Islamabad: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH), in collaboration with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Somalia in federal capital, on Friday launched the second phase of the COMSTECH-Consortium of Excellence (CCoE) Somalia Programme to strengthen the capacity of Somali scientists, researchers and professionals through fully funded fellowships, research, and technical training.
Speaking at the launching ceremony held here at the OIC-COMSTECH Secretariat, Coordinator General OIC-COMSTECH Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary said human resource development remained one of COMSTECH’s highest priorities, stressing that sustainable development in the Muslim world depended on investment in education, scientific research, innovation and advanced technical skills.
He said the COMSTECH-CCoE Somalia Programme marked another significant milestone in COMSTECH’s efforts to empower Somali youth, researchers, scientists and professionals through quality education, specialized training and institutional collaboration.
He appreciated the cooperation of the Embassy of Somalia and member institutions of the COMSTECH Consortium of Excellence for supporting the initiative and expressed confidence that it would contribute significantly to Somalia’s socio-economic development and institutional capacity.
Somalia’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Sheikhnur Mohamed Hassan, thanked COMSTECH, the Government of Pakistan and member institutions of the COMSTECH Consortium of Excellence for their continued support to Somalia in higher education, science, technology and capacity building.
He said the fellowship programme would enable Somali scientists, researchers and professionals to acquire advanced knowledge and practical skills to strengthen the country’s academic, scientific and development sectors. He described the initiative as a reflection of the longstanding brotherly relations between Pakistan and Somalia and appreciated COMSTECH’s leadership in promoting scientific cooperation among OIC member states.
Under the second phase of the programme, 25 fully funded fellowships have been announced for Somali nationals currently living and working in Somalia. The fellowships are being offered by leading member institutions of the COMSTECH Consortium of Excellence in collaboration with the Association of Private Sector Universities of Pakistan (APSUP).
The programme includes three- and six-month research fellowships in STEM disciplines and public health, technical training in industrial settings, short courses in allied health sciences and nursing, and specialized training in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Cyber Security, Remote Sensing, Biotechnology, Digital Skills, Precision Agriculture, Food Processing and Agricultural Research.
It also promotes faculty exchanges, joint research supervision, curriculum development, laboratory support, institutional partnerships and academic collaboration between Pakistani and Somali universities.
The programme is open to Somali nationals pursuing or holding Master’s, PhD and postdoctoral qualifications, with the objective of equipping them with advanced knowledge, research expertise and practical skills to contribute to Somalia’s national development.
The capacity-building initiative will be jointly coordinated by COMSTECH and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Somalia to ensure transparent application processing, selection and placement of candidates.
The ceremony was attended by vice chancellors and rectors of leading public and private universities, ambassadors of Sudan, Tajikistan, Yemen and Rwanda, senior officials of the Somali Embassy, representatives of partner institutions and senior officials of OIC-COMSTECH.