[Islam-Online- Science, Ideas & Technology]

By Dr. Iqbal Unus

The World Conference on Science has concluded in Budapest, Hungary on July 2 with the approval of an exhaustive Declaration on Science and the Use of Scientific Knowledge, as well as a Science Agenda – Framework for Action. Both documents were negotiated to the end and then passed unanimously
Neither the Declaration nor the Agenda are binding on anyone, though they may shape the course of international discussions and agreement in the years to come. The two organizations that sponsored the conference – United Nations Educational, Social, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) - have been asked to come up with a follow up report in the year 2001.
The essence of the Declaration can be summed up in four words: responsibility, ethics, access, and commitment.
In numerous ways, the Declaration emphasized that science impacted on society in profound ways, and all involved in the scientific enterprise had a responsibility to appreciate, assess, and be mindful of that impact.
The Declaration highlighted the need for science operatives to be ethical in making their choices, with a clear annunciation that science must serve the common good.
The Declaration also focused on equal access for all to science and its fruits. On the global level, the developing countries and the developed countries must share access to science. On the people level, women, disabled, or other historically disadvantaged groups must be given access to science.
Finally, the Declaration made pointed reference to the anticipated commitment of individuals, organizations and governments to implement the recommendations specified in the Framework accompanying the Declaration.
The Framework for Action
Science Agenda - Framework for Action outlined specific actions for implementing the recommendations contained in the Declaration.
Healthy Infants
For any person that plans on having a child, the main concern in any parent's mind is their baby's health. Questions like "Will my baby come out healthy?" or "What happens if the baby is born with a deficiency?" run in and out of a mother and father's head almost constantly. Worrying about their child's health became a common pregnancy ritual that every parent would perform. Cloning can eliminate all that worrying. For a medicinal explanation, each tiny cell in our bodies contains thousands of strands of DNA in which scientists can manipulate to ensure a healthy child. After the cell is implanted in the carrier, a doctor can determine what strands of DNA are deformed and can eliminate them to ensure a healthy child. For example, is a pregnant mother who has already given birth to two children with Down syndrome. Doctors can now manipulate and balance out the number of chromosomes in the embryo to give the mother a normal and healthy child.
Responsibility
The Framework asks educational systems to inculcate social responsibility among scientists by including the study of social sciences in their curriculum. It recommends teaching basic science to non-science students. It also asks institutions to direct science study and research to the needs of the local society.
Ethics
The Framework calls for making courses on ethics and morals a part of science education. It asks scientists and their governments to weigh decisions according to the larger interest of the international community, promote open debate on ethical dimensions of scientific work, and discourage research that may lead to harm for the society at large.
Access
The Framework takes a strong position on broadening access to science to women and all other disadvantaged groups in science and technology, through their active recruitment in science research, and through analysis of data concerning their desegregation.
Commitment
The Framework recommends that government funds science education and research in creative ways, even if they do not self-impose a minimum funding limit. A proposal to establish such a limit at 1% of GNP was not accepted. It was opposed by many members of OIC as being impractical for them. However, African countries agreed to spend on science savings from any debt relief they may get from the developed countries.

Review
Muslim countries were among the 150 countries that participated, in addition to many NGOs in scientific and other fields. The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Islamic Social, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) was also represented. The Director of General of OIC's Committee on Science and Technology (COMSTECH), Dr. Ata-ur Rahman received an award from the Conference.
From the perspective of the International Forum for Science, Technology and Human Resources Development (IIFTIHAR), the Declaration and the Framework metaphorically speak our language. An appreciation of the social impact of science, willingness to place ethical bounds on its use, encouragement to open it to all, and readiness to commit financial and intellectual resources to promoting healthy science, are at least seemingly consistent with IIFTIHAR's point of view, as they are with an Islamic perspective on science.
The conference reflected the assumptions and views of leading individuals, institutions and governments on this subject. Its deliberation will shape the debates and discussions in world forums in the years to come, and may influence international agreements between developing and developed countries, many of whom did not fully comprehend the process of the adoption of the documents at this conference.
The Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers (AMSE), in association with the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) held a conference on "Islamization of Attitudes and Practices in Science and Technology" in Virginia in 1987. Later the "International Conference on Values and Attitudes in Science and Technology", initiated by AMSE and organized by the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and IIIT, was held in Malaysia in 1996. Both conferences dealt with the primary role of ethics, morals and social responsibility in the pursuit and conduct of science.
A principal focus of IIFTIHAR-USA is technology transfer. The Budapest conference defined technology transfer as requiring "a systems approach involving partnerships, linkages between many areas of knowledge and constant feedback between many players." In typical United Nations 'diplomacy by terminology' statement, the conference called 'brain drain' an "asymmetric migration of trained personnel from the developing to the developed countries."
Documents approved at the Budapest conference will be presented to the General Assembly of the United Nations for ratification. A similar conference twenty years ago in Vienna had adopted a resolution to spend 1% of GNP on science. The delegates at this conference - led by Muslim countries, according to one report – refused to make that commitment. It might be noted that African countries spend between 0.4 to 0.8 % of GNP on science, and have committed themselves to spend more from anticipated debt relief

Copies of the Declaration and the Framework are available on request from the IIFTIHAR-USA office. A link to the World Conference on Science website will be placed soon on the IIFTIHAR web site www.IIFTIHAR-USA.org

Links:
IIFTIHAR Organization
American Muslim Scientists & Engineers
World Conference on Science
UNESCO

Science & Technology