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The annual Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) is a part of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism mandated by the 2030 Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. It is expected to "provide a venue for facilitating interaction, matchmaking and the establishment of networks between relevant stakeholders and multi-stakeholder partnerships in order to identify and examine technology needs and gaps, including with regard to scientific cooperation, innovation and capacity-building, and also in order to help facilitate development, transfer and dissemination of relevant technologies for the sustainable development goals." It will "discuss science, technology and innovation cooperation around thematic areas for the implementation of the sustainable development goals, congregating all relevant stakeholders to actively contribute in their area of expertise."
The first STI Forum was held in 2016. Information on past Fora can be found here.
The fourth annual Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) will take place on 14-15 May 2019 in UN Headquarters, New York. ECOSOC President of 2019, Inga Rhona King, has appointed H.E. Ms. H. Elizabeth Thompson, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations and H.E. Mrs. Marie Chatardová, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations, to act as co-chairs of the Forum.
The theme of the STI Forum 2019 will be: "STI for ensuring inclusiveness and equality, with a special focus on SDGs 4, 8, 10, 13, and 16".
H.E. Ms. H. Elizabeth Thompson, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations
H.E. Mrs. Marie Chatardová, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations
Have you developed a scientific or technology-based, workable solution that could help accelerate progress towards education, job creation, reducing inequalities or promoting peace? Then the United Nations wants to hear from you!
The fourth annual Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) will be held at UN Headquarters in New York from 14 to 15 May 2019. And again, the UN Department of Economic Affairs (UN DESA), in collaboration with the Global Innovation Exchange (GIE), is inviting innovators from around the world to submit their scientific and technological solutions to the challenges impeding progress towards one of these five in-focus SDGs:
Enter your innovation here https://stiforum4sdgs.globalinnovationexchange.org/ by 29 March 2019.
All innovations are welcome and will be reviewed carefully by a group of experts. Past winners have come from all over the world and have represented a wide range of sectors, but all were committed changemakers with workable solutions that had successfully gone through a proof of concept phase and were looking to scale up. Selected innovators will be invited to take part in an exhibition at the 2019 STI Forum in New York.
The Call for Innovations is hosted by the Inter-agency Task Team on STI for the SDGs (IATT) and the 10-Member Group appointed by the UN Secretary-General to support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, in collaboration with the Global Innovation Exchange, a global development technology platform for innovations, funding and insights. GIE's mission is to help scale the most promising innovations by utilizing its database of information to serve as a reliable fundraising resource for social entrepreneurs in low- and- middle-income countries. GIE helps social entrepreneurs or innovators fundraise more easily and connects investors, funders, implementers, practitioners, journalists and researchers to valuable innovation data.
Innovations submitted to the Call will be publicly featured in GIE's searchable database used by press, donors, funders and investors, and will receive consideration for initiatives such as GIE's Innovation Finder Service. Innovators can access a comprehensive list of all available innovation funding opportunities across development (more than US $5,200 million).
You can support this Call for Innovations for the STI Forum 2019 by:
The annual STI Forum is a core element of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism negotiated and agreed by the UN member States in 2015. The outcome of the STI Forum feeds into the annual High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which is the annual meeting of UN Member States charged with reviewing the implementation of the SDGs.
Side events will be organized on the margins of the Fourth Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum), to be held on 14-15 May 2019 in New York.
Side events should be closely related to the theme of the Fourth STI Forum.
The theme of the STI Forum is chosen to promote in-depth discussions on the SDGs that will also be in focus at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) meeting in July, as well as on cross-cutting issues relating more broadly to the general area of STI for the SDGs.
In this context, the theme of the 2019 STI Forum is: "Science, Technology and Innovation for empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality – Focus on SDGs 4, 8, 10, 13, and 16
Proposed side events should directly address at least one of the following guiding questions:
Please complete and sign the attached Side Event Request Form, providing a detailed description of the proposed event, including its sponsors, thematic focus, speakers/presenters and its potential contribution to the Forum. Completed and signed forms should be submitted to the Secretariat of the STI Forum until 8 April 2019, through the following link: sustainabledevelopment.un.org/contact, with the subject "STI Forum Side Event Application".
Confirmation of selected side events is expected to be shared by 12 April 2019.
All queries related to side events should be addressed to sustainabledevelopment.un.org/contact
Please click here to download the side event request form.
Governmental and non-governmental representatives planning to participate in the ECOSOC Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science Technology and Innovation (STI Forum) must register for this meeting. The following participants may attend or be represented: Member States, observer States, intergovernmental organizations and entities with observer status in the General Assembly or the Economic and Social Council, United Nations system entities, major groups and other stakeholders, and media.
Government officials, through their Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York, should notify the UN Protocol and Liaison Service of their participation at the meeting by 17:00 hours on Friday, 3 May 2019. A letter signed by the head of chancery or an authorizing official with an official seal should be addressed to:
Mr. Peter Van Laere
Chief of Protocol
UN Protocol and Liaison Service
Att. Ms. Wai Tak Chua
Room S-0201
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
Fax + 1 (212) 963 1921
Email: unprotocol@un.org
For participation and seating arrangements, members of the Council, as well as observers (including Member States that are not members of the Council), are requested to express their interest to attend the Forum through the e-List of Participants module on the e-deleGATE portal
Due to the limited number of seats available for observers in Conference Room 4, only those observers who express their interest to attend the Forum through the e-deleGATE portal, by 17:00 hours on Tuesday, 7 May 2019, will be provided a nameplate on the floor of the conference room. All others will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis.
For inquiries regarding access to the e-List of Participants module on the e-deleGATE portal, please contact Mr. Paolo Dua (e-mail duap@un.org)
To obtain UN grounds pass, Permanent Missions in New York may submit their requests via the online accreditation system "eAccreditation" available through the eDelegate Portal at e-deleGATE portal Information regarding the system can be found at http://www.un.int/protocol
The STI forum will be open to participation by the following IGOs:
IGOs interested in participating as observers in the STI forum are required to be accredited to the United Nations and register accordingly by 17:00 hours on Friday, 3 May 2019.
(A) United Nations accredited IGOs with an office in New York may follow the same procedure for Member States via the online accreditation system "eAccreditation" at https://delegate.un.int/dgacm/delegate.nsf/xaOpenPortal.xsp They should also notify the UN Protocol and Liaison Service of their participation at the meeting. A letter signed by the head of the organization with an official stamp should be sent to the addresses mentioned above.
(B) United Nations accredited IGOs without an office in New York and not registered with the "eAccreditation " system should follow the procedure below:
The focal point will be notified of the accreditation approval(s) via email. The email is the actual approval notification, a hard copy of which must be presented together with a valid passport or government photo ID to the United Nations Pass and ID Unit for the issuance of a UN grounds pass. The focal point must ensure that copies of the approval notifications be given to the participants before leaving for New York.
Intergovernmental organizations (with or without an office in New York) are requested to express their intention to attend the Forum through the e-List of Participants module on the e-deleGATE portal,by 17:00 hours on Tuesday, 7 May 2019.
For inquiries regarding access to the e-List of Participants module on the e-deleGATE portal, please contact Mr. Paolo Dua (e-mail duap@un.org)
Specialised agencies and related organizations: The registration of the representative of the specialised agencies and related organizations of the UN system (ILO, FAO, UNESCO, ICAO, WHO, World Bank, IMF, UPU, ITU, WMO, IMO, WIPO, IFAD, UNIDO, UNWTO, IAEA, WTO, CTBTO, ICC, IOM, ISA, ITLOS OPCW) follows the same procedures as for States and IGOs.
United Nations funds, programmes and other entities (UNAIDS, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNEP, UNFCCC, UNFPA, UN-HABITAT, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNISDR, UNITAR, UNODC, UNOPS, UNRWA, UNU, UN-WOMEN, WFP, ECA, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA, CBD, UNCCD):
Registration to the Forum will require a formal letter signed by entity's Principal or designated official listing the member(s) of the delegation to be sent to:
Ms. Nan Jiang
Staff Assistant, Outreach and Communications Branch
Division for Sustainable Development Goals/DESA
Email: jiang2n@un.org
United Nations system, including funds, programmes, specialized agencies and regional commissions, are requested to express their interest to attend the Forum through the e-List of Participants module on the e-deleGATE portal, by 17:00 hours on Tuesday, 7 May 2019.
For inquiries regarding access to the e-List of Participants module on the e-deleGATE portal, please contact Mr. Paolo Dua (e-mail duap@un.org)
All representatives of STI Stakeholders who wish to attend the Forum must register by completing a dedicated registration form.
Please, register using this form: https://goo.gl/forms/5eQstIZicMa2lWzP2 by Monday, 15 April 2019. Confirmations will be sent in separate emails.
Please note that all participants are responsible for making their own travel arrangements, including visa arrangements. The UN will not be able to provide any travel support to this meeting
For more information or in case of any issues opening the registration form, please, contact:
Ms. Nan Jiang
Staff Assistant, Outreach and Communications Branch
Division for Sustainable Development Goals/DESA
Email: jiang2n@un.org
Media accreditation is strictly reserved for members of the press: print, photo, radio, television, film, news agencies, and online media who represent a bona fide media organization (full guidelines are available at http://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/request.shtml).
Journalists who wish to apply for media accreditation are required to complete an online form, which is available at http://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/accreditation.shtml All members of the media submitting a registration form will be required to upload a letter of assignment from their Bureau Chief or Editor-in-Chief addressed to the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit. Two pieces of identification bearing a photograph, including a passport, are also required. Samples of work may be requested.
Approved media members will receive an email confirmation with instructions for picking up their UN grounds pass. All media representatives will be required to wear their United Nations grounds pass at all times.
Details regarding media access to the United Nations Secretariat, liaison services for coverage of open meetings, press conferences and briefings are available at http://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/guidelines.shtml