Young scientists will deliberate on corruption and its negative effects on Africa’s progress at the 9th Young Scientists’ Conference which will be held from 13 – 14 September 2018 in Johannesburg.
The conference will be hosted by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS). Seventy young scientists from ten academic institutions, as well as some speakers from civil society organisations are expected to attend the conference.
Corruption continues to hamper efforts aimed at promoting democratic governance, socio-economic transformation, peace and security, and the enjoyment of human rights on the African continent.
South Africa was ranked as the 64th most corrupt country out of 176 countries in 2016 on the 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index.
Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) includes commitments to fight corruption, increase transparency, address illicit financial flows and improve access to information. The inclusion of the SDGs as a measure of assessing a country’s development track, for example, calls on countries to give a comprehensive assessment of the negative effects of corruption. Utilising multi-disciplinary approaches it is aimed to take into account the contributions that alternative disciplines, indicators and datasets can provide and thereby allow for a broader understanding of corruption.
Research by a range of institutions including academia, non-governmental organisations, policy think tanks, the private and public sectors, as well as the media, can help identify the causes, effects and types of corruption. This is crucial in understanding and fighting corruption.
Date: 13 – 14 September 2018
Venue: Protea OR Tambo Hotel, Johannesburg
Programme
Partners for the Young Scientists’ Conference are: The Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World – South Africa National Chapter (OWSD-SANC) and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).