© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
Alireza Bagheri, Jonathan D. Moreno and Stefano Semplici (eds.)Global Bioethics: The Impact of the UNESCO International Bioethics CommitteeAdvancing Global Bioethics510.1007/978-3-319-22650-7_33. Twenty Years of the International Bioethics Committee: Achievements and Future Priorities
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Hassan II University of Casablanca and Centre Jacques Berque, Casablanca & Rabat, Morocco
Abstract
In the 20 years since the establishment of the International Bioethics Committee (IBC), UNESCO has become a key interlocutor on bioethics through its three declarations and the Ethics Education Programme, all of which bear the hallmarks of a multidisciplinary and pluralist approach that seeks to balance universal and contextual considerations. Over the next 20 years, the IBC must continue to ensure that scientific and technological advances do not exacerbate human vulnerability, particularly in resource-poor countries. Issues such as the trafficking of human organs and tissue, the migration of health workers, and the dangers of counterfeit medicines should be considered with a view to making practical recommendations. Support for bioethics committees and bioethics education in developing countries must remain a priority, and the governments of Member States must be involved in this process to ensure its sustainability.
An early draft of this article was presented in the UNESCO Symposium, “The role of UNESCO in bioethics for the next 20 years symposium”, in Paris on September 6, 2013.
3.1 Leadership of UNESCO and the International Bioethics Committee in Global Bioethic s
The reflections and comments in this section are informed by my experience of working with the IBC, initially as a member (2000–2007) and then as the IBC Chairperson (2005–2007). Now, 20 years after the establishment of the IBC, it is clear that UNESCO as an international and intergovernmental organization is a key interlocutor on bioethics issues, for its Member States as well as for the global community. UNESCO has put bioethical issues on the agenda of the United Nation s and international governance. By approaching bioethics as a discipline and praxis, UNESCO has promoted standard-setting actions and capacity building in Member States, drawing on the expertise of the IBC members and under the leadership of the Division of Ethics of Science and Technology. As part of this process, the ethics program aimed to build a bridge between decision-makers and legislators on the one hand, and researchers in science and technology on the other. Through training and awareness-raising measures, UNESCO has helped Member States to open up the debate between scientists and decision-makers to include the general public. This vision of IBC leadership is founded on:
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Three declarations, namely the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Right s (UNESCO 1997), the International Declaration on Human Genetic Data (UNESCO 2003a), and the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Right s (UNESCO 2005). These declarations were the result of consultations between scientists, those working in the field of bioethics, independent IBC experts, members of the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee (IGBC) and government experts, as well as other United Nation s agencies with an interest in bioethics notably the World Health Organization (WHO). Today, these three declarations provide an international legal and moral framework for all Member States. The reports and recommendations drafted and adopted by the IBC complement and clarify this standard-setting framework by developing regulations at the national level.
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The Ethics Education Program of the Division of Ethics of Science and Technology, including the Assisting Bioethics Committees (ABC) program, which has promoted and assisted the formation of ethics committees in many developing countries; the establishment of the Global Ethics Observatory (GEObs), and the creation in 2008 of a bioethics training module for medical students (Ten Have 2006). A core course in bioethics aimed primarily at medical students can be found online in all the working languages of UNESCO (2008).
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The initiative for the establishment of the United Nation s Inter-Agency Committee on Bioethics to coordinate action in the field of bioethics across the United Nations system.
3.2 The IBC: A Pluralist and Multidisciplinary Setting
One of the defining characteristics of the success of all these initiatives is the overarching multidisciplinary and pluralist approach of the IBC. This approach seeks to balance the universal against the particular, through consensus whenever possible, or if consensus seems impossible or reductive, by synergizing efforts to present different points of view in such a way that they become fully comprehensible to all.
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