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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Monday highlighted the vital role of science and technology in promoting peace and development, calling on the international community to harness the power of science for the greater good.
"Science and technology have crucial roles to play in promoting progress and peacefrom climate change to public health; from food security to sanitation; from disarmament to disaster preparedness," Ban said in his message for the International Week of Science and Peace.
"Ours is the first generation with the knowledge and the tools to end extreme poverty. Ours is the generation that mustand can, with the technologies already at our disposalforge a path towards a sustainable future," he said.
The General Assembly adopted a resolution 25 years ago, which proclaims the International Week of Science and Peace to take place each year during the week in which Nov. 11 falls.
The International Week seeks to generate greater awareness of the relationship of science and peace among the general public, and encourage academic discussions on the issue.
"One key challenge is to promote 'pro-poor' research that addresses the needs of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people, such as small-scale farmers," Ban said. "Other imperatives include closing the digital divide in access to information technology and expanding education to better train young people for jobs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math."
The UN chief noted that these efforts are crucial for accelerating the achievement of the eight anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and shaping the post-2015 development agenda.
However, he added that the international community also has the responsibility to protect all mankind against the destructive uses of scientific achievement and capacity, most notably by working for a nuclear-weapon-free world and to contain the spread of other weapons of mass destruction.
"We can do all of this and more if we work together to harness the power of science for the greater good everywhere, and promote evidence-based policy-making," he added.
