ONLINE UNESCO DICTIONARY

 

 

ETHICS

"The Fall of Icarus"
Pablo Picasso

UNESCO

 

The current revolution in science and technology has led to concern that unbridled scientific progress is not always ethically acceptable. Reflecting this concern, UNESCO has made ethics of science and technology one of its five priority areas.

 

UNESCO’s programme in this area addresses bioethics, particularly regarding genetics, as well as other forms of applied ethics. It aims to strengthen the ethical link between scientific advancement and the cultural, legal, philosophical and religious context in which it occurs. UNESCO’s strategy in this area is to act as a standard-setter on emerging ethical issues, to disseminate information and knowledge and to help Member States build their human and institutional capacities.


The Organization’s first major success in bioethical standard-setting was the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference in 1997 and subsequently endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1998. This was followed by the International Declaration on Human Genetic Data, adopted in 2003. The Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights is the third standard-setting text on bioethics, adopted by UNESCO’s 33rd General Conference, on 19 October 2005.


UNESCO’s actions in ethics of science and technology are advised by the International Bioethics Committee (IBC), the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee (IGBC) and the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST). UNESCO provides the secretariat for these bodies as well as for the Inter-Agency Committee on Bioethics, established by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in 2001.


On 19 October 2005, the 33rd session of the UNESCO General Conference unanimously adopted the International Convention against Doping in Sport. The Convention provides a legal framework within which all governments can take action to remove doping from sport and further the harmonization of anti-doping efforts worldwide. UNESCO was deeply concerned about the erosion of ethics and the gross inequity created by the use of performance enhancing drugs by athletes. Since its creation, UNESCO has constantly fought for the principles of equality and justice, and offers States an instrument to set ethical limits to scientific and technical shake-ups.


More on UNESCO’s activities in Ethics:

Anti-Doping