The InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) is a global network consisting of over 140 national and regional member academies of science, engineering, and medicine. It was founded in 1993 as the InterAcademy Panel (IAP). In 2000, the IAP founded the ''InterAcademy Council'' (IAC) and the ''InterAcademy Medical Panel'' (IAMP). The partnership was established in 2016 when it merged the three inter-related networks into IAP for Health (formerly ''IAMP''), IAP for Science (formerly IAP), and IAP for Policy (formerly IAC). The mission of IAP is for the world's merit-based academies to play a vital role in ensuring that science serves society inclusively and equitably and underpins global sustainable development by advising the public on the

scientific Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

aspects of critical

global issues A global issue is a matter of Social issue#Types of social issues, public concern worldwide. This list of global issues presents problems or phenomena affecting people around the world, including but not limited to widespread social issues, econ ...

. It has released official statements on socially important topics, including the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, food and nutrition security,

science education Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some ...

biosecurity Biosecurity refers to measures aimed at preventing the introduction or spread of harmful organisms (e.g. viruses, bacteria, plants, animals etc.) intentionally or unintentionally outside their native range or within new environments. In agricult ...

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

science communication Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the Public awareness of science, public awar ...

women in science The presence of women in science spans the earliest times of the history of science wherein they have made substantial contributions. Historians with an interest in gender and science have researched the scientific endeavors and accomplishments ...

, human

population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The World population, global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to aroun ...

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

, human reproductive cloning, and

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

. IAP has also advanced

science diplomacy Science diplomacy describes how scientific exchanges and the cross-border collaboration of scientists or scientific organizations can perform diplomatic functions in the context of international relations. Most often this diplomacy happens as part o ...

by bringing regional networks together to address global problems.

Governance

The highest decisive body of IAP is the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

, which meets every third year, and where each member organization has one vote on organizational decisions. At these meetings, member academies elect new leadership, approve new members, report on organizational activities over the last triennial period, and approve a

strategic plan Strategic planning is the activity undertaken by an organization through which it seeks to define its future direction and makes decision making, decisions such as resource allocation aimed at achieving its intended goals. "Strategy" has many def ...

for the next three years. In between the meetings, the work is directed by three executive committees, one for each pillar of the Partnership (or in the case of IAP Policy, a board), supported by a

secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

from a host academy. Each executive committee/board convenes annually, with two co-chairs presiding. One of the co-chairs shall be nominated by an academy in a low or middle income country (LMIC); the other shall be nominated by a high income country (HIC). Similar rules of diversity in economic development hold for the executive committee member academies in order to represent a global view. The number of member academies composing the executive committee varies: 17 member academies in IAP Policy Advice Committee, 14 member academies in IAP Capacity Building Committee, and 15 member academies in IAP Communication, Education and Outreach Committee. A Board composed of the six executive committee/board co-chairs guides the InterAcademy Partnership. From these six Board members, two are selected to act as co-Presidents. The current co-Presidents are Margareth (Peggy) A. Hamburg (USA) and Masresha Fetene (Ethiopia). The Board includes representatives from each of four regional networks of academies: in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, the Asia/Pacific region, and Europe.

Current and former co-chairs

* Cherry A. Murray, US. IAP-Science, 2019–present *Masresha Fetene, Ethiopia. IAP-Policy, 2019–present * Margaret Hamburg, US. IAP-Health, 2016–present * Krishan Lal, India. IAP-Science, 2016–present *Liu Depei, China. IAP-Health, 2016–present * Richard Catlow, UK. IAP-Policy, 2016–present *Volker ter Meulen, Germany. IAP-Science, 2013–2019 * Detlev Ganten, Germany. IAP-Health, 2013–2019 * Daya Reddy, South Africa. IAP-Policy, 2012–2019 * Mohammed H.A. Hassan, Sudan. IAP-Science, 2010–2016 *Lai Meng Loi, Malaysia. IAP-Health, 2010–2016 * Jo Ivey Boufford, US. IAP-Health, 2010–2013 *

Robbert Dijkgraaf Robertus Henricus "Robbert" Dijkgraaf, (; born 24 January 1960) is a Dutch theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theorist and former politician. He served as the Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands from 2 ...

, Netherlands. IAP-Policy, 2008–2016 * Lu Yongxiang, China. IAP-Policy, 2008–2012 * Howard Alper, Canada. IAP-Science, 2007–2013 *Anthony Mbewu, South Africa. IAP-Health, 2007–2010 * Chen Zhu, China. IAP-Science, 2003–2010 *Guy de Thé, France. IAP-Health, 2000–2010 *

Bruce Alberts Bruce Michael Alberts (born April 14, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American biochemist and the Emeritus Chancellor’s Leadership Chair in Biochemistry and Biophysics for Science and Education at the University of California, San Francisco ...

, US. IAP-Policy, 2000–2008 * Goverdhan Mehta, India. IAP-Policy, 2000–2008 * Yves Quéré, France. IAP-Science, 2000–2007 *David Challoner, US. IAP-Health, 2000–2006 * Eduardo Krieger, Brazil. IAP-Science, until 2003

IAP reports

IAP publishes reports and recommendations that utilize the expertise of member academies to address issues of interest to the global

and policy communities. IAP reports are not endorsed by academy members, but instead must have the consensus of an expert committee and undergo a rigorous

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...

process. Examples of IAP reports include:
Health in the climate emergency: A global perspective
2022
Harnessing science, engineering, and medicine (SEM) to address Africa's challenges: The role of African national academies
2019
Improving scientific input to global policymaking with a focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals
2019
Opportunities for future research and innovation on food and nutrition security and agriculture: The InterAcademy Partnership's global perspective
2018
Enhancing the capacity of African science academies
2015
Responsible conduct in the global research enterprise
2012
Lighting the way: Toward a sustainable energy future
2007
Realizing the promise and potential of African agriculture
2004

IAP statements

IAP also promotes its goals through "statements on issues of fundamental importance to humanity." Statements present the combined consensus of the world's academies to provide independent,

evidence-based Evidence-based practice is the idea that occupational practices ought to be based on scientific evidence. The movement towards evidence-based practices attempts to encourage and, in some instances, require professionals and other decision-makers ...

advice and recommendations to policymakers in governments, international organizations, or academies themselves. Often an IAP statement can be used to globalise an issue on which a

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

or regional network of academies has already done a significant amount of work. An IAP statement is developed following a specific procedure and released only when the

majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

of IAP member academies have endorsed its contents

p. 4. Thus, the statements are intended to represent the consensus of the

scientific community The scientific community is a diverse network of interacting scientists. It includes many "working group, sub-communities" working on particular scientific fields, and within particular institutions; interdisciplinary and cross-institutional acti ...

rather than statements of IAP as an organisation in itself. As of 2021, IAP has issued twenty-five statements, as listed below.
IAP Statement on Implications of Urbanization in Low- and- Middle- Income Countries
Signed by 72 IAP member academies, this IAP Statement highlights policy measures aimed at improving urban living .
Climate Change and Biodiversity: Interlinkages and policy options
Signed by 81 IAP member academies, this IAP Statement highlights that climate and biodiversity policies are currently insufficiently connected and addressing

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

decline together is central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
IAP Statement on Regenerative Medicine
Signed by 74 IAP member academies. This IAP Statement highlights medical opportunities in addressing the causes of disease and warns against the misuse of

regenerative medicine Regenerative medicine deals with the "process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human or animal cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function". This field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by st ...

technologies – also when it comes to the proposed use of stem cells to tackle

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

.
IAP Statement on Protection of Marine Environments
2021. Signed by 75 IAP member academies. This statement urges world leaders to improve

ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

health by stopping habitat destruction and the spread of environmental contaminants, fighting

and overexploitation, and adopting evidence-based policies.
A Call to Action: Furthering the fight against falsified and substandard medical products
2020. Signed by 78 member academies. This statement urges political decision-makers at all levels, in concert with regional and international organisations, to work with medical product

regulatory authorities A regulatory agency (regulatory body, regulator) or independent agency (independent regulatory agency) is a government authority that is responsible for exercising autonomous jurisdiction over some area of human activity in a licensing and regu ...

, national and international law enforcement agencies, manufacturers, importers, distributors, health professionals and patients to solve this issue.
IAP call for action to declare trauma as a disease
2019. Signed by 46 of IAP for Health's 78 member academies.
IAP call for action to tackle the growing burden of dementia
2018. Signed by 53 of IAP for Health's 78 member academies.
IAP statement on climate change and education
2017. Signed by the majority of IAP for Science's 113 member academies.
IAP statement on science and technology for disaster risk reduction
2017. Signed by the majority of IAP for Science's 113 member academies.
IAP call for action to improve the reproducibility of biomedical research
2016. Signed by 46 members.
IAMP call for action to strengthen health research capacity
2013. Signed by 42 members.
IAP statement on population and consumption
2012. Signed by 105 members.
IAMP statement on the health co-benefits of policies to tackle climate change
2010. Signed by 43 members.
IAP statement on tropical forests and climate change
2009. Signed by 54 members.
IAP statement on ocean acidification
2009. Signed by 70 members. The academies state that ocean water acidity has risen due to increased

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

(CO₂) caused by human activities, and that it probably will rise further with severe effects on

marine ecosystem Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in Saline water, waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 7 ...

s if the emission of CO₂ does not decrease considerably. They urge the issue be recognized among the problems addressed by the

United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit, was held at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 7 and 18 December. The conference included the 15th session of the Conference of the Partie ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. #IAP statement on the teaching of

, 2006
Signed by 70 members
#IAP statement on

, 2005
signed by 71 members

IAP statement on access to scientific information
2003, signed by 68 members. #IAP statement on science and the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

, 2003
signed by 68 members
#IAP statement on scientific

capacity building Capacity building (or capacity development, capacity strengthening) is the improvement in an individual's or organization's facility (or capability) "to produce, perform or deploy". The terms capacity building and capacity development have often ...

, 2003
signed by 68 members

IAP statement on science education of children
2003, signed by 68 members.
IAP statement on health of mother and child in developing countries
2003, signed by 67 members. #IAP statement on

human cloning Human cloning is the creation of a genetically Cloning, identical copy of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human Cell (biology), cells and Tissue (biology), tissue. It does ...

, 2003
signed by 67 members
The academies support "a worldwide ban on the reproductive cloning of human beings", but at the same time call for "cloning to obtain

embryonic stem cells Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are Cell potency#Pluripotency, pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre-Implantation (human embryo), implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4� ...

for both research and therapeutic purposes to be excluded from this ban". #IAP statement on transition to

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

, 2000
signed by 63 members

IAP statement on science and technology and the future of cities
1996, signed by 71 members. The academies note that there is an ongoing rapid worldwide

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

. They state that this in itself is not necessarily a bad development, but that it may have rather negative effects, if appropriate measures are not taken in order to ensure the new city dwellers e.g. access to water and adequate housing. Therefore, active city planning is necessary, and so is further research on urbanization. # IAP statement on population growth, proposed 1993, ratified 1994
signed by 58 members
The academies state that "the world is undergoing an unprecedented population expansion", and that it is necessary to stop it. They noted that the amount of food produced (both on land and sea) per person was decreasing, and stated that many

environmental problems Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans (human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recov ...

were aggravated by the

population expansion Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The World population, global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to aroun ...

. The academies state that we must reach "zero population growth within the lifetime of our children". They enumerate means which should be taken to achieve this, and also to counteract the effects of the population growth on environment and food production, inter alia. This includes furthering equal opportunities for women, easy access to cheap and safe

contraceptives Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

, broad primary health care, governmental policies recognizing longer-term environmental responsibilities, and increased research on cultural, religious, and other factors, which "affect reproductive behavior".

Role in reviewing the IPCC process

In 2010, the council board recommended changes in the

IPCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World M ...

, such as having an executive committee with "individuals from outside the IPCC or even outside the

climate science Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

community." Major changes from then within the IPCC approach include a stronger focus on the treatment of uncertainty (since the IAC 2010 IPCC review) and the involvement of risk management deliberations (based on fundamental conclusions in the AR4 Synthesis Report).

References

External links

InterAcademy Partnership
{{DEFAULTSORT:Interacademy Panel on International Issues InterAcademy Panel International science academies cooperation organizations