UNESCO - UNESCO to receive the 2002 SIBI Award for its work in the field of bioethics

UNESCO to receive the 2002 SIBI Award for its work in the field of bioethics

26-09-2002 10:00 pm Paris - On October 4, UNESCO will receive the SIBI award in Gijón, Spain, which the Sociedad Internacional de Bioética (SIBI) bestows every two years upon an individual, a group or an entity whose research, publications or teaching has made significant contributions to the field of bioethics. The Sociedad Internacional de Bioética will hand out the 2002 SIBI award, consisting of a medal and a diploma, during the closing ceremony of the second World Conference on Bioethics, which will take place in Gijón from September 30 to October 4. The Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences, Pierre Sané, will accept the award on behalf of UNESCO.

This is the second time that the Sociedad Internacional de Bioética has awarded the prize. The first laureate, in 2000, was Professor Van Rensselaer Potter, to whom we owe the term "bioethics". This year, the SIBI's scientific committee unanimously voted to give UNESCO the honour for its "continuing and universal work in favour of bioethical values", especially for the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, the first international instrument in this field.

The Gijón-based SIBI was set up in 1996 on a proposal by Marcelo Palacios, a former member of the Spanish parliament, and a member of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly. That same year, the Council of Europe decided to open for signature in Oviedo (Asturias) its Convention for the Protection Human Rights and Dignity in the Applications of Biology and Medicine, known as the Convention of Asturias.

The aim of the SIBI is to promote reflection, analysis and debate on bioethical issues. One of its main tasks is to disseminate the Asturias Bioethics Convention. The SIBI is legally, economically and administratively managed by the same-named foundation.

Fuente	Press Release No.2002-69
Autor(es)	UNESCOPRESS