{"id":244953,"date":"2022-12-07T10:28:48","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T08:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/president-calls-on-forum-to-use-science-to-improve-peoples-lives-fight-inequality\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T10:28:48","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T08:28:48","slug":"president-calls-on-forum-to-use-science-to-improve-peoples-lives-fight-inequality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/president-calls-on-forum-to-use-science-to-improve-peoples-lives-fight-inequality\/","title":{"rendered":"President calls on forum to use science to improve people’s lives, fight inequality"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Cyril Ramaphosa shone a spotlight on how science can play a role in improving people\u2019s lives and addressing the challenges facing the world including disease, climate change and food insecurity.<\/p>\n

The President was delivering his keynote address on Tuesday at the opening session of the World Science Forum (WSF) in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to ensure that this forum will not only be a platform for vibrant discussion but will also lead to concrete actions harnessing science as an instrument for social justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

He called on the forum to not only be a platform for vibrant discussion but also lead to concrete actions harnessing science as an instrument for social justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe theme for the forum \u2013 Science for Social Justice \u2013 should guide our deliberations. This theme expresses our conviction that inequality within and between countries is neither just nor sustainable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event will inspire concerted global action for science to challenge and address inequality, injustice, poverty, environmental destruction and marginalisation.\u201d<\/p>\n

By hosting this event, the President said South Africa is demonstrating its strong commitment to international cooperation in science.<\/p>\n

\u201cScience progresses when nations work together,\u201d he told the guests.<\/p>\n

He said he hoped that the first WSF to take place in Africa will contribute to advancing the continent\u2019s agenda for science, affirming the crucial contributions Africa has to make in enriching global science.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have all the ingredients required for success.\u201d<\/p>\n

The President challenged researchers to consider the role science should play in protecting and enhancing human dignity and in fighting poverty, unemployment and inequality.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, the inequality in access to vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic was a gross violation of human rights and contributed to further loss of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe global scientific community demonstrated the value of cooperation in responding with unprecedented urgency to produce COVID-19 vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, he called on the scientists to look at Just Climate Transition, minimising the social and economic impact, and securing the livelihoods of those most vulnerable to climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cInnovation and green technologies must be at the forefront of our response to this challenge and must enable developing economies to exploit new growth opportunities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is part of the motivation for South Africa\u2019s significant investment in developing a hydrogen economy, which will be presented at this forum.\u201d<\/p>\n

He asked how the forum could ensure that contribution of African science is recognised as a global resource that is part of the global responses to global challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is fitting that the World Science Forum coincides with a special ceremony to celebrate the start of construction of the global Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope hosted in South Africa,\u201d he said, adding that the SKA is one example of African-led science excellence on the global stage.<\/p>\n

He also questioned how science could reinforce multilateralism and global solidarity, which is under threat in the face of rising geopolitical tension and making science more reflective of the society the world desires.<\/p>\n

The President thanked the WSF partners for entrusting South Africa with this responsibility.<\/p>\n

He also congratulated Minister Blade Nzimande and Professor Tam\u00e1s Freund on the Steering Committee\u2019s success in compiling a relevant and thought-provoking programme.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat matters is not the fact that we have participated in the World Science Forum here in Cape Town, but rather what we will do as a consequence to improve the lives of others, making our world a more just one.\u201d \u2013 SAnews.gov.za<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Cyril Ramaphosa shone a spotlight on how science can play a role in improving people\u2019s lives and addressing the challenges facing the world including disease, climate change and food insecurity. The President was delivering his keynote address on Tuesday at the opening session of the World Science Forum (WSF) in Cape Town. \u201cWe need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":244954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[38678],"class_list":{"0":"post-244953","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-south-africa","8":"tag-sanews","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/president-calls-on-forum-to-use-science-to-improve-peoples-lives-fight-inequality.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}