Daily Times

With 11 points improvement, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) ranked 90th among 100 non-U.S. global think tanks, retained its 1st position in Pakistan for the last many years, and with improvement of four points it ranked 11th among the South East Asia and the Pacific region, according to the 15th edition of University of Pennsylvania Global Go To Think Tank Index (GGTTI) released across the world.

The 2020 GGTTI is based on the ranking done for over 8500 think tanks (TT) registered with GGTTI from across the globe, selected through a rigorous criterion. The University of Pennsylvania under GGTTI initiative organized a global webinar on the eve of the global launch of the GGTTI 2020 report and invited representatives of 20 world-renowned think tanks including SDPI whose case studies were presented at the webinar on ‘Best Policy and Institutional Response to COVID-19’ while working with their respective policy makers. The Executive Director of SDPI presented the Institute’s case study of developing ‘Food Security Dashboard’ under the office of the prime minister to monitor the food security situation amid pandemic and in general situation.

Launching the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index report, the Executive Director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said: “Despite all hardships amid impacts of COVID19 and much of the work done by SDPI on virtual platforms and difficulties faced by civil society and think tanks, SDPI has improved its ranking in the index and continued to be figured as a prominent global think tank since 2017. This year, SDPI has increased its positioning in 6 key categories and retained its position in 5 categories”.

He said that selection of SDPI to present its best policy and institutional response to COVID19 case study at the webinar organized by the University of Pennsylvania is a great recognition of the Institute. The global audience was told that the prime minister has approved the Food Security Dashboard developed by SDPI.

The categories where SDPI improved its ranking include: 1) top think tanks (non-U.S.) with 90th position as compared to 101 position last year; 2) top think tank (SEA and the Pacific) with 11th position with 4 points’ improvement from 15th position last year; 3) economic policy with 140th position, one point improvement from 141st position last year; 4) advocacy and outreach with 60th position, one point improvement from 61st position last year; 5) think tank to watch with 49th position, two points improvement from 51st position last year and 6) public engagement with 76th position, one point improvement from 77th position last year.

The SDPI retained its position and ranked 52nd as an independent think tank. The Institute retained its 64thposition in the media work category. Similarly, SDPI retained its 60th position in institutional collaboration category, 99th position in social policy and 66th position in environment policy category.

Congratulating the SDPI’s staff and the management, Chairperson Board of Governors of SDPI, former Ambassador Shafqat Kakakhel said, “SDPI despite several constraints has achieved a milestone of improving its position and was ranked among top 100 non-U.S. think tanks.

The commitment and professionalism of its staff, valuable initiatives by thematic experts and leadership with the support and guidance of its board of governors hailing from diverse expertise and background made it possible for the Institute to get a prestigious position among the think tanks community.” He also thanked the development partners, policy makers, and experts for their support.