Venue
Hybrid (New York and Online)
Register to attend virtually: bit.ly/3MBQaSG

Session: Research and innovation for the SDGs: Insights from Africa

The Summit of the Future, which will be held in New York in September 2024, convenes the world to find ways to accelerate efforts to meet existing international commitments and take concrete steps to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities.

The Pact for the Future, an action-oriented outcome document from the summit, expects five focus areas: science, technology, innovation, and digital cooperation. The world is called to commit to strengthening digital cooperation and harnessing the potential of science, technology, and innovation for the benefit of all humanity.

Using insights from two pan-African programmes implemented by the African Academy of Sciences - namely, the African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE) and the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative (APTI) - our session will underscore the role of scientific cooperation in ramping up the pace towards the creation, development, and diffusion of innovations and technologies to drive economic growth and sustainable development in Africa and globally.

As the world rethinks its international cooperation strategy, discussions from our session will help address outstanding issues in development cooperation, including issues around equitable partnership and fair benefit sharing. The session shall highlight challenges and opportunities for reciprocity and equitable scientific collaboration to foster mutual respect and meaningful engagement for a more significant impact. Moreover, the session will also make a case for more commitments and investments in Africa’s research and innovation agenda to sustain the gains made and accelerate the march towards achieving the SDGs without leaving anyone behind.