The 66 S&T-lagging countries

TWAS identified 66 developing countries in which capacity in science and technology is significantly lagging. The list includes the 46 least developed countries identified by the United Nations, to which 20 other countries were added because of their low-income levels and specific needs for support in building research capacity.

TWAS and its partner, the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), set these as priority countries for support. From 2017, all OWSD PhD fellowships and many TWAS research grants are reserved for scientists in these countries.

  1. Afghanistan
  2. Angola
  3. Bangladesh
  4. Benin
  5. Bhutan
  6. Bolivia
  7. Burkina Faso
  8. Burundi
  9. Cambodia
  10. Cameroon
  11. Central African Rep.
  12. Chad
  13. Comoros
  14. Congo
  15. Côte d’Ivoire
  16. Dem. Rep. Congo
  17. Djibouti
  1. El Salvador
  2. Eritrea
  3. Eswatini, Kingdom of
  4. Ethiopia
  5. Equatorial Guinea
  6. Gambia
  7. Ghana
  8. Guatemala
  9. Guinea
  10. Guinea-Bissau
  11. Haiti
  12. Honduras
  13. Kenya
  14. Kiribati
  15. Lao People’s Dem. Rep.
  16. Lesotho
  17. Liberia
  1. Madagascar
  2. Malawi
  3. Mali
  4. Mauritania
  5. Mongolia
  6. Mozambique
  7. Myanmar
  8. Nepal
  9. Nicaragua
  10. Niger
  11. Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip)
  12. Paraguay
  13. Rwanda
  14. Sao Tome and Principe
  15. Senegal
  16. Sierra Leone
  1. Solomon Islands
  2. Somalia
  3. South Sudan
  4. Sri Lanka
  5. Sudan
  6. Syrian Arab Republic
  7. Tajikistan
  8. Tanzania
  9. Timor-Leste
  10. Togo
  11. Tuvalu
  12. Uganda
  13. Vanuatu
  14. Yemen
  15. Zambia
  16. Zimbabwe