20 – 24 November 2016
Grand Hyatt Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

VIENNA, November 16, 2016 --  (UN Information Service) – More than 100 participants from all parts of the international space community will gather in Dubai from 20 to 24 November to identify ways to harness space technology and applications for socio-economic development.

The first United Nations/United Arab Emirates High Level Forum on Space as a Driver for Socio-Economic Development is organized by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), in conjunction with the United Arab Emirates Space Agency and hosted by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre.

The Forum will bring together stakeholders from across the broader space community at a time when the sector is growing ever more complex and the number of space actors is increasing. Speakers will include heads of space agencies, astronauts, representatives of governments, United Nations entities and inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, academics and the private sector in what will be a unique opportunity for exchanging ideas and experiences.

Discussions and outcomes will be based around four pillars:

· space economy: the full range of activities and use of resources that create and provide value and benefits to human beings in the course of exploring, understanding and utilizing space;
· space society: a society that carries out its core functions while making the best use of space technologies and space-based services and applications;
· space accessibility: all user communities and decision-makers being able, on an equal basis, to benefit from and use space technologies and space-based data;
· space diplomacy: cooperation among nations in using space technologies and applications to address common challenges facing humanity and to build constructive, knowledge-based partnerships.

The Forum will deliver concrete recommendations in the form of the “Dubai Declaration”, which will contribute to “UNISPACE+50”, a special segment in June 2018 of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) session to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE) and set the future course of global space cooperation.

The Forum is co-sponsored by the Secure World Foundation, Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems, and the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems.

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