Ministers and high authorities of Science, Technology and Innovation of Latin America and the Caribbean agreed on the need to optimize their infrastructures and scientific systems to more quickly and coordinately overcome the current challenges of the region, in particular the COVID-19 pandemic.
On August 19, 2021, a total of seventeen* ministers and high authorities of Science, Technology and Innovation in Latin America met at a virtual meeting convened within the framework of the Open Science Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean (CILAC), under the executive secretariat of UNESCO.
During it, we sought to jointly identify rapid cooperation actions with a view to consolidating a common regional system of Science, Technology and Innovation, as well as enriching the initiatives that are being carried out in Latin America and the Caribbean on academic mobility and joint training (programs mobility of researchers, scholarship holders and scholarship or aid programs for studies abroad, among others), and promote the shared use of large equipment and infrastructure and repositories of data and published academic articles.
It was also the opportunity to present a recent report that analyzes the situation of vaccine access and production in the region, which could be an example of spaces for cooperation on the subject. In this sense, it was highlighted that Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is the region most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, exceeding the average number of cases and deaths in the world. In turn, the progress of vaccination in the region varies between countries and faces various challenges in production, access, storage and distribution, while contagion levels remain high.
The ministers and high authorities present offered their comments and considerations in an atmosphere of general consensus on the need to join forces, especially from those countries that today have strong public and private research and development infrastructures in favor of those that require establish and boost their capacities towards achieving their national objectives, in particular overcoming the pandemic, without neglecting other urgent global challenges, such as the effects of climate change. Progress will continue on this joint path in a new meeting scheduled to take place during the month of next October.
Background
In this way, a second call in 2021 is concluded with notable success, giving continuity to the cycle of meetings reserved for the highest national authorities of science, technology and innovation that have been held within the framework of the celebration of the biannual CILAC forum, since its creation ( The first meeting of this year took place within the framework of the Forum itself from April 24 to 26, in the same modality).
During them, a relevant topic is established as a trigger for a dialogue between peers in which the opportunity to share experiences, make consultations and generate informal contacts is generated to advance the cooperation and exchange agreement between the countries.
* The meeting on August 19 was attended by ministers and high authorities of Science, Technology and Innovation from the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama , Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela.