Towards a results-based management approach for capacity-building in space science, technology and applications to support the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development

Abstract

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has the mandate to assist Member States with building capacity in using space science, technology and their applications in support of sustainable economic, social and environmental development. From 20 to 21 June 2018 the international community will gather in Vienna for UNISPACE + 50, a special segment of the 61st session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first UNISPACE conference and to reach consensus on a global space agenda for the next two decades. “Capacity-building for the twenty-first century” is one of the seven thematic priorities of UNISPACE + 50, identified and agreed upon by COPUOS. The Committee has tasked UNOOSA with undertaking the work under this thematic priority and with reporting regularly to the Committee and its Subcommittees on the progress of its work. It is therefore appropriate, in this context, to take stock of the achievements of the capacity-building activities of the Office, to review the relevant mandates and activities and to consider the necessity to strengthen and better align them with the future needs of the World and in particular with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This paper describes the efforts on-going at UNOOSA, building on its experiences with implementing the United Nations Programme on Space Applications and the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) and working with Member States and other United Nations entities, to develop a results-based management approach, based on an indicator framework and a database with space solutions, for promoting the use of space-based solutions to help Member States achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and successfully implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.