ASSAf commended for supporting SADC Member State Academies
Support of national science academies in order to provide evidence-based science advice on matters of national and regional interest, was one of the key messages at the Joint Meeting of Ministers responsible for Education and Training, Science, Technology, and Innovation.
Various Ministers congratulated Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho and Malawi on the establishment of national academies of science. They also commended the UN Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries (UNTBLDC) and Network for African Science Academies (NASAC) for supporting Member States in the region with establishment of these academies.
The Ministers from Malawi and Eswatini also commended the role of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) in supporting academies in the region.
The various secretariats were urged to work closely with existing national, regional, continental and global networks and UN Agencies such as UNTBLDC to support the region with knowledge production and scientific evidence-based policy advise towards implementation of the Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020 – 2030, Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ (SIPO), Industrialisation Strategy (SISR) 2015 – 2063; SDG Agenda 2030, and Agenda 2063.
The secretariat was further urged to work together with partners such as the Network of African Academies of Science and existing national academies to develop a regional framework and guidelines for establishing and strengthening of science academies in the region and report at the next meeting in June 2022.
The meeting was virtually hosted by Mozambique from 14 – 16 June 2021. The meeting reviewed the progress on the implementation of the 26 decisions of the 2019 Joint Education and Training, Science, Technology and Innovation (ET-STI) Meeting that was held in Windhoek, Namibia.