OIC Nations Most Vulnerable To Climate Stress

News Desk

Islamabad: The multiple challenges faced by the least developed nations in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, include food insecurity, poverty, youth unemployment, female illiteracy and water scarcity. These nations are also among the most vulnerable to climate stress and they also confront perception issues like Islamophobia and distrust, said COMSTECH Coordinator General Prof Iqbal Choudhary.

Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) Coordinator General addressed the inaugural session of the United Nations General Assembly Science Summit on Tuesday.

Organised by ISC Intelligence in Science (ISC), the summit is a significant platform for global science collaboration during the General  Assembly sessions.

In his address, the Coordinator General expressed gratitude to ISC Managing Director Declan Kirrane for his pivotal role in promoting global science collaboration and hosting the Science Summits during the sessions.

Prof Choudhary stated that COMSTECH’s primary focus is on assisting the least developed member states. Their initiatives in Africa involve promoting climate-resilient agriculture, the Health Africa program in ophthalmology and neurology, establishing laboratories and institutions, offering numerous scholarships and fellowships, and engaging in country-specific science programs.

Coordinator General pointed out that the UN Secretary General report from May 2023 highlighted impediments to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, especially for the Global South. He emphasised the need for transformative changes to shift the world toward sustainability.

To achieve the SDGs effectively, he proposed a four-fold approach. Firstly, there is a need to remove disparities in international funding to foster genuine engagement of researchers in international collaborations.

Secondly, OIC-COMSTECH endorses the idea of establishing a new SDG goal, ‘global research cooperation’. This cross-cutting goal will help to integrate scientific research into the sustainable development agenda.

Thirdly, research collaboration and knowledge sharing are crucial for fostering innovation, leveraging expertise and maximizing the impact of R&D investments.

And lastly, scientific communities need urgent preparation to make the post-2030 Agenda more science-based, addressing the shortcoming of the SDGs.

There is a need to co-create a framework for a science-based post-2030 agenda by combining lessons from the SDGs and state-of-the-art science, Dr M. Iqbal added.

Prof Choudhary proposed setting up a forum to discuss and identify challenges and mechanisms to strengthen scientific and technological capacity pertaining to the implementation of the SDGs.

He offered that OIC-COMSTECH would be happy to serve as its secretariat for the global south. COMSTECH is willing to play a central role in engaging the science community of the Muslim world in research towards solving global challenges, Iqbal further added.

It is be to noted that although the impact of the climate change is global, it is most severe on countries that are least developed and lacking in infrastructure and resources to mitigate large scale natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and draughts due to violent changes in climate. Such persistent occurrences hold back the poorest of the nations from moving forward.