Participation of the PABSEC International Secretariat to the IPU Webinar “Building bridges between science and parliamentarians for the good of society”, 17 March 2021
Mr. Miltiadis Makrygiannis, PABSEC Deputy Secretary General, attended the Webinar on “Building bridges between science and parliamentarians for the good of society” organized by the IPU, on 17 March 2021.
During the webinar, a panel of experts and parliamentarians addressed important issues in the wake of the approval for the establishment of an IPU Working Group on Science and Technology and taking into account the rapid evolution of science and technology in the context of the current global pandemic.
It was pointed that the national parliaments, as the representatives of the people, must be able to identify and understand in depth the potential impact of science and technology on society, determining how it can be translated into concrete initiatives for the benefit of the people, and accompanying their implementation with appropriate legislation and political action. Parliaments and policymakers play a key role in ensuring the development of humanity through scientific progress while protecting their citizens’ human rights from the misuse of technological advances.
The keynote speakers and the experts who participated in the event, focused on three important issues: 1) The importance of building a bridge between science and policy, including through the IPU Working Group on Science and Technology, a Global Parliamentary Network, and an IPU strategy on science, 2) ethics in the use of science and technology, and, 3) the importance of science for society and for peace.
Moreover, they discussed how can the IPU best work to bridge the gap between science and policy, and harness science and technology to the benefit of society, about the lessons learned from the COVID-19 concerning the capability of parliaments to effectively use scientific advice for urgent legislative and policy-making decisions and the ways that Parliamentarians may follow to increase public trust in the importance of science in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.