The aims of this Declaration are: (i) to provide a universal framework of principles and procedures to guide States in the formulation of their legislation, policies or other instruments in the field of bioethics; (ii) to guide the actions of individuals, groups, communities, institutions and corporations, public and private; ...(vi) to promote equitable access to medical, scientific and technological developments as well as the greatest possible flow and the rapid sharing of knowledge concerning those developments and the sharing of benefits, with particular attention to the needs of developing countries; ...
Article 15 – Sharing of Benefits....Benefits resulting from any scientific research and its applications should be shared with society as a whole and within the international community, in particular with developing countries. In giving effect to this principle, benefits may take any of the following forms: ...(v) access to scientific and technological knowledge.
For background, see Priya Shetty, Ethics, science and human rights come together, SciDev.Net, July 12, 2005. Excerpt: 'UNESCO has issued a draft declaration it says will be the first ever to commit governments to take a position on the ethical and human rights dilemmas raised by modern research....It urges states to consider ethical questions from a 'human rights perspective': at its heart is the statement that the welfare of the individual should have priority over the interests of society or governments....It also highlights the importance of access to scientific and technological information, particularly in developing countries, and says governments should promote the sharing and free flow of scientific information....The draft declaration will be submitted for approval by all 192 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) member states in October. [Henk ten Have, Director of UNESCO's division of ethics of science and technology] does not expect the final text to differ significantly.'
Posted by
Peter Suber at 7/12/2005 10:52:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
