US embassy cable - 05PARIS4821

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 004821 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM USMISSION UNESCO 
 
STATE FOR IO/T JANE COWLEY, EB PAUL ACETO, OES/STAS ANDREW 
W. REYNOLDS 
STATE FOR NSC GENE WHITNEY 
STATE FOR NSF 
STATE FOR DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ROBIN GILCHRIST 
 
E.O. 12958:     N/A 
TAGS: AORC, TSPL, EAID, SENV, SOCI, UNESCO, KSCI 
SUBJECT:  USUNESCO: NEW DIVISION CREATED FOR SCIENCE POLICY 
& SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 
 
1.  Summary and Introduction. UNESCO DG Matsuura has 
announced the creation of a new Division for Science and 
Sustainable Development (SC/PSD) in the natural sciences 
sector to be directed by Mustafa El Tayeb, formerly the 
Director of the Science Analysis and Policies Division. The 
division streamlines various science sector units already 
working on sustainable development issues. It appears to 
have been created to contribute to UNESCO's program on the 
"Decade of Education for Sustainable Development" (DESD), 
still in its developmental stages. End summary and 
introduction. 
 
A Streamlined Structure to Promote Science Policy And 
Development 
 
2.  El Tayeb told science officer and intern (note taker) 
that the goals of the reorganization of the division 
include: (1) streamlining sustainable development efforts of 
small units that existed within the natural sciences sector; 
(2) ensuring that small island developing states are given 
attention; and  (3) supporting UNESCO's leading role in the 
UN's "Decade of Education for Sustainable Development" 
(DESD)(launched with fanfare in March). 
 
3.  The new Division for Science Policy & Sustainable 
Development is structured to include four sections: Science 
Policy Formulation (PSD/SP); Sustainable Development of 
Coastal Regions and Small Island Developing States 
(PSD/CSI); Science Policy Studies and Information (PSD/POS); 
and the DESD [Decade of Education for Sustainable 
Development] Coordinating Unit (PSD/DCU). El Tayeb 
emphasized that his division differs from other science 
sector divisions in that it does not include any 
intergovernmental programs; he noted that the science policy 
programs need to be country specific. 
 
4.  El Tayeb said that the new division would continue the 
work of the former Science Analysis and Policies Division in 
promoting the UN Millennium Goals in science and technology. 
It will seek to foster growth for developing countries by 
providing guidance to policymakers, creating networks with 
private industry, developing university programs, promoting 
entrepreneurship training, and building technology parks and 
incubators via the UNESCO Chairs Program. El Tayeb said 
there is a need for linkages between universities and 
industry so that universities are training students for 
actual jobs:  "Education for Jobs". In this regard, SC/PSD 
will continue to focus on regional workshops focused on 
science and technology training and policymaking for 
developing countries in Africa, the Arab world, Asia, the 
Caribbean, Latin America, as well as for small island member 
states. 
 
5.  Parliamentarians continue to be a key target audience, 
El Tayeb reported. He said that the World Conference on 
Science held in Budapest in June 1999 - a roundtable for 
parliamentary leaders of member states - has driven many of 
UNESCO's science sector initiatives because developing 
states have called for this type of technical support. The 
Second World Conference on Science was held in Budapest in 
2003, with Third World Conference on Science planned for 
Nov. 2005, also in Budapest; conferences will be held every 
two years thereafter. The U.S. National Science Foundation 
has participated in the Budapest Conferences. 
 
Forging A Science Sector Role in the "Decade of Education 
for Sustainable Development" 
 
6.  Regarding the "Decade of Education for Sustainable 
Development" (DESD), El Tayeb said that SC/PSD is working 
"to create a common policy for sustainable development" with 
the Basic and Engineering Sciences Division of the Science 
Sector; the Social Sciences Sector; and the Higher Education 
Division of the Education Sector.  Within the Education 
Sector, SC/PSD is also working on DESD with the Office of 
Quality Education, headed by American Mary Joy Pigozzi.  El 
Tayeb explained that the Decade of Education for Sustainable 
Development is a priority for the newly named Assistant 
Director General for Education, Peter Smith (U.S).  (Note: 
this has been confirmed in our conversations with ADG Smith. 
End Note.) 
 
7.  To provide "content" for the science sector's 
contribution to the DESD, El Tayeb intends to draw on the 
Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS) as a tool to 
educate developing country policymakers, academics and 
scientific researchers. The EOLSS project was started in 
1996 and managed by the UNESCO-EOLSS Joint Committee. It 
contains 6,000 articles by experts in the natural sciences, 
1,500 of which are from USA experts. It has not yet been 
officially published (Oxford: Eolss Publishers Co. Ltd. For 
further information go to: http://www.eolss.net -- login 
username: uejcsec, password: eolssaxes). The encyclopedia's 
usefulness to developing states is limited as it is 
currently available in English only. 
 
8.  The Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, which El Tayeb 
described as a compendium of verified knowledge from experts 
around the world, is meant to be a tangible product to 
promote scientific education for dealing with policy 
concerns. El Tayeb contended that there is a paradigm shift 
in education, which requires content to be integrated around 
problems and issues, in addition to scientists seeking 
knowledge in and of itself. 
 
9.  DG Matsuura has underlined to his staff the importance 
of UNESCO's role in the "Decade of Education for Sustainable 
Development" (DESD). But the resources to be devoted to the 
DESD and the modalities of UNESCO's implementation are still 
evolving. 
KOSS