The Road to the SDGs

T H E R O A D T O T H E S D G s | P R O G R E S S A N D A C H I E V E M E N T S as cars, buildings and the like. All they have is new untraditional ideas and electronic applications with a huge impact in terms of the number of jobs they have provided and the returns on investment they have achieved. MCs will enjoy competitive advantages in five strategic industries, but the question is how to maintain their position and keep these industries competitive. For example, the textiles and apparel industry employs about 5 million workers in Bangladesh. As competition in the international market depends on innovation and productivity, Bangladesh must adapt to these changes, otherwise 5 million workers will find themselves jobless. If we assume that each worker supports 5 people, this means that 25 million people will be exposed to poverty and destitution. This is what motivated me to help MCs build an STI ecosystem. Practical steps began in 2017, when we established the STI department. The latter prepared a long-term action plan focusing on three major tracks: (1) mainstreaming STI in all IsDB business and activities; (2) helping MCs build an integrated STI ecosystem; and (3) supporting innovators, small enterprises, universities and research centres with an integrated package of financial and non-financial assistance to contribute to finding out-of-the-box solutions for development issues and to achieve the SDGs in education, health, renewable energy, infrastructure and other areas. To achieve this plan, IsDB established in 2018 the US$ 500 million Transform Fund to provide financial support to innovators, research centres and entrepreneurs, and we created the Engage Platform. IsDB also developed an annual programme for training, capacity building and assistance in obtaining intellectual property rights. It also established a strategic partnership with UNESCO and the STI profile was developed at UNESCO's Global Observatory of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Instruments (GO- SPIN). IsDB also collaborated with UNESCO in supporting the STI ecosystem in Uzbekistan and Mozambique. Moreover, IsDB has organised STI conferences in Senegal, Bangladesh, Niger and the UK under the auspices of heads of government and prominent figures. QUESTION: The number of refugees and displaced persons in the world is constantly increasing and the largest proportion of refugees is in IsDB MCs. What is IsDB's role in supporting refugee-hosting countries? ANSWER: The number of refugees and displaced persons is indeed on the rise. It has now reached 79 million refugees, the highest since World War II, with most of them concentrated in IsDB MCs, among which are the origin and host countries of the largest number of refugees in the world. Five origin countries (Afghanistan, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan and Syria) account for 68% of the refugees, three of which are IsDB members. The 12 top refugee host countries include eight IsDB MCs. Out of 50 armed conflicts the world witnessed in 2015, 30 occurred in IsDB MCs, resulting in mass displacement and a severe humanitarian crises. In fact, armed conflicts and climate change are among the main causes of the increase in the number of refugees and forcibly displaced people around the world. Many MCs are exposed to the impact of floods, severe storms and drought. The material consequences of such changes include job loss, house destruction, school closures, disruption of basic services such as water and electricity, uncertainty about the future and high risk of conflict. More than 800 million people have been affected by natural disasters in MCs since 1970, of whom more than 50 million were affected in the past three years alone. Extreme vulnerability to natural hazards shows the need to invest in building resilience and avoiding dependence on assistance. In addition, the OECD's Fragility Framework, issued in 2020, indicated that 57 countries, including 28 IsDB MCs, suffer some form of fragility. What is needed is to build more resilient societies. IsDB's plan or policy to help fragile countries facing the problem of refugees and displaced persons rests on four pillars: (1) investing in prevention; (2) shifting from relief to development; (3) supporting recovery; and (4) mobilising resources for resilience. It is imperative to link humanitarian assistance to development and peacebuilding as an integrated long-term approach. In partnership with the World Bank Group and the United Nations, IsDB contributes to the Global Concessional Financing Facility, which has so far provided nearly US$ 600 million in grants. It aims to mobilise US$ 3 billion of concessional financing to the benefit of Syrian refugees and their Jordanian and Lebanese host communities, expanding basic services and infrastructure and promoting job creation. IsDB also established vital funds, including the Transform Fund, which invests in innovation, development and entrepreneurship, the Green Sukuk Fund and the Economic Empowerment Fund for the Palestinian People. We also mainstreamed climate change counteraction in IsDB operations and financing, as well as a variety of programmes, including Reverse Linkage, the Alliance Against Avoidable Blindness, the Microfinance Support Programme, the Education for Employment Programme, the Education for Competition Programme, the Vocational Literacy Programme, the Economic Empowerment Programme for Disadvantaged Families, the Refugee Education Programme and the Scholarship Programme. [ 17 ]