Book of abstracts THE RIGHT TO ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF SCIENCE 6TH MEETING ADDIS ABABA 25-26 | 02| 2020 WORLD CONGRESS FOR FREEDOM OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Promoted by Organized by AU.int•FreedomOfResearch.org•AssociazioneLucaCoscioni.it•ScienceForDemocracy.org This book presents the abstracts and proceedings of the 6th meeting of the World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research co-organised by Associazione Luca Coscioni, Science for Democracy and the African Union. The Congress took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 25 and 26 February 2020. The book was edited by Ms. Giulia Perrone, Board Member of Associazione Luca Coscioni and Member of Science for Democracy. The video-recording of the Congress is available at the following links: Opening session 1/2: www.facebook.com/science4dem/videos/491196998457059 Opening session 2/2: www.facebook.com/science4dem/videos/201013494614487 Session 1: www.facebook.com/science4dem/videos/511651023064029 Session 2: www.facebook.com/science4dem/videos/874617152997177 Session 3 part 1/3: www.facebook.com/science4dem/videos/268695387430478 Session 3, part 2/3: www.facebook.com/science4dem/videos/1488816181273031 Session 3, part 3/3: www.facebook.com/science4dem/videos/1111051459236130 Session 4, part 1/2: www.facebook.com/science4dem/videos/234550214243157 Session 4, part 2/2: www.facebook.com/science4dem/videos/181369159828977 Closing session and adoption of final recommendations: www.facebook.com/science4dem/videos/935603660192196 For information and enquires, please visit www.freedomofresearch.org or contact us at: [email protected] 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS CONCEPT NOTE…………………………………………….…………………………….4 PROGRAM…………………………………………………………………….……..………7 OPENING REMARKS: Emanuela Del Re, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy……………11 Angela Melo, Director, Policies and Programmes, UNESCO…………………………………..….13 Mikel Mancisidor, Adjunct Associate Professor of Law, Washington college of Law, UN Treaty Body Expert at CESCR, co-drafter of the General Comment on article 15 ICESCR ……………………..…15 ABSTRACTS…………………………………………………………………………..…….19 ABOUT THE SPEAKERS….………………………………………………………..…….24 FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS……………………………………………………….…31 HOSTING ORGANIZATIONS……………………………………………..…..…….…..34 TAKE ACTION………………………………………………………………………….….36 3 CONCEPT NOTE THE RIGHT TO ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF SCIENCE The 6th meeting of the World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research was organized by Associazione Luca Coscioni and Science for Democracy. The event took place on 25th and 26th February at the African Union Commission and it was co-sponsored by the AU Commission in the person of Sarah Mbi Enow Anyang Agbor, Commissioner for Science and Technology. The interaction between science, the scientific method, evidence-based debates and the decision- making process in full respect of the international Rule of Law has always been at the center of the five meetings of the World Congress organized since 2004 at the Italian and European Parliament by the Associazione Luca Coscioni. The 2020 Congress was convened in a moment in which a group of experts of the United Nations was finalizing a “General Comment” on Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), aimed at defining the so-called “right of ” and the “right to” science. Article 15 1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone: (a) To take part in cultural life; (b) To enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications; (c) To benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author. 2. The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for the conservation, the development and the diffusion of science and culture. 3. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to respect the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity. 4. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the benefits to be derived from the encouragement and development of international contacts and co- operation in the scientific and cultural fields.1 The “General Comment” was formally adopted at the 67th session of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which took place in Geneva right after the Addis 1 UNGA, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16 December 1966, available at: www.ohchr.org/ en/professionalinterest/pages/cescr.aspx. 4 gathering2. The document serves as the basis for all State parties to effectively respect, protect and fulfil the right to science and to submit their report on the implementation of the right to science, in compliance with the guidelines provided by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Addis Congress addressed the ramifications of the “right of ” and the “right to” science on a variety of topics that are becoming crucial for African countries to pursue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 20303, arguing that international legality will need to take into structural consideration all issues related to scientific evidence when policy or judicial decisions are taken and stressing the need to educate the general public on the ways in which science works through the verification, duplication, and falsification of research. All SDGs would greatly benefit from investments in research and technology to strengthening science and innovation in the developing world, where the need to balance the principle of precaution with the innovations produced by research should become a topic for academic, political and public debate. The decision to organize the 6th session of the World Congress in Africa was taken at the European Parliament in Brussels in April 2018, at the end of the 5th meeting, when it was decided that the following World Congress meeting should “[...] take place in a developing country that is struggling to establish or reinforce its democratic institutions, the Rule of Law and that is promoting and protecting scientific progress”4. The preparation of the 6th meeting of the World Congress has provided an opportunity to reach out, inter alia, to the Commissioner of the African Union (AU), which has confirmed her interest in partnering with Science for Democracy and the Associazione Luca Coscioni to co- host the event at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, taking a particularly active role in reaching out to African players. In several recent AU-sponsored meetings, science has been hailed as one of the resources that should be made increasingly available to the African continent both in terms of investments and policies that can allow its use in line with the Agenda 20635 launched to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the African Union. The AU declaration outlining the agenda marked the re-dedication of Africa towards the attainment of the African vision of “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the international arena”6 to be achieved as a continental endeavor by 2063. 2 CESCR, General Comment No. 25 on Science and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, available at: www.undocs.org/E/C.12/GC/25. 3About the Sustainable Development Goals: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development- goals/. 4Full text available at: www.freedomofresearch.org/final-declaration-of-the-5th-session-of-the-world-congress-for- freedom-of-scientific-research/. 5 African Union, Agenda 2063 - The Africa We Want, available at: www.au.int/en/agenda2063/overview. 6 African Union, 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration, available at: www.au.int/sites/default/files/documents/ 36205-doc-50th_anniversary_solemn_declaration_en.pdf. 5 Among the scientific keynote speakers, the Congress saw the participation of Professor Richard J. Roberts, 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Professor Michele De Luca, Director, Centre for Regenerative Medicine “Stefano Ferrari”, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy. The Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Emanuela Del Re sent a video-message stressing the interest of Italy in promoting and advancing the right to science both at national and international level. UNESCO also participated in the Congress and the adoption of the final recommendations. Participants in the World Congress included representatives from national executive and legislative bodies, relevant regional organizations and UN system, academics and research institutes, media, civil society and non-governmental organizations with a particular focus on those that work on patients rights. In preparation to the Congress, on 11 November 2019 Associazione Luca Coscioni and Science for Democracy, in partnership with the Addis Ababa University (Department of Law) and the University of Turin, held the legal seminar “Advancing Knowledge-led Development Through The Right to Science in Africa”7 that took place at the Addis Ababa University. The seminar saw the participation of both local and international academics and experts in the field of science and human rights. 7The video recording of the symposium is available at: www.sciencefordemocracy.org/symposium-advancing- knowledge-led-development-through-the-right-to-science-in-africa/. 6 PROGRAM DATE: 25-26 February 2020 LOCATION: Addis Ababa, African Union Commission, Plenary Old Building TUESDAY, 25 FEBRUARY