Resolution adopted by the General Assembly (78/160.) Science, technology and innovation for sustainable development

December 2023

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Resolutions and Declarations

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 2023

[on the report of the Second Committee (A/78/462/Add.1, para. 7)]

78/160. Science, technology and innovation for sustainable development

The General Assembly,

Reaffirming its resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in which it adopted a comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centred set of universal and transformative Sustainable Development Goals and targets, its commitment to working tirelessly for the full implementation of the Agenda by 2030, its recognition that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, its commitment to achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions – economic, social and environmental – in a balanced and integrated manner, and to building upon the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and seeking to address their unfinished business,

Reaffirming also its resolution 69/313 of 27 July 2015 on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, which is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, supports and complements it, helps to contextualize its means of implementation targets with concrete policies and actions, and reaffirms the strong political commitment to address the challenge of financing and creating an enabling environment at all levels for sustainable development in the spirit of global partnership and solidarity,

Reaffirming further the Paris Agreement ¹ and its early entry into force, encouraging all its parties to fully implement the Agreement, and parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ² that have not yet done so to deposit their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, where appropriate, as soon as possible,

Recalling its resolution 76/213 of 17 December 2021 on science, technology and innovation for development and its previous resolutions on the issue,³

Taking note of Economic and Social Council resolution 2023/4 of 7 June 2023 on science, technology and innovation for development and previous Council resolutions on the issue, ⁴ and taking note also of Council resolution 2021/30 of 22 July 2021 on open-source technologies for sustainable development,

Recalling with appreciation its resolution 77/320 of 25 July 2023 on the impact of rapid technological change on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets,

Recalling the World Summit on the Information Society and its outcomes, ⁵ as well as other relevant intergovernmentally agreed outcomes,

Taking note of the reports of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development on its fourteenth to twenty-sixth sessions,⁶

Taking note also of the report of the Secretary-General,⁷

Recalling its resolution 76/307 of 8 September 2022 and its decision 77/568 of 1 September 2023 on the modalities and the scope of the Summit of the Future to be held on 22 and 23 September 2024, mandating a concise, action-oriented outcome document entitled “A Pact for the Future”, including a chapter on science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation,

Looking forward to the elaboration of a Global Digital Compact including to bridge the digital divides, and to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and to strengthen digital cooperation,

Recalling its resolution 77/326 of 25 August 2023 proclaiming the period 2024– 2034 the International Decade on Sciences for Sustainable Development, which highlighted the critical role that sciences play in the pursuit of sustainable development in its three dimensions as one of the key means of implementation,

Taking note of the work of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination on the impact of new and emerging technologies and on promoting innovation to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals,

Recognizing that science, technology and innovation, including environmentally sound technologies and information and communications technologies, are critical in the pursuit of sustainable development and are one of the key means of implementation of the intergovernmentally agreed development outcomes, including the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals,

Noting that the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report identifies science, technology and innovation as one of the levers for transformation to acc elerate progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, that its strategic deployment has the potential to resolve and minimize trade-offs among the Goals and targets, and recognizes that technology transfer to developing countries on mutually agreed terms will be critical to scale up and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and advocates for science that is multidisciplinary, equitably and inclusively produced, openly shared, trusted and relevant to society,

Taking note of the June 2019 report of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation entitled “The age of digital interdependence”, and the May 2020 report of the Secretary-General entitled “Road map for digital cooperation”,⁸. and of the high-level thematic debate on digital cooperation and connectivity convened by the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-fifth session on 27 April 2021, as well as the establishment of the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology,

Emphasizing that science, technology and innovation play a key role in accelerating the pace of economic diversification and transformation, improving productivity and competitiveness, as well as enabling the full participation of developing countries in the global economy,

Acknowledging the contribution of science, technology and innovation to accelerate sustainable and inclusive development and the transition to resilient, knowledge-based societies and economies, including in low and middle-income countries, and, in that context, acknowledging the importance of the provision of the necessary means of implementation to developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacities, including in the field of higher education, research and innovation,

Reaffirming that the creation, development and diffusion of new innovations and technologies and associated know-how, including the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms, are powerful drivers of economic growth and sustainable development,

Underscoring that rapid technological change brings enormous opportunities to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, while it also poses new challenges, including perpetuating divides within and between countries,

Noting that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, with persistent negative effects worldwide and especially in developing countries, has demonstrated the importance of science, technology and innovation, of scientific collaboration and the need to strengthen global solidarity, of international cooperation, and of providing the required means of implementation for developing countries to prevent, prepare and respond to future pandemics and other health emergencies, taking into account lessons learned from the pandemic, reaffirming that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, and emphasizing that adaptation to rapid technological change should be considered not only as a function of sustainable development and the spreading of information and communications technologies, but also with respect to the realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Noting also the multilateral and regional initiatives aimed at promoting social prosperity through inclusive participation and growth across the digital economy, including, inter alia, the establishment of the Digital Cooperation Organization in 2020,

Recognizing that new technologies increase the demand for digital skills and competencies and that, at the same time, developing countries are experiencing higher numbers of young people entering the labour market and a widening gap between their knowledge, skills and abilities and those sought by employers, and expressing concern that the share of women in specialist information and communications technology occupations remains low, especially in developing countries,

Recognizing also that education, training and capacity-building in science, technology and innovation can provide new skills and so widen employment opportunities, while addressing market needs,

Calling upon the international community and all stakeholders to support efforts by developing countries to provide opportunities for science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and research for all, including youth and women, and particularly in the emerging technologies, and to provide suitable working conditions and opportunities in order to prevent brain drain and ensure human resources adaptation to technological change, including through upskilling and reskilling programmes for the workforce,

Recognizing that innovation, such as pro-poor, inclusive, grass-roots and social innovation that seeks to solve problems, is not always addressed by markets,

Recognizing also the importance of utilizing science, technology and innovation in a manner relevant to specific national and local situations and needs,

Recognizing further the importance of data protection and privacy, in particular for developing countries in the context of science and technology for development, especially regarding the adoption of new technologies,

Taking note of the Technology and Innovation Report 2023 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which highlights that innovation and frontier technologies can drive the transformative solutions needed, and the need to explore ways for developing countries to use, improve, adopt and adapt such technologies and to take up the opportunities to harness frontier technologies, as well as the potential for frontier technologies to address existing inequalities and foster sustainable development, and recalling the Digital Economy Report 2021 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which examines the role of growing cross-border data flows for development,

Recognizing that realizing gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls will make a crucial contribution to progress across all of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, and recognizing also that there is a need to ensure full and equal access to and participation in science, technology and innovation for women of all ages, as well as to target science, technology and innovation strategies to address women’s empowerment and inequalities, including the gender digital divide,

Recalling the agreed conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women on women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work, adopted at its sixtyfirst session,⁹ which, inter alia, highlighted the need to manage technological and digital change for women’s economic empowerment, particularly to strengthen the capacities of developing countries, so as to enable women to leverage science and technology for entrepreneurship and economic empowerment in the changing world of work and to support women’s access, throughout their life cycle, to skills development and decent work in new and emerging fields by expanding the scope of education and training opportunities in, inter alia, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, information and communications technology and digital fluency, and to enhance women’s and, as appropriate, girls’ participation as users, content creators, employees, entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders, and further recalling the agreed conclusions of the sixty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women on the theme “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”,¹⁰ and underlining the importance of mainstreaming a gender perspective into the policies and programmes related to innovation and technological change and to education in the digital age, with the aim of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls,

Expressing concern that many developing countries still face serious challenges in building or improving their national science, technology and innovation base and ecosystems, and a lack of digital skills and affordable and equitable access to information and communications technologies, and that, for the poor, the promise of science, technology and innovation remains unfulfilled, and that more efforts have to be deployed to increase the benefits of science, technology and innovation for all,

Taking note with appreciation of the United Nations Technology Innovation Labs, in their efforts to facilitate and stimulate innovation for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda,

Recognizing that science, technology and innovation cooperation and collaboration with, as well as foreign direct investment in and trade with and among, developing countries, as well as international support, are fundamental to enhancing developing countries’ ability to benefit from technological advances and to produce, nurture, access, comprehend, select, adapt and use science, technology and innovation knowledge,

Recognizing also the importance of supporting national strategies, policies and activities of developing countries in the fields of science, technology and innovation through international cooperation for development, including multilateral, NorthSouth, South-South and triangular cooperation, while recalling that South-South cooperation is not a substitute for, but rather a complement to, North-South cooperation, in the areas of financial and technical assistance, capacity-building and technology transfer on mutually agreed terms,

Reaffirming its resolution 73/291 of 15 April 2019, in which it endorsed the Buenos Aires outcome document of the second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation,¹¹and renewing the call for its implementation,

Recognizing the need to mobilize and scale up the means of implementation, including financing, for science, technology and innovation, especially in developing countries, in support of the Sustainable Development Goals,

Welcoming the increase in official development assistance targeting the development of science, technology and innovation capacities in developing countries in the past two decades, however, remaining concerned that official development assistance for science, technology and innovation capacities directed to the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island developing States and African countries has remained at about the same levels for the past decade,

Recognizing the central role that the Commission on Science and Technology for Development plays, as the United Nations focal point for science, technology and innovation for sustainable development, in analysing how science, technology and innovation, including information and communications technologies, serve as enablers of the 2030 Agenda by acting as a forum for strategic planning, sharing lessons learned and best practices, providing foresight about critical trends in science, technology and innovation in key sectors of the economy, the environment and society, and drawing attention to emerging and disruptive technologies,

Reaffirming the need to enhance the science, technology and innovation programmes of the relevant entities of the United Nations system, and in this regard recalling the mandate of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism on science, technology and innovation for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals to promote coordination, coherence and cooperation within the United Nations system,

Recognizing the need to strengthen the collaboration and exchange between policymakers and scientific and technological communities,

Welcoming the convening of the first to eighth annual multi-stakeholder forums on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, noting with appreciation the ongoing work of the United Nations inter-agency task team on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, including the Global Pilot Programme on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals Road Maps (STI for SDGs road maps), and noting the expanded operationalization of the 2030 Connect online platform, as the three components of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, that can help to advance the 2030 Agenda,

Noting the ongoing efforts of the World Intellectual Property Organization to assist Member States in establishing intellectual property strategies and national ecosystems that promote innovation and creativity and support the flow of knowledge and technical expertise,

Noting also the existing efforts and contributions of the regional commissions on science, technology and innovation for sustainable development,

Recalling the importance of supporting the African Union’s Agenda 2063, as well as its 10-year plan of action, as a strategic framework for ensuring a positive socioeconomic transformation in Africa within the next 50 years, and its continental programme embedded in the resolutions of the General Assembly on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and regional initiatives, and in this context noting the Declaration of Sharm el-Sheikh, adopted by the African Union in October 2019, which commits to work towards an integrated and inclusive Digital Society and Economy in Africa that improves the quality of life of Africa’s citizens, as well as the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024 of the African Union,

Reiterating the pledge that no one will be left behind, reaffirming the recognition that the dignity of the human person is fundamental, and the wish to see the Goals and targets met for all nations and peoples and for all segments of society, and recommitting to endeavour to reach the furthest behind first,

Noting with great concern the severe negative impact on human health, safety and well-being caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as the severe disruption to societies and economies and the devastating impact on lives and livelihoods, and that the poorest and most vulnerable are the hardest hit by the pandemic, reaffirming the ambition to get back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by designing and implementing sustainable and inclusive recovery strategies to accelerate progress towards the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to help to reduce the risk of and build resilience to future shocks, crises and pandemics, including by strengthening health systems and achieving universal health coverage, and recognizing that equitable and timely access for all to safe, quality, effective and affordable COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics are an essential part of a global response based on unity, solidarity, renewed multilateral cooperation and the principle of leaving no one behind,

1. Reaffirms its commitments made in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development ¹² on, inter alia, science, technology and innovation, as an important action area for sustainable development;

2. Also reaffirms its commitment to continue promoting the use of science, technology and innovation, including through evidence-based policymaking, in facilitating efforts to address global challenges, and to accelerate progress on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, such as efforts to eradicate poverty, including extreme poverty; achieve food security and nutrition; increase agricultural productivity; enhance access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all; fight diseases; improve education; protect the environment and address climate change; foster disaster preparedness and strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of disaster resilience-building;

3. Emphasizes that applying science to solve complex global challenges calls for cross- and trans-disciplinary collaboration and a strong science-policy-society interface in order to build trust in science and evidence;

4. Reaffirms its commitment to the actions agreed upon by the least developed countries and development partners on science, technology and innovation, as outlined in the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries, ¹³ and takes note of the Doha Political Declaration, adopted during the second part of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held in Doha, from 5 to 9 March 2023;¹⁴

5. Notes the central role of Governments, with active contribution from stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, academia and research institutions, appropriate United Nations entities, relevant international entities and forums, in creating and supporting an enabling environment at all levels, including enabling regulatory and governance frameworks, in accordance with national priorities, to nurture science, innovation, entrepreneurship and the dissemination of knowledge and technologies that is on mutually agreed terms, particularly to micro-, small and mediumsized enterprises, as well as industrial diversification and value added to commodities;

6. Underscores the need to adopt science, technology and innovation strategies as integral elements of national sustainable development plans and strategies that help to strengthen knowledge-sharing on mutually agreed terms and collaboration and scale up investment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, and enhance technical, vocational and tertiary education and training;

7. Acknowledges the contribution of science, technology and innovation to industrial development in developing countries and as a critical source of economic growth, economic diversification and value addition;

8. Recognizes the importance of addressing the gap in capabilities across and between countries, sectors and segments of society so that all parts of society, especially people in vulnerable situations and the poor, can adapt and benefit from technological changes;

9. Also recognizes the importance of the creation of a conducive environment that attracts and supports private investment, entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility, including an efficient, adequate, balanced and effective intellectual property framework, while encouraging access to science, technology and innovation by developing countries;

10. Encourages Member States to strengthen and foster investment in research and development for environmentally sound technologies and to promote the involvement of the business and financial sectors in the development of those technologies, and invites the international community to support those efforts;

11. Encourages all stakeholders, in an effort to prepare for existing and future opportunities and challenges presented by technological change, including the fourth industrial revolution among others, to explore ways and means of conducting inclusive national, regional and international technology assessment and foresight exercises on existing, new and emerging technologies to help to evaluate their development potential and mitigate possible negative effects and risks;

12. Requests the Technology Facilitation Mechanism and the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, through the Economic and Social Council, to continue to consider, in a coordinated manner within their respective mandates and existing resources, the impact of rapid technological changes and frontier technologies on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, and to align this endeavour with the follow-up cycle of the high-level political forum on sustainable development in order to support the efforts of all countries towards the attainment of the Goals, including through forging partnerships with other relevant stakeholders, organizations, initiatives and forums, such as the Partnership in Action on STI for SDGs Road Maps, initiated by the United Nations inter-agency task team on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, and the dissemination of advances and best practices to facilitate cooperation towards this end;

13. Welcomes the support by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat and the Economic Commission for Africa for the establishment of the Coalition on Science, Technology, and Innovation for Africa’s Development during the eighth multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals to create pathways for African countries to develop, deploy and expand their use of science, technology and innovation in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals;

14. Encourages Member States, individually and collectively, to support policies that increase financial inclusion, including through making use of financial technology, with a view to deepening and diversifying the sources of financing and of direct investments towards science, technology and innovations that address the Sustainable Development Goals;¹⁵

15. Also encourages Member States to promote local innovation capabilities for inclusive and sustainable economic development by bringing together local scientific, vocational and engineering knowledge, mobilizing resources from multiple channels, improving information and communications technology and supporting infrastructure development;

16. Further encourages Member States to promote digital inclusion and literacy and to consider incorporating digital competencies into the education system, with a special focus on encouraging girls and enhancing digital skills and competences development, including through investment in digital qualification, specialization in digital technologies, digital infrastructure, public policies and institutional development and multi-stakeholder and international collaboration;

17. Underlines that addressing persistent barriers to equal access for women and girls to science, technology and innovation, and their meaningful participation in learning, as well as workforce opportunities for women requires a systematic, comprehensive, integrated, sustainable, multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach, in this regard urges Member States to mainstream a gender perspective in legislation, policies and programmes, encourages decision makers to create supportive workplace and educational settings, and also encourages efforts to promote, mentor, attract and retain women and girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and research and to support women in leveraging science and technology for entrepreneurship and economic empowerment in the changing world of work;

18. Emphasizes the importance of the participation of women and girls in science, technology and innovation, and further encourages the United Nations development system to support efforts to reduce gender disparity in these areas, with the cooperation of Member States and international collaborative research organizations;

19. Also emphasizes that efforts to close all digital divides and ensure that no one is left behind in the digital transformation and digital economy should be expanded and grounded in digital inclusion, and encourages all relevant stakeholders to promote equal, equitable and affordable access to digital skills and online services, including through digital public goods and digital government;

20. Notes the importance of facilitating access to and sharing accessible and assistive technologies, through the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms and other actions, to advance disability-inclusive development, ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities and promote their empowerment;

21. Also notes the critical role of science, technology and innovation in accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, and that in order to facilitate a more robust and resilient recovery, a strong global financing framework for development in science, technology and innovation, should be considered to bridge the digital divides, promote sustainable development and ensure flexibility and resilience in the face of future disruptions, highlighting how open-source technology could facilitate knowledge-sharing on mutually agreed terms and respond to common challenges across countries, reaffirming the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) as amended, also reaffirming the 2001 World Trade Organization Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which recognizes that intellectual property rights should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of the right of States to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all, and reaffirms the need for appropriate incentives in the development of new health products;

22. Encourages efforts to increase the availability of data to support the measurement of national innovation systems (such as the existing Global Innovation Index) and empirical research on innovation and development to assist policymakers in designing and implementing innovation strategies in order to measure the impact of digital technologies for sustainable development;

23. Emphasizes the need to effectively harness technology to bridge the digital divides within countries and between developed and developing countries;

24. Calls for action to be taken to enhance the ability of developing countries to benefit from science, technology and innovation and address the major structural impediments to accessing new and emerging technologies, including through scaling up the use of open science, affordable and open-source technology, research and development, including through strengthened partnerships, strengthening their productive capacities and aiming to increase funding for Sustainable Development Goal-related research and innovation and build capacity in all regions to contribute to and benefit from this research;

25. Encourages enhanced capacity-building support for developing countries in order to generate the use of high-quality, timely and reliable disaggregated data, and also encourages international cooperation, including through technical and financial support, to strengthen the capacity of national statistical systems;

26. Also encourages existing arrangements and the further promotion of international, regional, subregional and interregional joint multi-stakeholder research and development projects, as well as training programmes and university-touniversity collaborations where feasible, by mobilizing scientific and research development resources, facilities and equipment;

27. Calls upon Member States and the United Nations development system, and encourages other stakeholders, as appropriate, to continue to initiate, implement and support measures to improve the level of participation of scientists and engineers from developing countries in international collaborative research, science, technology and innovation projects;

28. Also calls upon Member States and the United Nations development system, and encourages other stakeholders, as appropriate, to continue to strengthen their support for the different science, technology and innovation partnerships with developing countries in primary, secondary and higher education, vocational education and continuing education; business opportunities for the privat e sector; science, technology and innovation infrastructure; and science, technology and innovation advice for developing countries;

29. Requests the Commission on Science and Technology for Development to continue to assist the Economic and Social Council as the focal point in the systemwide follow-up to the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society and to continue its science, technology and innovation activities;

30. Encourages the Commission on Science and Technology for Development to discuss and explore innovative financing models, such as impact investment, as a means of attracting new stakeholders, innovators and sources of investment capital for science, technology, engineering and innovation-based solutions, in collaboration with other organizations, where appropriate;

31. Encourages the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in collaboration with relevant partners, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations University, to continue to undertake science, technology and innovation policy reviews, with a view to assisting developing countries, upon request, in identifying the measures needed to integrate science, technology and innovation policies into their national development strategies and ensuring that they are supportive of national development agendas, as appropriate, and in this regard takes note of the new science, technology and innovation policy review framework developed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development;

32. Emphasizes the importance of better coordination and coherence among existing mechanisms, including the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, United Nations agencies and international organizations in providing support to Member States in the field of science, technology and innovation directed towards development priorities and needs;

33. Invites the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and the Technology Facilitation Mechanism to strengthen synergies and mutually reinforce their work on science, technology and innovation, and invites the Secretariat to coordinate the dates of their meetings in order to avoid overlap and to ensure coherence and coordination between both entities;

34. Continues to encourage the United Nations inter-agency task team on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals to further refine and update its mapping of science, technology and innovation activities in the United Nations system with a view to guiding further efforts at collaboration and capacity-building and formulating coherent advice for Member States advancing national science, technology and innovation frameworks within the 2030 Agenda, including through scaling up the Global Pilot Programme on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development Goals Road Maps;

35. Reiterates its call for voluntary contributions for resources from both the private and the public sectors to support the full operationalization of all components of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism;

36. Encourages the World Intellectual Property Organization to continue to undertake technical support activities, including helping countries to design, develop and implement national intellectual property and innovation strategies aligned with their development strategies;

37. Welcomes the operationalization of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries, and calls upon Member States and other stakeholders to provide voluntary funding to the trust fund of the Technology Bank so that it can pursue its objectives in the area of science, technology and innovation for the least developed countries;

38. Notes with deep concern the existing disparities between developed and developing countries in terms of conditions, possibilities and capacities to produce new scientific and technological knowledge, and in this regard urges developed countries to urgently mobilize means of implementation such as technology transfer on mutually agreed terms, technical assistance, capacity-building and financing through new, additional and predictable resources in relation to the needs of developing countries, as appropriate, for the production of new scientific and technological knowledge, in accordance with developing countries’ national needs, policies and priorities;

39. Notes with concern that unfair practices could hinder technological development and innovation worldwide, in particular in developing countries, and calls upon the international community to foster an open, fair and inclusive environment for scientific and technological development;

40. Continues to encourage the United Nations system to take an active role in forging a closer link with national and multilateral science advisory bodies to optimally leverage science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, and looks forward to receiving updates and outcomes of the actions through the report of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development;

41. Calls upon the United Nations funds and programmes and the specialized agencies, the international community and international institutions, at the request of Member States, to support the efforts of the countries of the South to develop and strengthen their national science, technology and innovation systems through North – South, regional and international cooperation, including South-South and triangular cooperation, on access to science, technology, innovation and knowledge-sharing on mutually agreed terms;

42. Recognizes the importance of creating synergies, developing expertise and boosting resources in various regions and institutions, and in this regard takes note of the Summit on Science, Technology and Innovation of the Group of 77, held in Havana in September 2023, as an effort to boost cooperation in this field;

43. Reiterates its call for continued collaboration between United Nations entities and other international organizations, civil society and the private sector in implementing the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society;

44. Reaffirms the commitment at the very heart of the 2030 Agenda to leave no one behind and commit to taking more tangible steps to support peo ple in vulnerable situations and the most vulnerable countries and to reach the furthest behind first;

45. Invites the President of the General Assembly to consider convening, during the eightieth session of the Assembly, a meeting on science, technology and innovation for development with a special focus on actions to address the needs of developing countries in those fields, and requests the Secretary-General to consider these discussions in the drafting of his report on the implementation of the present resolution;

46. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its eightieth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution and recommendations for future follow-up, including lessons learned in integrating science, technology and innovation policies into national development strategies, as well as concrete recommendations in supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its eightieth session, under the item entitled “Globalization and interdependence”, the sub-item entitled “Science, technology and innovation for sustainable development”.

49th plenary meeting
19 December 2023

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly (78/160.) Science, technology and innovation for sustainable development

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