Science and Technology

The 10th Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) for the SDGs ("STI Forum") was held at UN Headquarters on May 7-8, and the following is a summary.

1. During the Forum, a wide variety of stakeholders, including university professors, researchers, engineers, international organizations, civil society representatives and companies made presentations at the official sessions. Numerous side events were also held. His Excellency Mr. Omar Hilale, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations and Her Excellency Ms. Elina Kalkku, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations, co-chaired and led the overall discussions.
2. The theme of this year's Forum is " Advancing sustainable, inclusive, and evidence-based, science and technology solutions and innovations for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs for leaving no one behind ". The role of STI in achieving the SDGs was discussed, particularly Goals 3 (health and well-being), 5(gender), 8(decent work and economic growth), 14(ocean), and 17 (partnership). Note that these five goals are the areas to be reviewed at this year's UN High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF).
3. During the Forum, Dr. KOTANI Motoko, Executive Director of Science, RIKEN (Science and Technology Co-advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs), member of the United Nations 10-Member Group, spoke at thematic session 4 (Scaling up STI financing and capacity building and strengthening research infrastructures for sustainable development). During her intervention, she introduced Japan's initiatives on STI and spoke about the importance of aligning STI policies and development plans, utilizing the STI for SDGs Roadmap and Guidebook.