39th Session of the General Conference

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The General conference paid tribute to Ms Irina Bokova during a plenary in Room I, it was followed by the Homage Ceremony.
The event “Cracking the Code: Girls’ and women’s education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)” enables Member States to learn about the outcomes of UNESCO’s 2017 international symposium and policy forum. In opening the event, Director-General Irina Bokova observed that ‘it is not by chance that this event is taking place on World Science Day for Peace and Development. Girls and women are key actors in crafting solutions to improve lives and generate inclusive, green growth that benefits us all. They are the greatest untapped population’. According to the report, women account for just 35% of university students enrolled in STEM-related fields and 28% of the world’s researchers.
Within the context of the General History of Africa (GHA) project, a film highlighting the best moments of the film series on the GHA produced by Zeinab Badawi, famous BBC journalist and producer, was screened in Room XI.
To highlight the relevance of the UNESCO World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) and to present its recent report on the ethics of robotics, the Permanent Delegation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to UNESCO organized a lunch debate on "Robots: ethical or unethical?" in Room X.