The UNESCO Bioethics Programme: A Review

UNESCO’s Bioethics Programme was established in 1993. In twenty years it has adopted three international declarations, on the human genome (1997), human genetic data (2003) and bioethics (2005); produced reports on a wide range of bioethics issues; and developed capacity building and public education programmes in bioethics. Yet UNESCO has sometimes struggled to assert its authority in the wider bioethics world. Some bioethicists have criticized the 2005 declaration and suggested that the World Health Organization might be better placed to advance bioethics. In 2011, after four years of debate, UNESCO decided not to draft a convention on human reproductive cloning, because consensus on the issue proved impossible. This article reviews the standard setting and capacity building activities of the UNESCO Bioethics Programme. While the Programme faces challenges common to most intergovernmental organizations, its achievements in expanding international law and building bioethics capacity should not be underestimated.