Ambassador Katalin Bogyay, Hungary’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, member of the World Science Forum’s Steering Committee and Dr. Sima Sami Bahous, Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations hosted the high-level event entitled “Science for Peace” at UN Headquarters’ Trusteeship Council Chamber on 28 April. The event presented the theme of the World Science Forum taking place in Amman in November 2017 with Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint Hassan, President of the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan and Professor László Lovász, President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The Princess will be the Chairperson and Professor Lovász the President of this year’s Forum.

World Science Forum is a joint venture by UNESCO, the International Council for Science (ICSU), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) and the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan.

In her opening remarks, Ambassador Bogyay gave an overview of how the Forum came into life, starting with the very first World Science Conference in 1999 initiated by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and UNESCO with the support of the Government of Hungary. Based on the success of this first conference, World Science Forum by now evolved into one of the most important gatherings of the scientific sphere. Since 2013, it is being hosted every four year outside Budapest, after Rio de Janeiro in 2013 this year in Jordan. Ambassador Bogyay renewed the commitment of Hungary to be an active player in science diplomacy, as a key tool to prevent conflict and crisis and thereby enabling discussions about the topic at the UN to be more constructive and forward looking.

From the UN’s top management Mr. Maher Nasser, Acting Under-Secretary-General convened the contribution of Ms Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General on how the Sustainable Development Goals are intertwined with science, technology and research, yet seriously underfunded fields of excellence. Mr. Tomas Anker Christensen, Chef de Cabinet of the President of the UN General Assembly ensured about the President’s strong support to the World Science Forum and its linkages to innovation and connectivity, which are priorities on his agenda.

Princess Sumaya bint Hassan emphasized that Jordan is proud to host the prestigious Forum at the end of the year, and encouraged Member States to work together towards peace by unlocking the potential of science, research and innovation in order to create a prosperous and peaceful future. As the host of the recent summit of the Arab States, Jordan stands ready to engage in the discussion to bring about peace to the region and beyond.

Professor László Lovász reminded how science can help to understand the underlying factors to pressing global challenges and advance sustainable development by transforming decision making to an evidence-based approach.

Distinguished keynote speakers included Ms. Marie Paule Roudil, Director of UNESCO New York Liaison Office; Ambassador João Vale de Almeida, Head of the EU Delegation to the UN; Mr Vaughan Turekian, Science and Technology Adviser to the US Secretary of State Department; Ambassador Mauro Vieira, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the UN and Ambassador Hiroshi Minami, Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the UN. Their views converged on making the case for science not only at the policy arena, but bringing its benefits to the regional and local levels, including through enabling and maintaining peace.

Ambassador Bogyay introduced Mr Kristóf Muhi to the public, the winner of the SCI-ndicator prize by the Association of Hungarian Women in Science under her patronage for his invention. The second year computer science and engineering student from Vajdaság (Vojvodina) developed an application for smart phones that allows playing with the colored three-dimension logic game, Rubik’s Cube for blind and partially sighted persons. This symbolic message praised the role of youth and especially young scientist talents in building a sustainable and peaceful future.

Rubik's Cube for blind and partially sighted persons