Reverse Linkage

30 REVERSE LINKAGE ration of SSC into national and regional strategies. Middle Income Countries (MICs) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) on the other hand, have challenges that relate primarily to institutional issues such as securing sustain- able funding and political stability. Fragile OIC States also struggle with certain capacity gaps and lack the ability to assess and identify the urgent needs of the state in order to demand from the potential provider states. SSC within the OIC community represents a promising alternative to traditional cooperation and development assistance. Indeed, the OIC community has an advanta- geous composition of values and principals as well as strong economic and human potential, but these attributes are used inappropriately. However, the possibility of profiting from this potential is seen as a way for the OIC community to become stronger in influencing mechanisms at global level and strengthening the idea of the human being at the core of development. SSC enables a change in traditional donors through the introduction of new development players. Likewise, developing OIC countries will move from being recipi- ents to donors, influencing the world global architecture, offering further options for the least developed countries and strengthening solidarity and self-reliance among the Muslim community. Within this framework, OIC SSC aims at utilising capaci- ties and experiences available in the OIC countries and enabling mutual learning and capacity development among them. These countries have more opportunities than before to enhance innovation and cooperation mechanisms among themselves by sharing knowledge and experience in several cooperation areas. Given the diversity and richness of political and institutional frameworks and mechanisms, the critical issue is not the existence of the necessary knowledge resources within the OIC community, but the dissemination of local knowledge and transferring it from one context to another. Since its establishment in 1978, the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) – the main research and training organ of the OIC, whose membership is drawn entirely from the developing and the least developed countries – is a focal point for South-South technical cooperation and the broker for the exchange of knowledge, experiences and best practice among the OIC countries. SESRIC has launched many programmes and activities to address the development challenges of OIC member states through using SSC approaches and tools. SESRIC and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) are the two central technical bodies of the OIC and are longstand- ing partners for supporting the development efforts of the OIC member states. Mutual cooperation over more than 35 years has culminated in Reverse Linkage (RL) coopera- tion that has enhanced national capacities within the last three years. SESRIC’s commitment to cooperate in the RL project, together with other stakeholders, has resulted in reaching out to five countries as of November 2017 and, with its involvement in diagnostic and validation visits, it esti- mates that RL cooperation will reach The Gambia, Uganda, Pakistan, Sudan, Suriname, Bangladesh and Indonesia by mid-2018. Reverse Linkage in The Gambia: capacity development of the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences of the University of The Gambia (SMAHS) SMAHS is the main source of supply of medical doctors, nurses, public health and other related healthcare profes- sionals in The Gambia. Despite the support of doctors from Cuba, Egypt and Syria, there is a huge shortage of national academic staff to train medical students as well as a dire need to enhance capacity and reduce the reliance on visit- ing doctors. Against this background, in 2014, the government of The Gambia requested the government of Turkey to support its capacity need in the health sector through IsDB’s RL mechanism. Thereafter, SESRIC, in its capacity as provider of vocational education and training (VET); the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), in its Image: SESRIC The observership programme aims to provide skill development training for 25 Gambian medical staff over a total of 73 weeks