ISLAMABAD: Among 211 South Asian think-tanks included in the
‘2014 Global Go-to Think-Tank Index’, only two — the Sustainable Development
Policy Institute (SDPI) and Pakistan Institute of International Affairs, have
made it to the top 20.
The index was released at the
University of Pennsylvania under The Think-Tanks and Civil Societies Program
(TTCSP) on Thursday and included 6681 think-tanks from around the world.
192 think-tanks from India and
19 from Pakistan were included in the index however, among these 211 only two
Pakistani think-tanks had the distinction of being in the top 20. Pakistan
Institute of International Affairs was at 16 while SDPI was at number 19.
SDPI was ranked at 38 for being
trans-disciplinary and 55 in the list of think-tanks to be watched in the
future for policy reviews.
The index was launched globally
and SDPI was part of the launch along with over 60 other think-tanks,
inter-governmental organizations and media outlets in more than 55 cities
around the world.
SDPI organised a roundtable
conference to mark the occasion, attended by academicians from public and
private universities, development practitioners and senior executives from the
corporate sector.
Speaking at the roundtable
conference, former ambassador and SDPI Board of Governors Chairman Shafqat
Kakakhel attributed the SDPI’s high ranking to its independent and credible
research.
He said that think-tanks play a
primary role in the socio-economic development of a country by producing
knowledge for decision-makers.
Mr Kakakhel said that in terms
of quality of publication and policy influence among all the South Asian
think-tanks only SDPIs study “Food Security in Pakistan: Policy Options”
authored by Shakeel Ramay was ranked high at 30 globally.
Mr Ramay, also speaking at the
roundtable, highlighted the importance of the methodology adopted in his study
which made it a piece of quality research.
Participants at the roundtable
were also informed that SDPI was the only think-tank among the 19 considered
from Pakistan which was judged to be contributing towards developing the skills
of young researchers.
It was highlighted that even
universities in Pakistan are failing to realise the role of young researchers
and there is need to improve linkages between think-tanks and universities for
the larger interest of policy making.
Marvi Sirmed from the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said greater collaboration between
parliamentarians and academic institutes can contribute towards the development
of a mechanism for policy research.
Those who participated in the
discussion also included SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Suleri, , Professor Dr
Asad Zaman, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) Vice Chancellor
Dr Iftikhar N. Hassan, Professor, Z. A Qureshi, Seemi Kemal, Member National
Assembly (MNA) Romina Khurshid Alam.
Published in
Dawn, January 23rd, 2015
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