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All change for science in the OIC Wagdy Sawahel and Ehsan
Masood The Organization of
the Islamic Conference is reforming its science programme. But will change lead
to better science? Wagdy Sawahel and Ehsan Masood report "Together, we
comprise one quarter of the world's population; we hold 70 per cent of world's
energy resources, yet almost 86 per cent of predominantly Muslim countries are
scientifically lagging." This is the assessment of
Tanveer Naim, former chair of Pakistan's Council on Science and Technology and
a consultant to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the
intergovernmental grouping of predominantly Muslim states, whose secretariat is
based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In November 2005 Naim completed
a report, 'Status of Scientific Research in OIC Member States', assessing
science and technology in the Muslim world between 1995 and 2005. One finding
was that OIC states contributed just 2.5 per cent of articles in peer-reviewed
journals during the survey period. Thirty-four OIC countries published ten
papers a year or less. Yet since that
publication, the mood among politicians has firmly moved in favour of change. Reforming science in
the Islamic world A number of OIC states
are beginning to invest more in research and innovation while at the same time
overhauling their national scientific infrastructures. These states include the
smaller Gulf states of Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. They also
include medium-sized countries such as Malaysia, as well as OIC giants Egypt,
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. At the same time, reform
of the OIC's scientific institutions is also well underway. The reform
programme is the most far-reaching since a concentrated burst of activity from
1979 to 1986. This eight year period saw the creation of three new
OIC-affiliated scientific institutions: the Islamic Scientific, Educational and
Cultural Organization (ISESCO) in Rabat, Morocco; the Standing Committee on
Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) in Islamabad, Pakistan and
the Islamic World Academy of Sciences, based in Amman, Jordan. Five initiatives lie at
the centre of the OIC's science reforms, says Ali Salehi, Assistant Secretary
General for science at the OIC secretariat. The first is to meet the
goals of a ten year strategy for OIC-wide science and innovation, approved in
2005 (see Islamic states urged to follow 10-year science
plan). The programme of action includes encouraging collaboration
between OIC states through an annual exposition of scientific and technological
achievements and international competitions— including events specifically for
women and expatriates. The creation of an OIC award for outstanding scientific
achievement by scientists from OIC countries is another part of the strategy. Second is the
transformation of COMSTECH into a full member of the OIC family of
institutions, and the promise of more funding for the committee from member
states. Third is a commitment to
raising standards in the universities of OIC states. The initial target is for
at least 20 universities to join the world's top 500 — according to a 2007
ranking of world universities by China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Egypt
and Turkey are the only Muslim countries with universities ranked among the
world's best. Fourth is to encourage
OIC institutions to work more closely alongside existing international
initiatives, such as achieving the Millennium Development Goals, or working
alongside agencies such as the UN Environment Programme and the World Health
Organization. The fifth reform is to
expand the scientific expertise inside the OIC secretariat. Related to this is
a stronger science mandate for the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the
development funding institution for OIC member states, which is housed close to
the OIC secretariat. For example, one of the
joint OIC-IDB new science funding streams is the US$250 million 'Early Harvest
Programme'. Launched with the backing of Malaysia and COMSTECH, the programme
aims to provide funding for research that has the potential to advance economic
development and reduce poverty, with immediate benefits. Says Rafee Yousuf, an
advisor in the IDB's Strategic Planning Office, "We want to consider
projects that have social and economic impact in member countries… We want to
be able to see results in one or two years." Championing science in
the OIC Agreement to reform
science in the OIC has come about in part because of surplus revenues from high
oil prices. Also critical has been
the arrival of a number of reformist heads of state who see science and
education as being fundamental to economic development, both in their
individual countries, but also to the development of the OIC as a whole. They
include Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Ibn Saud, Malaysian prime minister
Abdullah Badawi, Turkey's recently re-elected prime minister Tayyip Erdogan and
Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf. Another important catalyst has been the
the arrival of science-historian Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to the top job of
secretary-general in the OIC secretariat. Yet some disagreements
still remain. One longstanding idea,
championed by Musharraf and his minister of higher education, Atta ur Rahman,
remains on ice. This is to create a pan-OIC fund for R&D. One of the fund's
aims, says COMSTECH's assistant coordinator-general Muhammad Ali Mahesar, would
be for some of the richer OIC nations to assist poorer members — 22 member
states are in Sub-Saharan Africa — with research funding. But despite three years
of vigorous lobbying from Pakistan, the scheme has repeatedly failed to attract
the support of Saudi Arabia — the OIC's most influential state. According to
one senior Saudi government official who asked not to be named, the OIC is a
networking and enabling body. Funding R&D, he told SciDev.Net, should be
the responsibility of individual member states. Cooperation and
collaboration Whether the new reforms
will help to improve science in the OIC remains an open question. Among those
more sceptical is Farouk El Baz, director of the Center for Remote Sensing at
Boston University in the United States, and a long-time observer of science in
Arabic-speaking countries. El Baz predicts that
scientific indicators for some individual OIC countries will improve. But he is
less certain about the prospect of increased OIC-wide scientific collaboration,
or whether such collaboration will lead to better science, or more development.
History, El Baz says,
does not support the thesis that good science is linked to scientists having a
common religious identity. "During the height of Islamic civilization,
masters of science were supported by visionary leaders, and included scholars
from among Christians, Jews and other religions." A different view is
offered by Ahmed Abdullah Azad of Brac University, Dhaka, Bangladesh and a
longstanding OIC science advisor. Azad believes that "a pan-Islamic
science effort is necessary" if Muslim countries are serious about
becoming scientifically and economically advanced. "A small number of [wealthy]
OIC member states can do it alone," he says. But the remaining poorer
nations will need assistance, and for him that is what pan-Islamic cooperation
is all about. http://www.scidev.net/features/index.cfm?fuseaction=printarticle&itemid=654&language=1 |
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