Our scientifically advanced world often overlooks a harsh truth: many communities still lack basics, living in fear. 

Climate change, pollution, and poor resource management don’t just harm our environment; they fuel social and political instability. 

These are scientific problems, demanding solutions, and critical, cooperation.

This vision of science as a bridge to peace was central to a Paris Talks Ideas Festival 2019 workshop at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. 

In a workshop, Annie Black, a scientist, STEM innovator, women in science advocate, and currently acting international scientific director at Lancôme, posed a profound challenge: How can STEM foster cooperation and peace in Africa?

PROBLEM: Our world is empowered by science as never before. Scientific and technological advances are at a point where challenges to our health, environment and wellbeing may be defined and addressed in increasingly effective ways. Despite these great strides forward, so many communities on our planet remain powerless and deprived of some of the very basic requirements for life, liberty and hope. So many more of our fellow human beings are at the mercy of fear, insecurity and instability in their lives and livelihoods.

The grave threats posed by climate and ocean change, pollution, and the inefficient management of natural resources and waste, continue to threaten our environmental, social and political stability at local, regional and global levels. The threats that face our planet today may only be identified, analyzed and ultimately addressed by science.

Building global scientific infrastructure is a huge task. 

By 2030, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) project we’ll need over 1 million additional researchers. 

How do we rally nations, especially divided ones, around a common scientific purpose?

The answer lies in history and shared curiosity. 

Insights from that 2019 Paris Talks session are illuminated by evolving examples.

Take CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. This colossal scientific collaboration emerged from post-WWII Europe, founded under UNESCO in Paris in 1953. It aimed to rebuild cooperation and foster peace through fundamental research. Today, CERN remains a striking example of how science binds nations. 

As of May 2025, CERN continues to champion global scientific diplomacy, reinforcing its commitment to UN SDGs.

Also, take SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East). It offers a powerful parallel. 

Opened in Jordan in May 2017, it’s the Middle East’s first major international research center and a profound act of scientific diplomacy. It unites representatives from Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine, and Turkey. 

These regions, often tense, collaborate daily on vital research for medicine, biology, and environment.

Since 2019, SESAME has advanced, becoming the world’s first large accelerator fully powered by renewable energy (Dec 2019). 

It expands research and fosters regional talent.

CERN’s and SESAME’s message is clear: great scientific challenges demand great cooperation. Science thrives on dialogue, diverse minds, and free idea exchange. Indeed, science genuinely blossoms through diversity.

Yet, this ideal hits a formidable roadblock in Africa. 

African scientists often face a severe resource bind. 

High-tech science needs significant infrastructure, which isn’t always a top spending priority. 

This forces brilliant minds elsewhere, costing the continent vital human capital.

How do we adapt these lessons for Africa’s unique context, as envisioned in that 2019 Paris Talks workshop? 

Annie Black’s session laid out a compelling two-pronged strategy:

1. A Local Strategy for Africa: Building from the Ground Up, Community by Community.

Africa, astonishingly diverse with 2800 dialects and 3000 cultures, challenges broad initiatives. This strategy emphasizes a localized approach, focusing on foundational needs: education, health, and clean water.

• Empowering Local Communities: Imagine simple, life-changing local solutions like solar panels for clinics or easily maintained water pumps. These are tools for empowerment. The key: creating training networks for local people.
• The “Teach One, Teach Many” Model: This thrives on adaptability. Instead of complex systems, the focus is “easy systems to educate on.” One person learns, and then teaches others. It leverages Africa’s strong oral traditions for rapid, culturally sensitive expansion. While budget limits exist, widespread adoption is immense. Initiatives like Science4Peace (S4P) Africa, a partnership between AAS and UNITAR, now actively apply this, strengthening peace via community-level scientific cooperation.

2. An Infrastructure Strategy: Unifying for Climate Resilience Through Meteorology.

Beyond local needs, some challenges demand continent-wide effort. This strategy focuses on a high-impact, single-focus project: Meteorology.

• A Lifeline of Information: Climate change is a daily reality for Africa, impacting livelihoods via droughts, floods, and storms. The WMO, in its May 2025 reports, confirms Africa had its warmest decade on record, with extreme weather worsening hunger and insecurity. North Africa warms fastest. Imagine robust meteorological infrastructure across the continent, collecting precise data.
• A Continent-Wide Early Warning System: Objective: provide all 54 African countries with accurate climate information and crucial predictions. This means vital early warnings for farmers, alerts for disasters, and guidance for governments. Since 2019, many African nations embraced digital transformation for forecasts. The WMO’s 2025 report urges continued investment in digital infrastructure for full integration. Such unified systems are crucial for helping populations adapt to increasingly severe climate phenomena.
• Bridging Divides for Survival: This project’s scale demands deep cooperation, fostering inclusion and stakeholder independence. While budget remains a hurdle, the opportunity is immense: a single focus on climate information directly helps populations prepare and adapt. This shared imperative can be a powerful catalyst for unprecedented scientific and political cooperation.

Science: The Ultimate Architect of Peace and Progress.

This particular 2019 Paris Talks workshop, guided by Annie Black at UNESCO, underscored a profound truth: science is more than discovery; it is a powerful architect of peace. Just as CERN rebuilt bridges and SESAME unites nations, targeted scientific cooperation can unlock immense potential in Africa and beyond. It’s a compelling call to move beyond geopolitical divides and invest in shared scientific goals that benefit all humanity. 

Africa’s future – and indeed, our planet’s – may well depend on embracing science not just as a problem-solver, but as a genuine bridge-builder, fostering dialogue, empowering communities, and building a shared vision for a more peaceful and prosperous world.