ASREN designated as Official Convener of Arab Science Cooperation Summit at the UNGA77

After successfully featuring at the Science Summit at the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA76) in September 2021, the Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN) will officially convene the Arab Science Cooperation Summit on 22 September 2022 during the Global Science Summit at the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA77) at the UN headquarters in New York City. This summit is conducted in cooperation with Intelligence in Science (ISC) the official convener of the Science Summit at UNGA77.

The summit will be attended by high-level representations from the Arab countries including ministers of higher education and scientific research, ambassadors and permanent representatives to the United Nations, League of Arab States the European Commission, the World Bank, Association of Arab Universities, Federation of Arab scientific Research Councils, UNESCO, UN-ESCWA and other regional and international organizations.

The summit will be also attended by policy makers, researchers and academics representing universities, research centers and supporting organizations in the Arab region and the rest of the world to present current science cooperation and to discuss future cooperation at both policy and technical levels.

The main objective of conducting this high-level summit is to promote and inaugurate an Arab Science Dialogue with the rest of the world. It will discuss Science as a mean for development in the Arab region and how cooperation in science at national, regional, and global levels will support the efforts towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs).

It will also present the efforts in conducting science from policies to actions including research, education and innovation and related cooperative projects and activities with focus on Science, Open Science, Open Access and supporting science, research and education communities.

HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, ASREN Chairman said: “We are proud of our achievements in developing the research and education infrastructure in the Arab region and now we are taking further steps towards enabling Science Cooperation and facilitating Science Dialogue with the world.”

“I call upon the organizations representing science in the region to contribute to the global dialogue around science and interact with stakeholders, especially within the context of the next UNGA77, to support collaborative scientific research regionally and globally” he added.

ASREN and the Arab National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) have an essential and increasingly important role in supporting Open Science in the region. Within the context of implementing the works and activities of the European Union co-funded AfricaConnect3 project, ASREN has adopted strategies of open science, open data and open access in cooperation with its member NRENs and national authorities of relevance in addition to regional organization. The main objective is to facilitate comprehensive access to scientific resources and repositories in order to enhance productivity in science and innovation in research.

Addition information is available here.