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Viewing cable 08STATE112481, 11TH SESSION OF THE UN COMMISSION ON SCIENCE AND

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08STATE112481 2008-10-22 16:39 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED Secretary of State
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #2481 2961645
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221639Z OCT 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0000
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0000
UNCLAS STATE 112481 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TSPL TINT UNCTAD ECOSOC AORC
SUBJECT: 11TH SESSION OF THE UN COMMISSION ON SCIENCE AND 
TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT 
 
 1. (U) Summary: The UN Commission on Science and 
Technology for Development (CSTD) held its 11th Session at 
the Palais des Nations in Geneva from May 26 - 30, 2008. 
The current biennial themes of the Commission are 
"Development-oriented policies for a socio-economic 
inclusive information society, including access, 
infrastructure and an enabling environment," pertaining to 
the Commission's mandate to follow-up on implementation of 
the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 
outcomes, and "Science, technology and engineering for 
innovation and capacity building in education and 
research," related to the original science and technology 
(S&T) mandate.  Discussions on these themes will conclude 
next May, with results contained in a draft resolution to 
the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). 
 
2. Important meeting outcomes were one resolution on WSIS 
follow-up and two decisions allowing the continued 
participation of non-governmental organizations and 
academic entities in CSTD meetings.  Negotiations on the 
resolution, although difficult, resulted in a solid 
document containing recommendations for action by UN 
bodies and other organizations to further WSIS goals and 
activities.  Cuba was the most vehement opponent during 
negotiations and was confrontational even in the plenary, 
making two interventions condemning Northern colonialism 
and openly accusing the U.S. of Internet censorship. 
 
3. Productive discussions were peppered with typical 
prepared statements that included laundry lists of needs 
and achievements and requests for additional development 
assistance.  Comments from delegations included a lack of 
balance pertaining to the CSTD's two mandates and the need 
to explore best practices through country reports 
submitted in advance of meetings.  The U.S. again saw 
evidence of duplication between CSTD and UNESCO, 
particularly in the area of S&T and innovation policy 
reviews for African nations.  State Department and USAID 
S&T Adviser Nina Fedoroff led the U.S. delegation, 
delivering a keynote speech highlighting the importance of 
broadband access for universities and research 
institutions in developing countries.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Meeting with UNCTAD Secretary General Supachai 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
4.  Before the Session, Dr. Fedoroff had a productive 
meeting with UN Conference on Trade and Development 
(UNCTAD) Secretary-General (SYG) Supachai Panitchpakdi 
(Supachai).  (Note: the CSTD is an ECOSOC commission with 
Secretariat services from UNCTAD.)  SYG Supachai was very 
engaged and obviously had done his homework in preparation 
for their meeting, allowing him and Dr. Fedoroff to delve 
into some technical topics.  They discussed 
genetically-modified organisms, organic farming, 
addressing the global food crisis, the possibility of a 
Green Revolution for Africa and the critical need to 
embrace science to in all of these areas.  Supachai 
invited Dr. Fedoroff to consult with UNCTAD to guide them 
in encouraging a scientific approach to commodities and 
agricultural issues in the trade context, as well as 
helping the CSTD to apply specific scientific solutions to 
concrete problems (including agriculture). 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
11th Session of the UN Commission on Science and 
Technology for Development 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
5. The agenda included discussions and recommendations on 
WSIS follow-up and the two biennial themes, with a special 
feature being discussion of UNCTAD's Science, Technology 
and Innovation Policy (STIP) Review of Angola. 
 
6. Important conclusions for each CSTD mandate were: 1) 
the importance of sharing best practices and success 
stories from developing countries in building 
technological, science and engineering capacity, and 2) 
 broadband technology is no longer a luxury, but an 
essential component to social inclusion and development, 
permitting truly global knowledge economies.  An 
overarching Information and Communication Technology (ICT) 
related theme was the "new ICT gap" represented by 
broadband. 
 
7. (U) The meeting opened with high-level opening 
ceremonies, including remarks from Dr. Nina Fedoroff, 
Science and Technology Adviser to the United States 
Secretary of State and USAID.  Dr. Fedoroff reinforced the 
U.S. view that the CSTD dual mandate represents an 
opportunity to use ICTs to enable science and technology 
to contribute to development, innovation and capacity 
building  She called for countries to share success 
stories and best practices and to facilitate broadband 
access for universities and research institutions.  Her 
complete remarks, on which the U.S. delegation received 
numerous compliments - notably from the UNCTAD 
Secretariat, the UK, El Salvador and several African 
nations - are available at 
www.state.gov/g/stas/2008/105625.htm. 
 
8. In statements, delegations were mostly positive, 
although some mentioned concern over the lack of balance 
in the CSTD work program.  The UK, U.S. and many 
developing country representatives, notably Rwanda and 
Sudan, expressed that the CSTD has become too WSIS-centric 
and is neglecting its S&T mandate. 
 
--------------------- 
Follow-up to the WSIS 
--------------------- 
 
9. The report of the Secretary-General on progress made in 
WSIS implementation was thorough, inclusive and well 
balanced.  It makes reasonable recommendations, including 
more coordination between facilitators and more 
participation by stakeholders, and concludes that WSIS 
implementation is on-track. 
 
10. The CSTD still has some trouble constructing balanced, 
informative discussion panels.  French Special Envoy for 
the Information Society, Bertrand de la Chapelle's 
moderation of a panel was confrontational; he insisted 
that Internet access is no longer a luxury and encouraged 
a more socialist approach to share existing 
infrastructure.  Mr. Graham Butler, President and CEO of 
BITEK International Inc., a controversial figure, pushed 
for strong Voice Over Internet Protocol legislation.  Art 
Reilly, an American and Senior Director at Cisco, 
maintained balanced in both discussions by talking about 
the rapid return on social and financial investment for 
governments using e-government solutions and citing the 
limitations that legislation would place on technological 
innovation and future investment. 
 
11. Internet Governance, multi-stakeholder participation, 
scheduling and WSIS financing remain issues.  Brazil 
encouraged the UN SYG to inform the UN on the process 
towards "enhanced cooperation," code for altering the 
current systems for assigning Internet addresses.  El 
Salvador pointed out that unless the Commission took 
action at this session, NGOs would no longer be able to 
participate in CSTD sessions.  Many NGOs spoke about the 
abysmal scheduling and high expense for the plethora of 
WSIS-related meetings prior to CSTD, and complained about 
the lack of a WSIS financial mechanism. 
 
-------------------- 
CSTD Priority Themes 
-------------------- 
 
12. Both SYG reports on the CSTD themes were balanced 
(note: an American UNCTAD employee penned both theme 
reports).  The report related to the WSIS mandate focused 
on the importance of broadband infrastructure. 
 
13. Several countries suggested that the CSTD should 
provide templates for country reports on science and 
WSIS-related activities so that meetings can be more 
interactive and results-driven.  Lesotho encouraged open 
discussions to share best practices and lessons learned. 
 
14. The Cuban delegate's intervention quickly digressed 
into polemics by stating that measures are needed to 
rectify U.S. blockage of Cuba's access to fiber optic 
cables.  She also accused the U.S. of censoring 3,000 
travel websites advertising trips to Cuba and chastised 
developed countries for not fulfilling commitments for 
Official Development Assistance."  Based on instructions, 
the U.S. delegation did not intervene. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
UNCTAD's Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) 
 Review for Angola 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
15. The large Angolan delegation was led by Aguinaldo 
Jaime, Deputy Prime Minister, who praised the 
Secretariat's professional work and product.  The STIP 
recommends that Angola focus on STI-related investments in 
key public sectors of education, agriculture and health, 
and across-the-board measure for a better regulatory 
framework to encourage investment and innovation.  Many 
delegations commented on the quality of the work.  Brazil 
intervened with a focus on south-south cooperation, saying 
that it is working to build stronger ties with 
Portuguese-speaking African countries to aid in their 
development efforts, particularly in the agricultural 
sector. 
 
----------------------- 
Duplication with UNESCO 
----------------------- 
 
16.  UNESCO's Division for Science Policies and 
Sustainable Development in Paris outlined UNESCO's 
ambitious Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 
Initiative for Africa.  They provided a glossy brochure 
and stated that the African Union (AU) has enlisted UNESCO 
assistance in implementing the AU Consolidated Plan of 
Action for S&T in Africa - 2008-2013.  UNESCO has also 
adopted three related "flagship" projects.  The U.S. 
Delegation urged UNESCO and UNCTAD to cooperate as much as 
possible on the S&T policy reviews for Africa in light of 
limited resources, common objectives, and the 
complementary strengths that the two organizations can 
bring to such efforts.  (Comment: CSTD and UNCTAD 
coordination with UNESCO on duplicative work on S&T, 
particularly STIP reviews, has historically been 
problematic.   U.S. has continued to insist on a "One UN" 
approach whereby the two organizations strengthen 
cooperation to perform reviews by complementing each 
others' strengths. End Comment.) 
 
------------------------- 
Outcome Documents 
------------------------- 
 
17. A group of former WSIS players, including Latvia's 
Janis Karklins, France's de la Chapelle and El Salvador's 
Miguel Alcain introduced a draft resolution on WSIS 
follow-up prior to the meeting, collecting advance 
comments to facilitate negotiations.  This draft 
resolution was actually penned by Charles Geiger, former 
Executive Secretariat of WSIS, currently seconded from the 
Swiss Government to the UNCTAD Secretariat. 
 
18. Negotiations on the draft resolution went late over 
several days.  Iran was particularly unconstructive, with 
no apparent motive or goal.  Cuba was often vehement, 
introducing language intended to reference the U.S. 
embargo of Cuba. 
 
------------- 
Comments 
------------- 
 
19. This session was better organized than last year and 
the CSTD is proving itself capable of its WSIS mandate. 
The Secretariat is taking pains to work with the U.S. and 
other member states to ensure appropriate CSTD 
priorities.  As a result, the focus was on topics more 
relevant to the CSTD's mission and the balance of speakers 
is improving.  The meeting and speaker schedules need to 
be respected, with more time given for dialogue rather 
than prepared statements.  The template to submit country 
reports proposed for next year should help avoid the 
tedium of laundry-list interventions. 
 
20. The U.S. delegation remains concerned over the balance 
in the CSTD's mandates.  The facts that so much discussion 
time is devoted to WSIS, and that some delegations are 
WSIS-focused, contribute to neglect of the science and 
technology component of the mandate, which the U.S. 
considers a priority. 
 
21. The CSTD meeting came at the end of several weeks of 
clustered WSIS events.  How all the WSIS action line 
agencies, the Internet Governance Forum and the CSTD 
relate and coordinate is not clear.  The general feeling 
is that there need to be shorter, more coordinated and 
focused WSIS action discussions before the CSTD meeting. 
 
22. The U.S. delegation to the CSTD intercessional meeting 
in Santiago, Chile in November 2008 will promote these 
objectives. 
RICE