UNESCO

and multiplying the impact of UNESCO’s
actions. COMEST and IBC presented reports
for discussion on the ‘Ethical perspective
of science, technology and society:
a contribution to the post-2015 agenda’;
‘Ethical principles for climate change:
adaptation and mitigation’; ‘The principle
of the sharing of benefits’; and ‘Updating
reflection on the human genome and
human rights’.
The latter provided the opportunity for
the IBC experts to call for a ban on ‘editing’
of human DNA to avoid unethical tampering
with hereditary traits. The experts argue
that ‘gene therapy could be a watershed
in the history of medicine and genome
editing is unquestionably one of the most
promising undertakings of science for
the sake of all humankind.’ But the IBC
report on the human genome and human
rights cautions that ‘this development
seems to require particular precautions
and raises serious concerns, especially if
the editing of the human genome should
be applied to the germline and therefore
introduce hereditary modifications, which
could be transmitted to future generations’.
The IBC therefore called for a moratorium
on this specific procedure.
In November, UNESCO Director-General
Irina Bokova awarded the 2015 UNESCO
Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science to
Professor Zabta Khan Shinwari from Pakistan,
in recognition of his work in biotechnology,
biosafety and biosecurity. The prize rewards
his contribution to advancing the social
responsibility of science, and his work to
promote the participation of indigenous
peoples and women in science, including
his defence of the intellectual property rights
of indigenous groups.
As in previous years, UNESCO continued
to organize Ethics Teachers’ Training Courses,
meant to reinforce and increase the capacities
of Member States in the area of ethics
education. This year, the course was delivered
in Bangladesh, the People’s Republic of
China, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon,
South Africa and Tunisia. Continuous support
was also provided to the establishment of
independent and multidisciplinary ethics
committees in Chad, Comoros, Ecuador and
El Salvador, through the Assisting Bioethics
Committees (ABC) Project.
© Guillaume Bression/Sipa
Children from Onuki
Elementary School in
the region of Tohoku
(Japan) learn to farm
rice as part of the ESD
Rice Project, a regional
cooperation-based
initiative supported
by UNESCO that uses
farming methods to
promote sustainable
development
education. This is one
of eight remarkable
projects promoted
by the UNESCO
Green Citizens
initiative launched
in partnership with
Klorane Institute
and SIPA PRESS
in October 2015.
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