Science Summit at United Nations General Assembly 77 (UNGA77)

SCIENCE SUMMIT AT UNGA77 - SEPTEMBER 2022



• Introduction

Ghana is one African country which has an established Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) system. It comprises of universities, research institutions, and STI-related policy organizations, including industries, civil society organizations and financial institutions. Since the country’s independence in 1957, the national STI system emerged with contributions to addressing developing challenges in agriculture, industry, environment, health, and other sectors of the economy. With a commitment to the sustainable development goals (SDGs), Ghana’s STI system needs strengthening to enhance its capacity to achieve the SDGs.
The current national priorities such as food and nutrition security, healthcare and wellness, sustainable environmental management, good water and sanitation, renewable energy and digitalization can only be achieved with a dynamic STI system. Such a system deploys research and innovation to provide solutions for addressing national priorities. It is against this background that Ghana is trying to adopt a holistic approach to strengthening the national STI system in partnership with development-oriented organisations and actors.
Ghana is one of the pilot countries in the Global Pilot Programme. The preparation of a Roadmap of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (STI4SDGs) spear-headed by the UN Inter-agency Task Team (UN-IATT), has been completed with the support of UNESCO. The Roadmap, which was elaborated through an extensive consultative process and received inputs from seasoned experts, clearly outlines how Ghana’s development partners (DPs), including UN Agencies and Development Banks can support the implementation of the Roadmap.
Currently, UNESCO is also supporting Ghana in implementing the Sida-funded project “Strengthening STI Systems for Sustainable Development in Africa”, which among other things, undertakes a capacity and needs assessment and formulation of strategies to address the needs. This is leading to the development of a national Action Plan that proposes concrete actions that can strengthen STI using the 2017 Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers (RS|SR) as a basis. This means reinforcing efforts to enhance alignment with the SDGs and regional frameworks (e.g., STISA-2024). It also implies also taking a broader view of STI policy to include a focus issues such as discrimination, scientific freedom, ethics, and incentives to promote open science and “public good” outcomes from research and innovation.

Objectives
In this regard, the Ghana Science Day is proposed to review the achievement of the STI system whilst soliciting collaboration and partnership to strengthen the STI system and promote specific programmes and instruments for implementation of the STI Roadmap and the Action plan on the use of the RSSR. Specifically, the objectives of the Ghana Day at the Science Summit at UNGA77 will be as follows:

• Make presentations on the development and application of STI in Ghana – the strengths and weaknesses of the national STI system;
• Discuss the key challenges in the STI system with the view of presenting opportunities for international collaboration; and
• Engage with individuals and organizations to commit to specific STI projects to strengthen the STI system to address the SDGs.
• Activities

The activities of the Ghana Science Day will be organized over two days i.e. 22-23 September 2022. On the first day, there will be an opening ceremony, a lecture and a business session in a meeting room at the UN Headquarters in New York. After this event, there will be networking with some of the invited participants such as the partners in the programme for the STI Roadmap for the SDGs. The next day will be devoted to meetings with the potential partners to implement the STI Roadmap for the SDGs. The details of the activities of the event are as follows:
Day 1
3.1 Opening Ceremony and Lecture 
There will be an opening ceremony with the dignitaries from UNESCO, Ghana UN Mission in New York and MESTI making remarks to highlight the purposes and importance of the event. There will be one lecture on “Ghana’s STI system – Challenges and Prospects”. The lecture will give a brief exposition on the national STI system highlighting the strengths and weaknesses and key milestones in key sectors such as STI education (from basic through secondary to tertiary education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – STEM), Research and Development (R&D). Other cross-cutting topics to be covered in the lecture will include ICT and digitalization, health, biodiversity, climate change, and the challenges of generation and distribution of energy. This will be followed by a general discussion.
3.2  Business session
The business session is aimed at concretizing STI initiatives and projects. Funding agencies will be invited to the Ghana Science Day, as well as key UN partners and other countries participating in the UNESCO-Sida project. There will be focused discussions between the Ghana team organizing the Ghana Science Day and participating individuals and organizations with intention of contributing to strengthening the STI capacity and promote peer-learning with other countries in the sub-region. The discussions will conceptualize STI initiatives and projects in Ghana for implementation in the short and medium-term.
3.3 Networking
After closing from the business session, the team of organisers will have networking meetings with partners in the programme of the STI Roadmap for SDGs. There will be sharing of experiences and learning. Partners will spend time to strategise towards a more concerted approach to implement the roadmaps. It is hoped that participants from the West-African sub-region such as Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone will also participate.
Day 2
The day will be devoted to concretising commitments of the potential funders of the implementation of Ghana’s roadmap. Some specific organisations have been listed in the outline of the agenda. However, it is expected that more organisations will participate in the event and will provide the opportunity for follow-up discussions.

• Hybrid Mode of Participation

4.1 Mode of Participation
The Ghana Science Day will be organized as a virtual and in-person event. The venue will be one of the meeting rooms at the UN Headquarters in New York. The draft agenda for the Ghana Science Day is presented in Annex 1.
4.2 Participants
Participants are expected from the universities, research institutions, private entrepreneurs, government ministries and regulatory institutions, STI-related organizations including academics and associations, and development partners. Ghanaians in the diaspora, especially in STI are expected to participate extensively.
4.3 Date of the 2-day  Event
The Ghana Science Day is proposed for Thursday, 22 September 2022. This is to enable follow-up meetings to be held on Friday, 23 September 2022 with the potential partners in the implementation of the STI roadmap for the SDGs.

• Organisation of the Ghana Science Day

A Ghana Science Day Committee (GSDC) has been formed comprising the following:

• Mrs. Cynthia Asare Bediako, Chief Director, Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI)
• Dr. Wilhemina Quaye – Director, Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (CSI