UNESCO, TWAS and SESAME

Science magazine recently covered the meeting of the Third World Academy of Sciences, noting that there had been considerable interest in South-South scientific cooperation. With the scientific growth of China, India and Brazil there is an increasing capacity for such cooperation.

Mambillikalathil G. K. Menon, a TWAS founder who advises India's Space Research Organization, is calling for projects funded by developing nations that might parallel Europe-wide ventures such as the European Space Agency and CERN......

One such regional effort seems likely to succeed, says Moneef R. Zou'bi, director general of the Islamic World Academy of Sciences: the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME). It brings together scientists from 10 Middle Eastern countries to conduct experiments at a relocated German synchrotron that will start operating next year in Jordan.

SESAME was created under the auspices of UNESCO, and came into existence as an intergovernmental organization (IGO) on 15 April 2004.

TWAS & UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is responsible for the administration of TWAS finance and staff, based on an agreement between the two organizations and the Italian government which provides the Academy with its core funding. TWAS collaborates closely with UNESCO's Natural Sciences Sector. Together with ICSU and UNU/IAS, TWAS and UNESCO co-sponsor the joint visiting scientist programme. UNESCO also provides financial support for the TWAS associateship programme at centres of excellence in the South.