UN announces UN stakeholder members of the group to Support the Technology Facilitating Mechanism

 Another part of the SDG jigsaw is now in place with the announcement of the 10 stakeholder representatives of the support group for the Technology Facilitation Mechanism. Another advancement of stakeholder engagement in the UN and inline with the approach taken during the SDG process. 

UNITED NATIONS 10-MEMBER GROUP TO SUPPORT THE TECHNOLOGY FACILITATION MECHANISM 2016 - 2017

1. Mr. Peter Bakker  World Business Council for Sustainable Development President and CEO
2. Prof. Elmer William Jr Colglazier   Center for Science Diplomacy, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Senior Scholar, Visiting Scientist
3. Dr. Mirna Cunningham Center for Autonomy and Development of Indigenous Peoples (CADPI), President
4. Ms. Elenita Daño   Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC Group), Director
5. Prof. Xiaolan Fu Technology and Management Centre for Development, Director
6. Dr. Heide Hackmann International Council for Science (ICSU) Executive Director
7. Dr. Hayat Sindi  Institute for Imagination and Ingenuity (i2institute)  Founder and President
8. Prof. Romain Murenzi The World Academy of Sciences Executive Director
9. Prof. Nebojsa Nakicenovic  International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA), Deputy Director
10. Dr. Paulo Ernani Gadelha Vieira Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), President

United Nations 10-Member Group to support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism

Terms of Reference

Status: 9 December 2015

Introduction

The United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015, which was held from 25 to 27 Sept.

2015 in New York, adopted the new development agenda for the coming 15 years, entitled

“Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (A/69/L.85)1

. Paragraph 70

of the Agenda launches a “Technology Facilitation Mechanism which was established by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda in order to support the Sustainable Development Goals”. This paragraph was already contained in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda which was adopted at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development held in Addis Ababa from 13 to 16 July 2015.

Member States agreed that the “technology facilitation mechanism will be based on a multistakeholder collaboration between Member States, civil society, the private sector, the scientific community, United Nations entities and other stakeholders and will be composed of a United Nations inter-agency task team on science, technology and innovation for the sustainable development goals

(IATT), a collaborative multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the sustainable development goals and an online platform.”

They further decided that the IATT will “work with 10 representatives of civil society, the private sector and the scientific community to prepare the meetings of the multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the SDGs, as well as in the development and operationalization of the online platform.”

The present document lays out terms of reference for this United Nations 10-Member Group to support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism – henceforth referred to as “10-Member Group”.

Purpose and tasks

The 10-Member Group shall thus work with the UN Inter-agency Task Team on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals – henceforth referred to as “IATT” , to which it will provide ideas, guidance and recommendations. In particular, it is engaged in supporting the

development and operations of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, notably:

• To “…prepare the meetings of the multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals…”;
• To support “…the development and operationalization of the online platform…”; and
• To prepare “…proposals for the modalities for the forum and the online platform…”;
• To assist - upon request by the co-facilitators of the forum - in the preparation of the summary of the forum, and in this context provide recommendations and advice on science, technology and innovation issues for the SDGs; and
• To provide briefings and other inputs to the high-level political forum on sustainable development, or other relevant UN fora, as requested.

Composition

The Secretary-General decided that the composition of the 10-Member Group shall reflect geographic balance and ensure a mix of disciplinary expertise capturing science, technology and innovation aspects across the full range of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Group’s members shall have internationally recognized excellence in their field or fields of expertise and shall have demonstrated an understanding of international processes related to science, technology,

innovation and sustainable development. They shall serve in their personal capacity and not as a representative of a Government, corporation or organization. The Group shall comprise distinguished experts drawn from civil society, the private sector, and the scientific community, as mandated. Those may thus include representatives of academia, philanthropic, non-governmental organizations, and other individual experts.

The Group’s members shall serve in their personal capacity and not as a representative of a Government, corporation or organization. They can hold employment with an NGO, a private sector entity, or Government provided they are working closely on issues related to science, technology and innovation. Government employees with a largely political role, however, shall not be qualified for appointment to the Group.

Appointments

Members of the 10-Member Group shall “…be appointed by the Secretary-General, for periods of two years” and serve at the Secretary-General’s discretion.

Compensation

The members of the 10-Member Group shall not receive any honorarium, fee or other remuneration from the UN. However, efforts will be made to the cover travel and daily subsistence costs for their participation in the Group’s meetings, including in the annual multi-stakeholder forum on science,

technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, in line with UN rules and regulation.

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the IATT shall provide Secretariat functions for the meetings of the 10-Member Group. The full membership of IATT is expected to provide additional support, as the need arises.

Working Methods

The initial working methods shall be as follows:

• The 10-Member Group will meet at least once or twice each year. The frequency of meetings can be adjusted by the Group as the need may arise.e.g., current chief scientists do not qualify for appointment, but academics in government-run laboratories do.
• Communications shall be through a secure website, as appropriate. The Secretariat shall support communications within the 10-Member Group, between the group and the IATT and between the group and the High-level Political Forum as needed.
• The 10-Member Group shall agree by consensus on two co-chairs who will represent the Group for the period of one year at a time. The appointment of co-chairs can be changed by consensus at any time.
• The 10-Member Group shall strive to make its decisions by consensus. In case no consensus can be reached, decisions can be made by simple majority of its members in which case the IATT will be notified that the decision was reached by voting.
• The meetings of the 10-Member Group shall be closed unless it decides otherwise.
• The 10-Member Group may operate, even if there are vacancies in its composition.