FAUZIA NASREEN
THE African Union (AU) which comprises 55 countries from the continent of Africa heldits annual summitinAddisAbaba on 9 and 10February 2020.Thetheme focused ontackling the problem of violence so that peace could usherin a period of sustainable development. “SilencingtheGuns for Peace andDevelopment” encapsulates the aspirations of the people of Africa for a peaceful environment. Peace and stability areintertwined with policies and strategies aimed at socio-economic betterment of the people – a desire whichis shared bytheCommission on ScienceandTechnology forSustainableDevelopment in the South (COMSATS) with theAU. 12 of the Organization’s member states and 07 scientific centres in the Network of Centres of Excellence are from Africa. The President of Ghana H E Nana AkufoAddo is the current Chairman of the Commission which is a privilege as it provides an important perspective on the sustainable development issues. COMSATS and Africa have special relationship. At the foundation meeting held in 1994 the support extended by the leaders fromAfrica generated momentum for collective response to the challenges of underdevelopmentinthe South.Themember countries fromAfricainthelast 25 years’journey have beenimportant partners of COMSATS and are a valuable source of guidance and advice. ProfM HAHassan from Sudan has continued to provide intellectual impetus to the work of the scientific centres.As the former head of theWorld Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and now Life Member of the Coordinating Council of COMSATS, he has maintained interest in advancing the goals of the Commission. The leaders of COMSATS have also shown commitmenttothe actualization ofthe vision of creating peaceful societies andin promoting science,technology and innovation for sustainable socio-economic development of its member states. Africa is a vast continent with multifarious development needs. The countries of Africa are striving to surmount the difficulties associated with human and material resource constraints, human resource development issues, capacity building for combating the adverse effects of climate change, dire health concerns and foodinsecurity.COMSATSis conscious ofits rolein helpingmitigate some of these challengesinitsmember states.Within its mandate and structural framework, programmes and various initiatives have been tailored to fillthe gapin developmentthrough differentmeans. Substantial space has been providedinthe Organization’s bodies to the African member countries to play a meaningful role and a leading part in steering research and development as well as capacity building, education andtraining.COMSATS continuesto worktowardsmore countries of Africa joining its fraternity thereby fostering harmony among the developing countries. 2020 Summit oftheAUtook place at a significantjuncture.The regional andinternational organizations have shown prioritized inclination towards supporting the African continent in overcoming the development challenges. The United Nations’Secretary GeneralAntonio Guterres who participatedinthe Summit highlighted a related aspect of the theme “Silencing the Guns” by drawing attention to human rights, gender equality, climate change and sustainable development.These, as he said, were atthe “heart oftheAU-ledAgenda 2063 plan” as well. Under the Trilateral cooperation various UN bodies, the European Union and the Commonwealth have allocated substantial resources for fortifying development activities. With its abundant resources both human and material the continent enjoys an important position in the realization of the 2030 Global Development Agenda in particular the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of eradicating inequality, poverty, hunger and of “leaving no one behind” is quintessentially relevant for a large continent like Africa. In order to explore possibilities of wider interaction and engagement withAfrican countries and the AU, COMSATS utilized the opportunity afforded by the 2020 AU Summit to hold a high-level meeting in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) with the leaders of its member countries under the chairmanship of the President of Ghana. The President of Nigeria H.EMohammadBuhari,Vice President of Gambia H E IsatonTouray,Ministers and high officials from Nigeria, Ghana and other member states participated in the high-level breakfast meeting. The delegation ofCOMSATS wasled bythe Executive Director, Dr SM Junaid Zaidi. Itincluded ProfAshraf Shaalan (Egypt), Chairperson COMSATS Coordinating Council and Prof Dr Orkun Hasekioglu, Advisor to President, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), the President of Ghana in his capacity as the Chairman of the Commission apprised the participating leaders and officials about the previous and ongoing as well as future activities of the Organization. The meeting of the Commission is expectedto be heldinAccrainApril 2020 coincidingwithwhichAccra Forum has been scheduled.The Forum will focus on science and technology’s role in promoting the SDGs. Climate change is a cross cutting area which impacts sustainability in all the other areas impairing the people’s resilience and the country’s progress and prosperity. Moreover, the intergenerational impact has far reaching consequences for the survival of humanity giventhe extinction challenges calling for urgent actions.TheAddisAbaba high-levelmeeting deliberated on some of these issues in the light of COMSATS programmes and activities that importantly include research and development in the important areas of climate change and environment, agriculture and food security, information and communication technologies and other areas. The 2020 AU Summit provided an important opportunity to draw attention to the damaging impact of climate change as manifested in the locust attacks experienced by the coastalAfrican states. The harmful effects of locust swarms have also been experiencedin Pakistan.Thisis one areawhere countries affected can collective develop capacityin fightingmenace. —The writer is a former Ambassador and is presently working as Advisor (SDGs) in COMSATS’Secretariat.
