Economic and Social Council

 Distr. GENERAL
20 April-1 May 1998
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

Economic and Social Council
Commission on Sustainable Development
Sixth Session
20 April-1 May 1998

      Progress in the implementation of the Programme of Action for the
         Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

                    Report of the Secretary-General

                               Addendum

         Science and technology for small island developing States *

(* The present report has been prepared by the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization, in accordance with arrangements agreed to by the Inter-
Agency Committee on Sustainable Development; it is the result of consultation
and information exchange between United Nations agencies, interested
government agencies and a range of other institutions and individuals.)

Contents         

                                                        Paragraphs  Page

  I.  Current situation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     1-5        2

 II.  International efforts to assist small island 
      developing States in the field of
      science and technology . . . . . . . . . . . . .     6-12       2

III.  Recommendations for future action in the field 
      of science and technology. . . . . . . . . . . .    13-17       4

      A.  Science

          1.  National level . . . . . . . . . . . . .      13        4

          2.  Regional and international levels. . . .      14        4

      B.  Technology

          1.  National level . . . . . . . . . . . . .      15        4

          2.  Regional level . . . . . . . . . . . . .      16        4

          3.  International level  . . . . . . . . . .      17        5

        I.     Current situation

1.   Small island developing States are characterized by
rich and diverse cultures of indigenous and traditional
knowledge and technology. Many small island developing
States lack a critical mass of qualified scientists and
associated institutions. Current reward systems in island
countries do not encourage long-term careers in science,
and there is limited availability of funds for training and
research in specialized fields of science. Brain drain adds
to the scarcity of skills and expertise in relation to the
advance of science in small island developing States. This
is evident in the high proportion of expatriate personnel in
island institutions and in aid programmes heavily weighted
towards technical assistance.

2.   At primary and secondary levels, the educational
performance of small island developing States, except for
those that are in the least developed category, has been
better compared with that of many other developing
countries. A number of small island developing States have
made efforts to introduce basic science in school curricula,
but progress in science education has been slower than
desired. In the area of higher education, small island
developing States could benefit tremendously from pooling
their resources at the regional level.

3.   Any strategy for endogenous scientific and
technological capacity-building in small island developing
States must take into account the fact that these countries
are constrained by small manpower and inadequate
infrastructure that is dependent on very few industries.

4.   Most small island developing States would derive
tremendous benefits from the introduction of
environmentally sustainable technological innovations in
the areas of the development of renewable energy,
freshwater and marine resources; telecommunications and
information technology; waste management and natural
disaster mitigation; and sustainable land resources
management. Effective utilization of technological
innovations is predicated on the building of technical skills
commensurate with needs, which in turn depends on the
level of scientific education.

5.   Most small island developing States do not possess
economies of sufficient scale to allow for a national
scientific infrastructure of the scope required to address
many national needs. One solution to this problem is for
countries to cooperate at subregional or regional levels to
share institutions of higher learning and advanced research
and development facilities. Pooling the resources of
countries with similar problems, agreeing on common
programmes and building synergies are evidently more
cost-effective than developing national institutions. Given
the serious lack of resources and qualified personnel in
small island developing States, a realistic short-to-medium
term strategy for building scientific and technological
capacity to manage the effective transition to sustainable
development would be to concentrate on subregional
measures, wherever feasible. Subregions usually tend to
share several common characteristics which facilitate a
more rational and efficient use of resources, including
qualified staff. Subregional efforts also have greater
potential for creating local capacity in the short to medium
term than regional (continental) and international
programmes. Frequent contacts between scientists from
small island developing States and industrialized and
relatively advanced developing countries would serve as
an efficient modality for rapidly disseminating and applying
new scientific and technological methods. At relatively low
cost, much could be achieved in practical terms by
establishing funds for scientific visits and meetings,
electronic communication, access to data banks and so on.

       II.     International efforts to assist small
               island developing States in the field
               of science and technology

6.   A number of United Nations organizations and
agencies support programmes and activities in small island
developing States which focus on strengthening science and
technology in particular sectors. Some highlights of their
activities are provided below.

7.   The regional Science Education in Pacific Schools
programme of the United Nations Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has set basic
scientific literacy as its major goals. The Australian
National Commission for UNESCO is currently planning
a Pacific consultation meeting on science and technology
in 1998-1999. Possible objectives of the meeting include
sharing of experience among countries that have well-defined 
science policy mechanisms; education in countries
that lack science policy mechanisms; education on
technology choice; and the formulation of required actions
to enhance science and technology in island countries.
During 1998-1999, UNESCO plans to implement, through
its Apia Office in Samoa, a special project entitled "Youth
leadership for a culture of peace in the Pacific". This high-profile 
activity will bring together young people regionally
and nationally to express their concerns on the major issues
affecting their future peace and well-being, including
science, technology and environmental issues. The
scientific environmental programmes of UNESCO and its
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)
contribute to the advancement of knowledge, capacity-building 
and the promotion of the application of best
practices in relation to marine and terrestrial resources in
small island developing States. The International
Hydrological Programme, the International Geological
Correlation Programme, the Man and Biosphere Programme
and the programmes of IOC cooperate in the
interdisciplinary Project "Environment and development
in coastal regions and small islands". They have jointly
initiated several pilot projects in the Pacific and the
Caribbean. Under UNESCO's Pacific World Network of
Microbiological Resources Centre, activities help to raise
knowledge and awareness of how to apply microbial
biotechnology, and provide support to the application of
tissue culture. The World Solar Programme 1996-2005,
which is promoted by UNESCO, aims at improving
renewable energy activities in some small island developing
States.

8.   The United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO) provides assistance in the
development of local capabilities to identify, assess
technologies and to effectively negotiate technology
transfer operations. UNIDO assistance aims to promote the
generation, diffusion and management of industrial
technology. It also undertakes training activities to
strengthen national capabilities for feasibility studies of
industrial projects. UNIDO is currently developing software
packages based on expert system technology to serve that
purpose. The objective of a special programme of the
International Centre for High Technology and Science
established under UNIDO is to strengthen national training
capabilities and expertise in small island developing States
in the acquisition and utilization of advanced
methodologies and techniques in the area of integrated
coastal zone management. UNIDO is in the process of
developing guidelines for the development, negotiation and
contracting of build-operate-transfer projects which aim to
facilitate the financing of public infrastructure projects
involving technology transfer operations, and the
development of the energy sector in small island developing
States is expected to benefit from that scheme. To increase
awareness of the opportunities for industrial development,
UNIDO publishes the Emerging Technology Series, which
provides information on technological changes, including
in marine-based industry, for the benefit of developing
countries in particular. To promote regional and
interregional cooperation for the development of
technological capacity, it is currently undertaking
consultations on the economic, technical and financial
feasibility of establishing regional technology centres and
their networks in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

9.   UNDP has taken a number of initiatives in support of
science and technology for small island developing States.
Examples include: (a) a regional programme to support the
Pacific islands power sector in developing the capacities
of power utilities by promoting their management and
technical skills; (b) workshops in rural areas on the
operation and maintenance of small electricity generating
systems within the framework of the UNDP programme on
diesel operators/mechanics training for Pacific island
countries; (c) technical assistance in the form of expert
consultancies and training courses in connection with the
UNDP training development programme in the Pacific; (d)
a programme for small island developing States in the
Pacific region on island countries development and
training, which has assisted entrepreneurs in Pacific small
island developing States to establish linkages for the
acquisition of technical guidance and assistance in
managing new manufacturing and processing enterprises;
(e) assistance to several small island developing States in
the Pacific region in establishing boatyard and mechanical
workshop facilities for improving national capacities in
industrial fisheries. As regards traditional knowledge, a
number of projects within the World Decade of Cultural
Development focus on the link between culture and
resource use. Several Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations activities focus on local knowledge
and natural resources, including programmes on community
forestry and non-wood timber products. Traditional
medicine is promoted through the programmes of the World
Health Organization.

10.  Through its marine environment laboratory in
Monaco, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
is involved in pilot monitoring programmes on
micropollutants, as well as in capacity-building and quality
assurance activities in island States of the Caribbean and
East African region. IAEA supports projects involving
isotope and nuclear techniques for studying retrospective
conditions (climate, sea level, pollution) and to provide
time-scales for small island evolution. In the framework of
its five-year research project on worldwide marine
radioactivity, IAEA has conducted the Pacific Ocean
Expedition, which provides inputs for oceanographic,
marine resources and natural disasters. In collaboration
with IOC, IAEA has been active in the International Mussel
Watch project. The International Council of Scientific
Unions Committee on Science and Technology in
Developing Countries proposes to identify ways in which
science and science communication can be strengthened in
small States on the basis of their own knowledge, natural
resources and needs.

11.  In the past few years, the World Meterological
Organization (WMO) has organized eight workshops in the
small island developing States regions on training
participants from the national meteorological facilities of
small island developing States to upgrade their national
technical capabilities. In the period under review, WMO has
awarded fellowships for studies and/or training in
meteorology and operational hydrology to more than 20
small island developing States. The Nedi Tropical Cyclone
Warning Centre in Fiji has been designated as a WMO
regional specialized meteorological centre since June 1995
in order to provide advisory services on tropical cyclone
detection, monitoring and forecasting to the national
meteorological services of the South Pacific.

12.  A satellite-based system in the Caribbean and Central
America, in operation since April 1996, has replaced
existing terrestrial communication links with a view to
providing rapid exchange of meteorological information,
including data for improvements in natural disaster
warnings. Obsolete weather radars in the English-speaking
Caribbean have been replaced by modern radars in order
to improve early warning services for hurricanes. Through
its public weather services programme, WMO provides
assistance to its members, especially those vulnerable to
natural disasters, such as the small island developing States,
to fulfil its primary role of providing forecasts and warnings
in support of safety of life and property. A recent project
under this programme was to prepare a guide to public
weather services and practices to assist members in the
implementation of their national programmes.

      III.     Recommendations for future action
               in the field of science and technology

        A.     Science

        1.     National level

13.  Intensive and appropriate use of science and
technology in small island developing States is essential for
attaining sustainable development goals. Governments of
small island developing States are encouraged to:

               (a)     Make greater efforts to improve science
education in all phases of formal and informal education;

               (b)     Establish a network of scientists to work in
schools and in the public and private sectors;

               (c)     Undertake national or regional assessments of
needs for capacity-building in science;

               (d)     Promote strong linkages between universities
and research institutions on the one hand, and national
industries, agriculture and other economic sectors on the
other hand, so that scientific knowledge and information
finds its way into the productive sectors, and make every
effort to induce the private sector of national economies to
invest more in the development of science;

               (e)     Take steps to record and apply indigenous
knowledge in promoting participatory approaches to natural
resources management and to the equitable and sustainable
use of resources.

        2.     Regional and international levels

14.  Relevant regional organizations and international
organizations, with donor assistance, could collaborate in
assisting small island developing States to:

               (a)     Implement programmes to improve the teaching
of basic science within the context of the local environment
and culture. In Pacific small island developing States, use
could be made of the regional Science Education for Pacific
Schools programme;

               (b)     Better educate present and future leaders of civil
society on key scientific issues affecting a sustainable
future, through schools, youth work and community
awareness activities.

        B.     Technology

        1.     National level

15.  The Governments of small island developing
countries are encouraged to:

               (a)     Provide incentives to venture capital and
explore other modalities for meeting the required financing
needs of environmentally sound technology firms;

               (b)     Provide fiscal and other policy incentives to
encourage domestic and foreign investment in the industrial
sector, and consider special incentives for environmentally
sound technology-related investments.

        2.     Regional level

16.  At the regional level it is necessary to:

               (a)     Promote the establishment of appropriate
regional institutions for the collection and synthesis of data
and information on innovative industrial technologies for
the sustainable development of small island developing
States, and on the impacts of industrial innovation on their
economies, including their marine and coastal systems;

               (b)     Develop regional mechanisms to further
promote ventures for financing new technology-based
firms;

               (c)     Assist small island developing States with very
small populations in:

               (i)     Better applying science and technology to
               sustainable development at the community level
               through participatory projects;

               (ii)     Sharing information on best practices and
               successful methods.

        3.     International level

17.  The international community is urged to:

               (a)     Enhance international cooperation in the
development and promotion of technological innovations
relevant for small island developing States as components
of international or regional investment projects;

               (b)     Provide improved access to financial and
technical resources to assist small island developing States
in establishing regional centres for capacity-building,
including training in the management of innovative
technologies, technology negotiations and technology
transfer.

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Date last posted: 8 December 1999 15:15:30
Comments and suggestions: DESA/DSD