ISLAMABAD: The development paradoxes in Pakistan are not much different from those in the developed countries; however, the country despite its various shortcomings has emerged as one of the earliest adopters of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the parliament level.
This was the crux of the views expressed by experts at a one-day seminar that was jointly organised by the COMSATS and Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) in Islamabad, on Thursday, to commemorate the UN’s South-South Cooperation Day with special focus on “Framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.
While speaking on the occasion, UN Resident Coordinator Neil Buhne said that the developing countries, including Pakistan, are faced with similar problems such as poverty and hunger, and scientific solutions can help solve these issues. “Realisation of SDGs would lead to peace in the world,” he said adding that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a good example of South-South Cooperation.
A large number of students, scientists, economists, entrepreneurs, sustainable development policy makers and practitioners, media and civil society, representatives of government, international development agencies, NGOs and education institutions attended the talks and the key note addresses followed by an interactive panel discussion session.
Representing PAS, Dr Nasim and Prof Shinwari strongly advocated the role of science academies in promoting science and technology for sustainable development and highlighted the importance of the inter-relationship between science, society and policy.
Dr Nasim said, “Both PAS and COMSATS share the vision of late Prof Abdus Salam of putting science at the heart of development agenda and this seminar is one of the several initiatives both the organisations have taken for realisation of the vision behind establishment of these institutes.” Other speakers touched upon a number of aspects of South-South cooperation with special reference to the SDGs adopted last year by the United Nations, and took stock of related issues in Pakistan and other developing countries.
They said that based on the experience of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it felt imperative to rationalise, indigenise and prioritise these goals in view of the needs and ground realities of the countries of the South, and to create greater provisions and opportunities for cooperation among them. Socio-economic impact of such programmes was reviewed and it was deemed necessary that economic development should go hand-in-hand with social development, they added.
Relevant statistics and facts were reviewed including Pakistan’s standing as per the Human Development Index (HDI) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Reports.
On behalf of COMSATS, Irfan Hayee noted how perfectly the concepts of SDGs and South-South cooperation align with COMSATS’ mission of science and technology -led sustainable development. He appreciated the steadfast patronage of the Ministry of Science and Technology, government of Pakistan, and strong technical support of COMSATS Institute of Information Technology to COMSATS’ activities and programs in pursuit of its goals.