The United Nations Inter-Agency Meeting on Outer Space Activities

Paper number

IAC-08.E3.2.1

Author

Dr. Werner R. Balogh, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Austria

Year

2008

Abstract

	The United Nations is increasingly making use of space technology and its applications in support of a wide range of activities. Within the United Nations system approximately 25 United Nations entities and the World Bank Group are now routinely using space-based assets such as telecommunication satellites, global navigation satellite systems, Earth Observation satellites and their applications. Space tools and solutions provide essential data and information and – in some cases the only – operational means to implement mandated activities of the United Nations.


	The annual sessions of the Inter-Agency Meeting on Outer Space Activities are the primary instrument for achieving better coordination, improved cooperation and synergy in space-related activities of the United Nations system. Starting out as an ad-hoc mechanism for coordination, the Inter-Agency Meeting was established as a Sub-Committee of the United Nations Administrative Committee on Coordination in 1975 and held its first session in September 1976. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is acting as the coordinator and secretariat for the Inter-Agency Meeting.


	In addition to being a forum for coordination, the Inter-Agency Meeting prepares and finalizes the annual report of the Secretary-General on the co-ordination of outer space activities within the United Nations system. Since 2004 open informal sessions to inform representatives of Member States about important space-related developments in the United Nations system have been held in conjunction with the Inter-agency Meeting. 


	This paper recalls the origins and the history of the Inter-Agency Meeting, reviews the substantial issues considered at its annual sessions, outlines opportunities and challenges for coordination of outer space activities in the United Nations system and discusses the role of the United Nations in the broader context of how space technology and its applications contribute to providing solutions to the World’s challenges.

Abstract document

IAC-08.E3.2.1.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-08.E3.2.1.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.