Yes, an extraordinary range of countries is represented here, each committed to scientific research but also perhaps ensuring a footprint is planted in a region of immense potential value.

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Ms Harney recently took delivery of a new report on enterprise strategy by a committee chaired by Eoin O'Driscoll, managing director of Aderra, which argues not only for more emphasis on high-value-added sectors and scientific research but also for greater efforts in marketing and promotion, in which Ireland has been weak.

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This made selecting the winners an incredibly tough task, but it also showed the extraordinary range of scientific research being carried out by female scientists in the UK and Ireland.

UNESCO: Honouring the next generation of female scientists

What we are trying to do is to further elaborate the principle of non-discrimination and non-stigmatization, which is clearly stated in the Declaration of 2005, as relevant not only for more traditional issues related to health and health care, but also along the current main streams of scientific research.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

We hope that we can get not just Church leaders, but also ministers of health and the scientific community to work together to advance the research and transfer stem-cell therapies safely from the laboratory to the clinic.

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