Islamabad, 13 June 2022 (TDI): The OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) announced the COMSTECH-CCoE Yemen program today in Islamabad.
The program is launched in collaboration with the Yemen Embassy and the Yemeni Government’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
In addition, Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ministry of Science and Technology, and several institutions of higher education also collaborated.
Under the program, COMSTECH will provide scholarships to 50 Yemeni students and young professionals across three Pakistani institutions.
Several officials involved in the program participated in the event.
Among them were the Coordinator-General of COMSTECH, Prof. Iqbal Choudhary, Ambassador of Yemen to Pakistan, Mohammad Motahar Alashabi, and representatives of partner institutions.
Furthermore, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also took part.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Agha Hassan Baloch, also sent his official statement during the event. He expressed the Ministry’s full support for COMSTECH’s initiatives.
Speakers
The Coordinator-General of COMSTECH, Prof. Iqbal Choudhary, gave the opening remarks and introduced the other participants.
He applauded the efforts of the Ambassador of Yemen for this joint program. He also thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan for its full support.
Moreover, he introduced the details of the programs. He said that the program especially focuses on cooperation in the sector of healthcare. The program will provide state-of-the-art medical training for Yemeni students.
It will benefit Yemen as the need for capacity-building in the field of public health in Yemen is greater than ever, he proclaimed.
He further announced that the program entails fully funded fellowships by the University of Lahore, Health Services Academy, and the University of Karachi’s International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences. All these institutions are part of the COMSTECH consortium of excellence.
Afterward, Yemen’s Ambassador Motahar spoke and applauded the institutions and officials involved in the program.
He expressed gratitude on behalf of the Yemeni government and people to the Pakistani government, Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He also specially mentioned the efforts of scholarship-awarding institutions in his remarks. “I can assure you that we will not let these opportunities get wasted,” he said in conclusion.
In addition, the Director Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aala Mazhar Bukhari, shared her remarks. While appreciating the initiative, she said that the program will help nurture science diplomacy in the Muslim world. She further reiterated the Ministry’s support for COMSTECH initiatives.
Moreover, HSA Vice-Chancellor discussed the role of his institution in providing Health education programs and its partnership with COMSTECH.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the University of Lahore and the Co-Director of the ICCBS also talked about the contribution of their respective institutions to the program.
Finally, there was a question-answer session where the participants interacted with the media.
