ANSO Attended the 2024 International Conference of NGOs in Official Partnership with UNESCO

ANSO Secretariat

02 01, 2025

Invited by the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee, representatives from the Alliance of National and International Science Organizations for the Belt and Road Regions (ANSO) Secretariat participated in the 2024 International Conference of NGOs in Official Partnership with UNESCO, which took place in Paris, France, from December 17 to 19, 2024. This biennial conference convenes over four hundred of UNESCO's NGO partners to discuss significant action plans and to foster cooperation and network development between UNESCO and its NGO partners. This marks ANSO's inaugural in-person participation in the conference since attaining official partnership with UNESCO (consultative status) as an NGO in 2022.

The theme of this year's conference is "Building Capacity for Action." More than 300 NGO representatives from around the world participated in the event. The opening ceremony was attended by Mr. QU Xing, UNESCO Deputy Director-General, H.E. Ambassador Simona-Mirela Miculescu, President of the General Conference of UNESCO, and Mr. Nick Newland, Chairperson of the International Conference of NGOs. In his address, Mr. QU specifically mentioned that ANSO and UNESCO are closely collaborating to advance science in developing countries.

The ANSO Secretariat actively engaged in various activities and agenda items of the conference, like discussions of the Youth Working Group Strategic Dialogue and made presentations for the NGO Hub session themed on “Sharing Experiences from around the World”, striving to play its role within the framework of UNESCO and to enhance ANSO's visibility and impact at the global level.

Additionally, as a critical outcome of ANSO's active response to the "UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)", the Ocean Decade Manual for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), published by UNESCO, was officially launched at this conference.