DECISION TO SUPPORT THE SQUARE KILOMETRE
ARRAY (SKA) PROJECT ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT
Doc.EX.CL/584(XVII)
The Assembly,
ENDORSES the recommendation of the Executive Council with regard to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Project provided for in the Report of the Fourth Ordinary Session of the African Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology (AMCOST IV), held in Cairo, Egypt, from 8 to 11 March 2010;
ACKNOWLEDGES the importance of science, technology and innovation emanating from the SKA Project in development of our knowledge-based economies and driving human capital development programmes;
APPRECIATES the efforts of the Republic of South Africa in coordinating Africa’s bid to promote space related science and technology matters on the continent;
ENDORSES the African bid to host the SKA on the African continent, thereby providing the world with the unique instrument for frontier research and discovery, cementing Africa’s commitment to contribute to global scientific excellence and enterprise;
ALSO ENDORSES the Republic of South Africa’s bid to host, in collaboration with Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Kenya and Zambia the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Project on the African continent;
CALLS ON Member States, the Commission and the Regional Economic Communities to fully cooperate with the Republic of South Africa on this project by providing the necessary support to this bid;
ALSO CALLS ON Africa’s development partners and the global scientific community to support the African SKA bid, both directly and in all relevant forums where such support would promote the success of the bid.