Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 25 November 2024 - The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Community Jameel have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to launch a strategic partnership aimed at tackling pressing global challenges including poverty, disease, hunger, and the impacts of climate change in IsDB member countries, which have a combined population of over 2 billion people. The MoU was signed by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group Chairman H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser and Mohammed Jameel KBE, Founder and Chairman of Community Jameel.

The MoU reaffirms the longstanding relationship between Community Jameel and the IsDB. In June 2022, both organizations announced their collaboration at the IsDB annual meetings in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, to promote evidence-based policymaking through the launch of policy labs embedded in governments.

H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser expressed the Bank’s enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating: " We play a pivotal role in empowering our member countries in critical areas such as healthcare and poverty alleviation. Our commitment to addressing the challenge of climate change is deeply embedded across all sectors, with a target of directing 35% of our financing towards climate-related initiatives. Partnering with Community Jameel allows us to leverage our combined expertise to deliver innovative, impactful solutions that address the diverse challenges facing our member countries."

Mohammed Jameel KBE, Founder and Chairman, Community Jameel, said: "Science and evidence lie at the heart of our work at Community Jameel. We are committed to empowering communities and offering sustainable solutions to pressing global challenges. From climate change to education enhancement, our partnership with IsDB aims to identify impactful policies and solve critical issues within its member countries."

The partnership will center on several critical development issues including food security and sustainable urban design to address the challenges posed by climate change. It will also focus on informing public health responses to emerging threats and leveraging data and rigorous evidence to enhance policy design.

IsDB and Community Jameel will also collaborate with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) to advance evidence-based policymaking. In June 2024, the IsDB and Community Jameel supported a knowledge-sharing exchange between Egyptian and Indonesian policymakers, organized as part of the IsDB’s Technical Cooperation Program in collaboration with J-PAL’s offices in Cairo and Jakarta and the Egypt Impact Lab.

IsDB and Community Jameel will also explore opportunities to address risks to public health resulting from several factors, including climate change and a rise in noncommunicable diseases, through the Jameel Institute, which aims to curb the adverse impact of emerging threats to public health by working to strengthen health policy and improve understanding of diseases and fortify linkages between governments, research institutions and communities to shape policy and deliver effective solutions.

The two organizations will also work with the Jameel Clinic A.I. Hospital Network, which seeks to roll multiple cutting-edge A.I. tools into mainstream healthcare facilities. 

In the face of ever-growing threats from climate change, Community Jameel and the IsDB will also explore leveraging data, forecasting and technology through the Jameel Observatory to anticipate and adapt to the short- and long-term effects of climate change on the agriculture sector and pastoralism in member countries, in order to ensure their food security.​ 

For inquiries, kindly contact:

IsDB Communications and Outreach Department:

Media@isdb.org

Community Jameel:

media@communityjameel.org

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About Community Jameel:

Community Jameel advances science and learning for communities to thrive. An independent, global organisation, Community Jameel was launched in 2003 to continue the tradition of philanthropy and community service established by the Jameel family of Saudi Arabia in 1945. Community Jameel supports scientists, humanitarians, technologists and creatives to understand and address pressing human challenges in areas such as climate change, health and education. 

The work enabled and supported by Community Jameel has led to significant breakthroughs and achievements, including the MIT Jameel Clinic’s discovery of the new antibiotics halicin and abaucin, critical modelling of the spread of COVID-19 conducted by the Jameel Institute at Imperial College London, and a Nobel Prize-winning experimental approach to alleviating global poverty championed by the co-founders of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT.