11th Session of the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee

The 11th Session of the IGBC will be held at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, Room XI, on 6 and 7 June 2019. It will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. on 6 June (Thursday), and from 9:50 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on 7 June (Friday).

This session will be mainly devoted to examining the work done by the International Bioethics Committee of UNESCO (IBC) in the 2018-2019 biennium: the Principle of Individual Responsibility as related to Health; and Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) and Parenthood. The IGBC will therefore examine the draft reports of the IBC on these two topics, which will be forwarded to IGBC Member States via email and made available on this website once finalized by the IBC, and prior to the Session.

In addition, under item 7 of the provisional agenda, IGBC Member States will be invited to discuss critical bioethical issues that could be suggested to the IBC for consideration when defining its Work Programme for 2019-2020 during its 26th Session later this year. The session will also include an update on the work of the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) on the ethics of artificial intelligence (item 8); and the follow-up to the Recommendations of the open-ended working group on governance as related to the IGBC (item 9). During this session, Member States will also be invited to share information and suggestions concerning the dissemination of the Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers (item 4).