariat. ¶18. Negotiations on the draft resolution went late over several days. Iran was particularly unconstructive, with no apparent motive or goal. Cuba was often vehement, introducing language intended to reference the U.S. embargo of Cuba. -------------- Comments -------------- ¶19. This session was better organized than last year and the CSTD is proving itself capable of its WSIS mandate. The Secretariat is taking pains to work with the U.S. and other member states to ensure appropriate CSTD priorities. As a result, the focus was on topics more relevant to the CSTD's mission and the balance of speakers is improving. The meeting and speaker schedules need to be respected, with more time given for dialogue rather than prepared statements. The template to submit country reports proposed for next year should help avoid the tedium of laundry-list interventions. ¶20. The U.S. delegation remains concerned over the balance in the CSTD's mandates. The facts that so much discussion time is devoted to WSIS, and that some delegations are WSIS-focused, contribute to neglect of the science and technology component of the mandate, which the U.S. considers a priority. ¶21. The CSTD meeting came at the end of several weeks of clustered WSIS events. How all the WSIS action line agencies, the Internet Governance Forum and the CSTD relate and coordinate is not clear. The general feeling is that there need to be shorter, more coordinated and focused WSIS action discussions before the CSTD meeting. ¶22. The U.S. delegation to the CSTD intercessional meeting in Santiago, Chile in November 2008 will promote these objectives. RICE