Press Releases

On May 11, the United Nations announced new members of the “United Nations 10-Member Group", and Dr. KAWAI Maki, Director General of Institute for Molecular Science of the National Institute of Natural Sciences was appointed as a member of it. The Group is mandated to give advice to the United Nation's annual Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum). The STI Forum discusses the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the perspective of science, technology and innovation.

The Government of Japan welcomes the appointment of a Japanese citizen to the Group by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, following Dr. NAKAMURA Michiharu, Senior Advisor of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), who has served as a member of the Group. The Government of Japan expects that Dr. Kawai's knowledge and experience will contribute to advancing the discussion on the use of STI to achieve the SDGs.

• (1) In accordance with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in September 2015, the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM), which includes (a) the UN Inter‐Agency Task Team (IATT) on STI for SDGs, (b) the Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum), and (c) an Online Platform, was established to facilitate the implementation of the SDGs.
• (2) The United Nations 10-Member Group is composed of people from civil society, the private sector, and scientific communities from around the world, appointed by the UN Secretary-General for a term of two years. It was established to provide the UN Inter-agency Task Team on STI for the SDGs (IATT) with views, guidance, and advice in the preparation of the STI Forum, the preparation of the co-chairs’ summary of the STI Forum, and briefings to the High-Level Political Forum. Dr. NAKAMURA Michiharu, Senior Advisor of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, has been an active contributor to the development of STI for SDGs Roadmaps as a member of the UN 10-Member Group since 2018 to May 2021.

The STI Forum is an annual forum where various stakeholders, such as governments, scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and civil society, discuss STI cooperation for sustainable development. It has been held five times since 2016. The 2020 STI Forum was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's forum was held virtually.

Dr. Kawai joined RIKEN in 1985 and served as Director of RIKEN from 2010 to 2015. She has been a professor at the University of Tokyo since 2004 and was appointed Director of the Institute for Molecular Science in 2016. She has been a member of the Advisory Board for Promoting Science and Technology Diplomacy since September 2020.