PROMOTING THE MALAYSIA-UNESCO COOPERATION PROGRAMME (MUCP) AT
THE 38TH GENERAL CONFERENCE OF UNESCO
ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION ON:
“PROMOTING SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT”
DATE: 9 NOVEMBER 2015
TIME: 13h00 to 14h30
VENUE: SALLE IX
“ISTIC: A Role Model for South-South Cooperation in STI”
By Academician Dato Ir. (Dr) Lee Yee Cheong, Chair, Governing Board,
International Science Technology and Innovation for South-South Cooperation
Under the Auspices of UNESCO (ISTIC) www.istic-unesco.org
Background
ISTIC is a most successful follow up of the 2nd Summit of China+G77 in Doha
2005. The Summit urged UNESCO to balance initiatives on the Supply Side of
S&T with more initiatives on the Demand Side for the benefit of peoples in
South countries. UNESCO approached Malaysia to host ISTIC as a Category II
Centre in 2006. UNESCO Category II Centre is funded by host nation.
Malaysian government agreed. ISTIC was formally launched in Kuala Lumpur
on 22 May 2008. The UNESCO/Malaysia Agreement on the six-year extension
of ISTIC was signed in UNESCO on 7 September 2015.
Under the overarching framework of UN Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and now UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ISTIC has
emphasized on institutional and human resources capacity building in South
countries.
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ISTIC Priority Programmes are:

STI Policy, emphasizing implementation by planning, investment and
evaluation (PIE);

Technoprenuership Training;

Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) and Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education;

Women in STI;

Maintenance of Infrastructure;

Accreditation of Engineering Education Qualifications to International
Standards leading to Mobility of Competent Engineers and Technicians in
South countries.
ISTIC Programme Guiding Principles are:

ISTIC programs are held throughout regions especially in the developing
world. ISTIC programs and activities were organised with local partners
in Argentina, Egypt, India, France, Hungary, Kenya, Korea, Mongolia,
Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Trinidad Tobago,
Ecuado and Malaysia;

All local cost is borne by the host organization;

Participants of ISTIC programmes are at policy making levels in their
own countries so that they are likely to implement similar STI initiatives
in their own countries.
ISTIC Maintenance of Infrastructure Programme
Infrastructure projects abound in the developing world, fueled by China with her
Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), ‘One Belt One Road” BRICS
Development Bank initiatives. But there is little indigenous capacity in the
South to maintain them in good working order. ISTIC Maintenance of
Infrastructure programme is gaining support in Africa.
ISTIC partners are the Engineering Staff College of India (ESCI) Hyderabad,
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Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia); Highway
Authority Malaysia (MHA), Institution of Engineers Malaysia(IEM) and Board
of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), Engineers Registration Board Tanzania, Kenya
Engineers Board and Council for Regulation of Engineering Nigeria.
Accreditation of Engineering Education Qualifications to International
Standards leading to Mobility of Engineers and Technicians in the South
Accreditation of engineering educations qualifications to international standards
in South countries will assure the supply of competent engineers and technicians
in South countries leading to regional mobility of engineers and technicians.
ISTIC partners are UNESCO Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific,
Jakarta, Federation of Engineering Institutions in Asia Pacific (FEIAP), Council
for Regulation of Engineering Nigeria (COREN) and Engineers Registration
Board Tanzania (ERBT). ISTIC brokered the UNESCO Jakarta/FEIAP
Agreement to mentor the accreditation process in Pakistan, Myanmar, Papua
New Guinea, Timur Leste, Tanzania and Nigeria. This Agreement is funded by
MUCP.
I was in Abuja Nigeria in August 2015 to discuss with COREN and the
UNESCO Regional Office for West Africa to convene a meeting of the relevant
engineering agencies in the UNESCO West Africa Cluster of Benin, Cote
d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo in early 2016
to get these countries actively engaged in the accreditation and mobility
initiative.
In East Africa, Registrars of the National Engineers Registration Boards of
Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda have been meeting regularly to
harmonize accreditation standards of engineering qualifications and to work
towards the mobility of engineers and technicians in the East African Economic
Community.
ISTIC Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) Programme
ISTIC partner is La Main a la pate (LAMAP), France. ISTIC has developed the
English mirror website of LAMAP called “I Do I Discover”
www.istic-lamap.org ISTIC has translated into English two LAMAP thematic
publications “Discoveries in Muslim Countries” and “When the Earth Rumbles”.
Through participation in ISTIC/LAMAP teachers’ training courses, Brunei,
Indonesia and Timur Leste have entered into bilateral agreements with LAMAP
to implement IBSE in primary schools.
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ISTIC STI Policy Training Programme
There are two parallel programmes.
One is with Korean Institute for S&T Policy Planning and Evaluation (KISTEP)
focusing on S&T policy implementation of Planning, Investment and Evaluation
(PIE).
The other is based on the Malaysian development model through STI.
ISTIC Technoprenuership Training Programme
This programme teaches research scientists and engineers how to develop
business plans in the process of commercialization. ISTIC’s partner is Usains of
Universiti Sains Malaysia. This programme is in great demand. Training courses
have been held in Sudan, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Trinidad and Ecuador.
ISTIC Programme on Women in STI
This has been institutionalized into a high profile conference once every two
years in Malaysia.
In the process, ISTIC has set an example by having gender equality in ISTIC’s
Governing Board.
I am personally conducting a campaign to make gender equality the overarching
agenda in every one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals so as to
expedite the realization of SDG No. 5 “Achieve Gender Equality and Empower
all Women and Girls” by 2030.
Total Number of ISTIC Programmes to End 2014
Programme
Program Count Participants Countries
STI Policy
15
680
77
Women in STI
2
359
33
IBSE / STEM
10
324
52
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Maintenance of
Infrastructure
8
284
27
Technopreneuership
11
332
47
Briefings to UNESCO
Heads of Delegation
3
130
60
ISTIC 5th Anniversary
Conference
1
250
87
50
2359
ISTIC networking principle
Obtain strong support from:

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
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia;
National Malaysia Commission for UNESCO;
UNESCO Top Management;
Heads of Delegations of UNESCO Member States through Malaysian
Head of Delegation to UNESCO;
 ISTIC Programme Local Hosts;
 ISTIC Programme Funding Partners.
By keeping them informed and engaged.
ISTIC’s multilateral partners number 56 in total
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Finally ISTIC gratefully acknowledge funding support for ISTIC
programmes to date:
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UNESCO
ISESCO
Islamic Development Bank
UNESCO Regional Science Bureau for Asia Pacific, Jakarta
Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation Malaysia (MOSTI)
OIC Vision 1441 Secretariat, MOSTI
Malaysian National Commission for UNESCO
NAM Institute for Empowerment of Women Malaysia (NIEW)
Academy of Sciences Malaysia
Board of Engineers Malaysia
Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB)
Highway Authority Malaysia
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