Islamic bank invests in SDG-aligned science capacity

Twenty-five African countries that are members of the Islamic Development Bank are set to benefit from support to grow their high-level science, following the signing of a cooperation accord between the bank and the World Academy of Sciences.

In a pact signed between the Islamic Development Bank, or IDB, and the academy in July in Italy, the parties agreed to explore cooperation strategies in four areas, including fellowships and grants, advanced training workshops, support for refugee scientists, as well as scientific needs and resource assessment in member countries.

The 25 African countries are part of the 57 IDB member countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East which are primed to gain from the scientific support cooperation deal between the two bodies aimed in part at helping the countries achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs through science.

The fellowships and grants will focus on sustainability challenges in the developing countries relevant to the SDGS, and will include postdoctoral fellowships for young researchers in the 25 'Least Developed Countries' that are members of the bank, more than half of them being African countries.

Under the fellowships, grants for undertaking joint research between member countries that promote the attainment of SDGs will also be on offer.

“The fellowships would be at centres of excellence in developing countries and could include grants for joint research projects in IDB member countries in areas related to the SDGs,” an official statement said.

The 17 African countries which are IDB members and which the United Nations considers Least Developed Countries will additionally gain from support to develop databases and websites in science, technology and innovation that will include cataloguing of their scientific infrastructure as well as human capacity.

According to new World Academy of Sciences or TWAS Executive Director Romain Murenzi, a strategic focus will be required with specific objectives, a strong plan of implementation, and close tracking of results in actualising the pact, without giving details of the timelines.

He said the agreement holds enormous promise to create new activities which would advance science and support “sustainable prosperity” for communities across the developing world.
“Both IDB and TWAS are committed to developing projects that have a sharp strategic focus. We particularly want to ensure that science-related development is aligned with the UN SDGs,” he told University World News.

According to IDB President Bandar Hajjar, the scholarship programme was motivated by the need for quality education for students directed towards attainment of the SDGs.

Science, technology and innovation were prime movers in the attainment of the SDGs, he noted; hence, the bank’s decision to support the sector.

“We need to engage the very best scholarships programme for maximum impact, and this is the reason why we want to sign an MOU [memorandum of understanding] with TWAS – so we can get top results for the SDGs in our member countries,” he said during the signing ceremony.

The majority of IDB member countries are drawn from Africa – 25 in total, with 17 of them being in the Least Developed Countries’ category.

The continent also has many refugee or exiled scientists working either as scientists or in non-related fields in foreign countries across the world, worsening the continent’s brain drain.

Among African countries that are members of the IDB are politically unstable or relatively under-developed countries, including Somalia, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, the Gambia, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Togo, Mauritania, Mozambique and Benin.