Commission on Science and Technology for Development

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The United Nations´s Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) is a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the six main organs of the United Nations.

The Commission met for the first time in April 1993 in New York, USA. It replaced the former Intergovernmental Committee on Science and Technology for Development and its Advisory Committee created after the Vienna Conference on Science and Technology for Development in 1979. Since July 1993, the UNCTAD Secretariat has been responsible for the substantive servicing of the Commission. The Commission has subsequently met in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Palais des Nations.

The CSTD was established to provide the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council with high-level advice on relevant issues through analysis and appropriate policy recommendations or options. This is done in order to enable those organs to guide the future work of the United Nations, develop common policies and agree on appropriate actions.

1 Membership
2 External links

[edit] Membership

The Commission has thirty-three Member States elected by ECOSOC for a term of four years. Experts nominated by their respective governments are supposed to possess the necessary qualifications and professional or scientific knowledge. The Commission has eight members from African States; seven members from Asian States; six members from Latin American and Caribbean States; four members from Eastern European States; and eight members from Western European and Other States.

At each session, the Commission elects a new Bureau (a Chairperson and four Vice-Chairpersons) for the next session. The Bureau assumes responsibilities for the forthcoming activities during the inter-sessional period.

Current members of the Commission (and the years of the end of their mandates) are: