Joint Statement of the First Meeting of Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (4-5 October 1994, Islamabad, Pakistan)

We, the representatives of Heads of State or Government of countries in the South, attending the first meeting of the Commission on Science & Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS):

Realizing the importance and necessity of a joint political commitment by the Heads of State or Government in the South to place science and technology at the top of their development-agenda and to support major initiatives of common concern aimed at building and sustaining indigenous capacities in science and technology and their application to socio-economic development;

Recalling the 1988 Trieste Declaration, which was adopted by the Founding Members of the Third-World Network of Scientific Organizations (including 15 Ministers of Science & Technology and 30 Heads of Science Academies and Research Councils from the South), and in which they resolved to work towards giving science and technology a position of highest priority in their own countries and to strengthen their collaboration with other countries of the South as well as of the North;

Appreciating the efforts of the President of the Third-World Network of Scientific Organizations (TWNSO), the Nobel Laureate Professor Abdus Salam, in sensitizing the political leadership in the South to increase funding for research and development and to the South in the generation of science and new technologies and their utilization in technological production and social services;

Convinced that sustainable economic development in the South cannot be achieved without building and sustaining indigenous capacities in science and technology;

Conscious that South-South and North-South cooperation is essential in building science and technology capacities in the South;

Recalling the resolution of the Heads of Government of Non-Aligned Countries at their 1989 Meeting in Belgrade which called for joint action by the Governments of the South, the UN System, the World Bank and donor agencies to establish in the South a Network of International Centres for research and training in areas of frontier science and technology and environmental sciences of critical importance to sustainable socio-economic development;

have agreed on the following:
 
Endorse the establishment of the Heads of States' Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), with the following objectives:
 
-
 to sensitize the countries of the South to the centrality of science and technology in the development process, to the adequate resource-allocation for research and development, and to the integration of science and technology in the national and regional development plans;
 
-
 to support major initiatives designed to promote indigenous capacity in science and technology for science-led sustainable development, such as the establishment of a number of international research and training centres of excellence in the South, and to help mobilize long-term financial support from international donor-agencies to supplement the financing of international scientific projects in the South;
 
-
 to provide leadership and support for major South-South and North-South cooperative schemes in education, training and research, such as the proposal to set up programmes of scholarships for research at centres of excellence in the South;
 
-
 to support the relevant programmes and initiatives of major scientific organizations working for the development of science and technology in the South.
Endorse the establishment of a Network of International Science and Technology Centres for Sustainable Development in the South, with the following objectives:
 
-
 to assist the countries of the South to build and sustain a critical mass of world-class scientists and technologists in areas of frontier science and technology and environmental sciences, which are of critical importance to sustainable socio-economic development.
 
-
 to attract talent, reduce the brain-drain, and induce competent Third-World scientists and technologists working abroad to return to their countries;
 
-
 to facilitate the transfer of technology and the supply to industry of highly qualified technical personnel;
 
-
 to assist and advise in finding scientific solutions to complex developmental and environmental problems in the South;
 
-
 to provide avenues for international cooperation in areas of science and technology of global concern to environmentally sustainable development, including the sharing of information;
 
-
 to provide a suitable framework for science and technology assessment and management in the South;
 
-
 to develop strong links between Members of the Network of Centres and production-sectors in the South;
 
-
 to promote joint technological ventures amongst the Members of Network of Centres; and
 
-
 to assist in carrying out other programmes, as assigned by COMSATS.
Agree to establish the first nodes of the Network of International Science and Technology Centres for Sustainable Development in the South at the institutions recommended by the Technical Advisory Committee instituted by the President of TWNSO, and for which detailed feasibility studies have been received and accepted.
Invite other countries of the South to submit proposals for additional nodes of the Network, to be reviewed by the Technical Advisory Committee.
Set up a Working Committee consisting of Members from Colombia, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria and Tanzania. The Convenor of the Committee shall be the Secretary-General of TWNSO. The Committee shall review the draft Charter of the Network of International Science and Technology Centres for Sustainable Development in the South, presented at the first meeting of the Commission; and, taking into consideration further suggestions, representations and comments from Members, shall adopt an Operational Statute of the Network, upon its approval by at least half of the Members of the Commission. The so-adopted Statute shall be in force until the next meeting of COMSATS.
Accept the generous invitation of the Government of Pakistan to set up the Headquarters of the Network of International Science and Technology Centres for Sustainable Development in the South in Islamabad and to host the Secretariat of COMSATS at the Headquarters.
Invite the Prime Minister of Pakistan to continue as Chairperson of COMSATS for the next three years.

 
For queries about website, mail to: web@comsats.org.pk