By Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary
Over the years, COMSTECH has pursued a number of initiatives and projects for Science & Technology Capacity Building in OIC member states.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) represents the aspirations of the nearly 2 billion Muslims of the world in the political as well as social and intellectual spheres. The OIC operates through its various bodies, each focusing on some specific domain where they harness the collective energy of the Muslim nations for general improvement of the member states and their peoples.
While a multitude of problems confront the Muslim countries in general, none is probably as crucial to our dreams of development and economic and social betterment than the lagging behind in science and technology. Despite vast natural resources in some of our countries and large young populations, most of our countries are making inadequate contributions to both science and technology, for a multitude of reasons.
To revive the scientific spirit and channelize it for economic and social development is indeed a great challenge confronting our societies. As a primary step in this direction, COMSTECH, the Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation of the OIC was established by the Third Islamic Summit of OIC held at Makkah, Saudi Arabia, in January 1981.
Pakistan was offered to host this organization, and the country has continued to host and support COMSTECH generously over the years. The President of Pakistan is the Chairman of COMSTECH while its Executive Head is a Coordinator General appointed by him. Successive Coordinator generals of COMSTECH have included very eminent Pakistani scientists and administrators, such as Dr. MA Qazi, Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman, Dr. Shaukat Hameed Khan and finally, since 2020, the incumbent Coordinator General, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary.
Since 2006 COMSTECH has been housed in an impressive multi-storey building on Constitution Avenue, where the flags of member states flutter at a height and are a reminder of the collective aspiration of Muslim countries to advance in science and technology for socio-economic development.
The core mandate of COMSTECH is to strengthen cooperation among OIC Member States in science and technology and enhance their capabilities through training in emerging areas, undertake follow-up-actions and implementation of the resolutions of the OIC, and to draw up programs and submit proposals designed to increase the capability of the Muslim countries in science and technology (S&T). The ultimate aim is to build and nourish a scientific culture in addition to using S&T as a major contributor to socio-economic development and rapid industrialization.
It will be obvious that COMSTECH as a the OIC’s premier Science & Technology organization has a very broad and ambitious mandate that requires supporting and developing scientific efforts in 57 member states over a very large range of disciplines. To achieve these ends COMSTECH has a three-fold strategy.
Firstly, COMSTECH plans and executes its own initiatives that are managed and executed by its own staff in different fields of science and technology.
Secondly, COMSTECH has a number of Inter-Islamic Networks that are centred in different member states, each associated with a different field of science, technology or innovation. At present there are nine such active networks that operate in different fields for example Water Resources, Tropical Medicine, Biosaline Agriculture, Information technology, Nanosciences, Space sciences, and Oceanography.
Finally, COMSTECH works in close collaboration with various Standing Committees and other specialized institutions and organs of the OIC, such as the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and with the scientific and technological institutions of the OIC Member States. Besides these OIC institutions and member states, COMSTECH often works in partnership with renowned international organizations, such as the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), International Foundation for Science, Stockholm (IFS), and FAO, WHO, ICGEB, UNESCO, etc.
COMSTECH make special efforts for supporting science for those scientists and countries affected by instability or occupation by hostile forces.
Most importantly, COMSTECH works in close collaboration with several specialized Ministries of the Government of Pakistan, in particular the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Food Security, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Information Technology. The partnerships with Pakistani institutions not only enables knowledge sharing and capacity building of other member states but also builds much needed bridges between Pakistani scientists and those of other member states.
COMSTECH has over the years pursued a number of initiatives and projects for the S&T Capacity Building in OIC member states. One of the major initiatives is COMSTECH’s Research Grants Program. This includes COMSTECH-IFS Research Grants Program since 1984 in partnership with the IFS to support relevant and high quality research by young scientists in the management, use and conservation of biological resources. The grants of up to USD 12,000 are awarded annually and so far 376 research projects of worth US$ 4.123 million have been financed in various disciplines in 32 OIC member states. Equally important has been the COMSTECH-TWAS Research Grants for Young Scientists, in partnership with The World Academy of Sciences that has awarded research grants worth over US$2 million between the years 2009 and 2018 to Young Scientists working in OIC countries.
Another major initiative is the COMSTECH Awards Program initiated in 1996 to recognize outstanding research work carried out by scientists who are citizens of, and working in, OIC member states. One set of these awards are Life Time Achievement Awards given in four basic sciences; Biology and Chemistry alternating biennially with Mathematics and Physics. Each award carries a cash prize of US$ 5000. So far, 24 scientists from different member states have received these awards. Similarly, awards for Excellence in Science and Technology were introduced in different categories in 2009 where so far 27 scientists have been honoured. These categories include the Best Young Researcher Award, the Best Scientific Book Award, Award for outstanding Patent, and the Best Research Paper Award.
Realizing that a very large pool of highly keen scientists exists in member states who sometimes do not have access to adequate research facilities in home countries in their specific areas, COMSTECH has initiated a program of research fellowships in 2021 under the umbrella of the COMSTECH Consortium of Excellence Scholarships (CCoE). Under this scheme COMSTECH jointly offers scholarships to young scholars/ scientists in the OIC member states to enable them to spend 6 to 12 months at a relevant centre of excellence in leading academic and research institutions of member states that are partners in this Consortium. This Consortium includes at present 32 leading higher education and research institutions of Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Egypt and Uganda.
Similarly, COMSTECH has initiated Fellowships for Research and Advanced Training in Virology and Vaccine Technologies in advanced centres in OIC country. Training of technicians is another area where most member states have been facing difficulties. To address this issue COMSTECH has initiated a Program for Training of Technical Personnel whereby COMSTECH offers internships to technical personnel in developing OIC countries. In the first cycle of this initiative, 24 candidates from different member states have been selected and placed at different institutions.
To support practical projects aimed at addressing local economic needs and problems, COMSTECH has partnered with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) under the COMSTECH Reverse Linkages and Regional Cooperation Programmes. Under this scheme researchers and innovators exchange their knowledge, expertise, technology and resources to develop their capacities and devise solutions for their autonomous development. Sixteen Resource Centers in Pakistan are mapped by IsDB as Provider Institutions for Reverse Linkage Program with focus on Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, Pharmaceuticals Industry and ICT (Information and Communication Technology). A number of other Fellowship programs are being developed at present including the COMSTECH–ICGEB Scientific Cooperation Program, to enhance mutual collaboration for capacity building and institutional networking in the field of biotechnology and genetic engineering.
COMSTECH make special efforts for supporting science for those scientists and countries affected by instability or occupation by hostile forces. The Palestine programme of 500 Fellowships and the COMSTECH-TWAS Science in Exile Programme are examples of this commitment for supporting science in highly adverse political and social circumstances.
In the former programme, COMSTECH in partnership with its CCoE, and the Association of Private Sector Universities of Pakistan (APSUS) offers scholarships and research fellowships for Palestinian scientists, as well as technicians training and workshop participation grants. Selected candidates are hosted at higher education institutions of Pakistan and other OIC member states. In the “COMSTECH-TWAS Science in Exile programme”, COMSTECH in partnership with the World Academy of Science (TWAS) offers Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Fellowships to researchers who have been displaced from their parent countries as refugees. They are hosted in relevant Pakistani institutions to enable continuation of their perspective research programmes.
Another recent and major initiative of COMSTECH is to support capacity building in the area of Health in African Countries. Under this program, the COMSTECH Africa Program in Health and STI, COMSTECH in partnership with IsDB and Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs conducts free Eye Camps and Neuro Critical Training Workshops in the African OIC member States.
In its first phase, COMSTECH in collaboration with other institutions (LRBT and IsDB) organized free eye camps in Gambia and the Republic of Niger where the team carried out 3 campaigns from November 22-26, 2021 to conduct 400 eye surgeries, training Workshop for Learning Cataract Surgery and on maintenance of eye medical Equipment. In the second phase, similar initiatives are planned for Chad, Benin, Uganda, and other African LDCs, in close collaboration with OIC General Secretariat.
COMSTECH also works extensively in the field of Food Security in partnership with the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) based in Kazakhstan. In this field its efforts have been concentrated in developing capacity of members states in developing their gene banks, in the sharing of plant genetic resources, and in developing collaborations and trainings in the field of stressed agriculture.
Here COMSTECH also partners with noted Pakistani institutions such as the PARC, NARC and NIBGE, along with some Turkish institutions. IOFS-COMSTECH Research Fellowships are recently announced to build human resources and foster institutional linkage in the specialized areas of specialized and climate resilient agriculture.
COMSTECH Technology & Innovation Portal is a digital platform established by COMSTECH to showcase the prowess of scientists and innovators in the OIC world.
The showcasing of OIC technologies is an important part of COMSTECH activities. COMSTECH Technology & Innovation Portal is a digital platform established by COMSTECH to showcase the prowess of scientists and innovators in the OIC world.
Further to this end, COMSTECH has recently organized a number of exhibitions to highlight OIC technology solutions in medical and information technologies and to bring the OIC innovators and entrepreneurs together. In the same spirit of highlighting new technologies and innovations of member states, COMSTECH organized an OIC Robotics Competition for youth in Tashkent, and separately, a Technology Innovation Roadshow in Islamabad.
The organization of training workshops, seminars, exhibitions and conferences particularly in emerging and modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, medical and health technologies, environment, sustainable energy systems and promotion of innovation are a very active area of COMSTECH. Over 5000 participants have benefited from these virtual, hybrid, and in person events in last two years. Preparation of status reports of different areas of STI in member states is another responsibility of COMSTECH and extensive studies on science publications, renewable energies, and overall STI profiles of member states have been published.
Finally, it may be mentioned that Science and technology received a boost in the OIC priorities with the organization of the 1st OIC Summit on Science and Technology in Tashkent, in 2017.
The Summit established the S&T focus of the Muslim countries in these areas through an agenda titled OIC STI Agenda 2026. COMSTECH was given a central role in organizing and leading the OIC efforts for achieving the goals identified in the STI Agenda. With this guiding policy document, COMSTECH continues to engage with Pakistan, other OIC member states, and with institutions, both within and outside the OIC, to forge greater levels of cooperation, capacity building, and enhancing the horizons of scientific knowledge and their applications in OIC member States.
The writer is Coordinator General COMSTECH.
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