News
- November 7-8, 2005, the NASAC hosted the First International Conference of the Africa ScienceAcademy Development Initiative (ASADI) on the theme: “Improving Public Policy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in Africa: Harnessing Science and Technology Capacity”. This Conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya and was a collaborative initiative between the NASAC and the US National Academies. It was hosted by the Kenya National Academy of Science (KNAS) and the African Academy
The Africa Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) is a 10 years initiative funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and supported by the US National Academies (US NAS), which has confirmed its support for initial capacity building partnerships with national academies of Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. The initiative aims at strengthening the capacities of African national academies to provide science based advice to policy makers and the public as well as enhance regional cooperation among them. US NAS has also agreed to support NASAC annual symposia whose invitees will be members and staff and the representatives of national academies, African and international decision makers, science and health policy experts from around Africa and the world.
For the report, see here.
- Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences released a joint statement on "Globalization and Education" at the workshop which took place at Casina Pio IV, Vatican City from 16-17 November 2005. The statement can be downloaded in pdf format here.
- IANAS, the InterAmerican Network of Science Academies, organized a Summit of the Americas in November 2005. The focus of this Summit was the fight against poverty, creation of employment and democratic governance. For further details, contact the IANAS Secretariat at: ianas@abc.org.br
- At the 18 November 2004 IAP Planning Meeting for the Access to Scientific Information/Digital Divide Initiative, participants heard from representatives of international scientific organizations about the importance of the engagement of the scientific community in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to their governments. One of the recommendations from this planning meeting was that the IAP should assist its member Academies to convey to their governments the central role of science in WSIS principles and actions. To provide that assistance to its member Academies, the IAP is now forwarding a WSIS Science and Development Tool Kit, which contains a description of and Web links to science-related information from the first phase of WSIS, as well as useful information leading to the second WSIS meeting in Tunis in November 2005.
To download the complete "tool kit", click here (pdf file).
- Kenya National Academy of Sciences and African Academy of Sciences co-organized the first conference of the African Science Academy Development Initiative, a Gates Foundation initiative administered by NAS (USA). The conference, which took place 6-10 November in Nairobi, focused on strategies for improving public policies to achieve the UN's Millennium Development Goals in Africa. For more information, contact: ccohen@nas.edu