8 July 2022 Opening Ceremony Program 08:30 – 10:00 Check-in 10:00 – 10:30 Welcome speeches Moderator: Ms Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO Mr Xing Qu, Deputy Director-General, UNESCO H.E. Dr Luther Castillo Harry, Secretary of Science, Technology, and Scientific Innovation, Republic of Honduras, on behalf of H.E Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento, President of the Republic of Honduras H.E. Csaba Kőrösi, President-elect, 77th United Nations General Assembly Dr Michel Spiro, Chair, Steering Committee of IYBSSD2022; President, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics Dr Merieme Chadid, President, Scientific Board of the UNESCO International Basic Sciences Program 10:30 – 10:45 UNESCO’s role in basic science: the beating heart of substainable development Ms Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO 10:45 – 11:00 Coffee Break 11:00 – 12:30 The role of basic sciences in decision making Ministers of science and high-level scientists discuss the importance of basic sciences in policy decision making, especially regarding the sustainable development challenges that we face. Moderator: Dr Rolf-Dieter Heuer, President, SESAME council; Professor Emeritus, University of Hamburg, Germany; former Director General, CERN H.E. Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment, Republic of Cuba (online) H.E. Luther Castillo Harry, Secretary of Science, Technology, and Scientific Innovation, Republic of Honduras H.E. Wang Zhigang, Minister and Secretary of Ministry of Science and Technology, People’s Republic of China (online) H.E. Dr Bonginkosi Emmanuel Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science & Innovation, Republic of South Africa H.E. Huynh Thanh Dat, Minister of Science and Technology, Socialist Republic of Vietnam Dr Low Teck Seng, Chief Executive Officer, National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Republic of Singapore (online) Dr Serge Haroche, Honorary Professor, Collège de France, France, Physics Nobel Laureate (2012) Dr Giorgio Parisi, Emeritus Professor, Rome University La Sapienza, Italy, Physics Nobel Laureate (2021) 12:30 – 14:30 Lunch 14:30 – 14:40 Strengthening science, technology, engineering and mathematics for the SDGs H.E. Mohamed Belhocine, African Union Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (video) 14:40 – 15:45 The Role of Basic Sciences in developping societies How do scientists contribute to the progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, with their results, and also in the way they are working and interacting with society? Moderator: Ms Dominique Leglu, Editorial Director, Science&Avenir La Recherche Dr Rui Bai, Associate Research Fellow, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China (online) Dr Karen Hallberg, Research Director, Bariloche Atomic Centre, Argentina Dr Hany Helal, President of Senghor University in Alexandria, Egypt; Professor, Cairo University, Faculty of Engineering; Former Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Arab Republic of Egypt Dr Barry Barish, Ronald and Maxine Linde Professor of Physics, Emeritus, California Institute of Technology, USA, Physics Nobel Laureate (2017) Dr Francine Ntoumi, Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases-Christophe Mérieux, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Professor of Molecular Epidemiology of infectious Diseases, University of Tübingen, Germany (online) Remarks: Dr Emil Bjerrum-Bohr, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen, Niels Bohr International Academy, Denmark, Great-grandson of Niels Bohr 15:45 – 16:00 Coffee Break 16:00 – 17:00 Perspectives