Compared to the first draft, the latest version of the Pact for the Future – a milestone document for the work of the United Nations this decade – contains unfortunate backward steps on support for open and collaborative science. With partners, IFLA has issued a call on the co-facilitators for this to be corrected.

The Pact for the Future will be formally agreed and approved at the Summit of the Future, due to be held in New York in the context of the UN General Assembly. It is the culmination of a process launched with the UN’s 75th anniversary in 2020, and looks to put the multilateral system on a positive path into the coming decades.

A key part of this work has been science and technology, given the role that this can play in helping to respond to policy challenges and support the achievement of development goals. Better support for research and better application of its findings everywhere, for the benefit of all, are essential.

The first draft of the Pact, released at the beginning of the year, included some positive steps in this regard, notably with its emphasis on the need to support open science, as well as to pursue a balanced approach to intellectual property regulation, focused on delivering positive goals.

The latest draft unfortunately takes a step backwards, removing talk of open science, and taking a more rigid approach to issues like copyright – something that we have long argued does not help libraries fulfil their mission to support development.

We are therefore happy to join with partners at Creative Commons, Fundación Via Libre, the Global Expert Network on Copyright User Rights, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Wikimedia Foundation to call for change. Notably, as the letter sets out, we ask Member States to:

  • Reinstate a clear call to advance Open Science, in line with the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science of 2021, underpinned by infrastructures working in the public interest.
  • Reinstate the call for a balanced and dynamic approach to intellectual property, ensuring that its governance favours research, innovation and dissemination, and underlines the positives of openness more broadly, notably in data and education.
  • Underline the importance of protecting and promoting inclusive and open international research collaboration and people to people exchange.

You can access the full text of the letter here. Further sign-ons are possible here.