The Road to the SDGs

supported IsDB’s organisational transformation with a programme of Digitisation, Decentralisation and Delegation of Authority. Its primary focus is delivering smart, innovative solutions, with a view to enhancing user communication and collaboration. ACHIEVEMENTS X The partnership with UNESCO is helping build STI ecosystems in Mozambique and Uzbekistan, with a focus on reviewing the existing STI landscape in these two countries to determine strategic areas for investment and recommend policies to improve the existing STI ecosystem. The projects will serve as a pilot to set a framework that could be replicated in other MCs. X IsDB’s Regional Community Development Programme for Rural Women Solar Engineers and Entrepreneurs, in partnership with Barefoot College International, has so far supplied 2,297 households in seven out of nine selected MCs (Afghanistan, Syria, Indonesia, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Cameroon) with electrification equipment. In addition, 40 women from all the nine MCs (Afghanistan, Syria, Indonesia, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Somalia and Jordan) have been trained in solar engineering with ‘Solar Mamas’ from Afghanistan, Mali, Burkina Faso and Jordan successfully trained on beekeeping business as a secondary livelihood activity. This is in spite of the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the overall progress and slowed down supply chains. X An initiative called Promoting Peace Education Entrepreneurship and Connectivity in the Most Vulnerable Area of Uganda, in partnership with the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, was launched in July 2020. A total of nine programme inception meetings were held for this STI-based project, attended by 281 participants including 218 males and 63 females. X Meanwhile, outcomes of IsDB’s digitisation process so far include substantially improved internal responsiveness, visibility and transparency as IsDB heads towards a zero-paper environment. INVESTMENT X IsDB established the STI Transform Fund in 2017 with an initial capital of US$ 500 million. The Fund supports four categories: new ideas with proof of concept, scaling up of innovative projects, commercialisation of technology, and capacity building in STI. X IsDB has approved and disbursed US$ 1.5 million to improve the lives and economic viability of the rural poor living in remote, inaccessible villages off the energy grids by supplying their communities with clean, low-cost household lighting from solar energy in the nine selected MCs. It has approved an amount of over US$ 1.6 million to promote peace, social inclusion and employability in conflict communities in Uganda. To date, US$ 378,400 (23.3% of the approved amount) have been disbursed. X IsDB’s Digitisation Enterprise Project has been rolled out to more than 1,000 users and IsDB, with estimated potential cost savings of between US$ 11 million and US$ 14 million. If utilisation of the system increases, savings can reach US$ 14 million a year. S C I E N C E , T E C H N O L O G Y A N D I N N O V A T I O N T R A N S F O R M F U N D IsDB established the STI Transform Fund in 2017 with an initial capital of US$500 million [ 65 ] 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