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 45 least developed countries identified by the United Nations, to which 21 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 (Plurinational State of)
  7. Burkina Faso
  8. Burundi
  9. Cambodia
  10. Cameroon
  11. Central African Republic (the)
  12. Chad
  13. Comoros (the)
  14. Congo (the)
  15. Côte d’Ivoire
  16. Democratic Republic of the Congo (the)
  17. Djibouti
  1. El Salvador
  2. Equatorial Guinea
  3. Eritrea
  4. Eswatini
  5. Ethiopia
  6. Gambia (the)
  7. Ghana
  8. Guatemala
  9. Guinea
  10. Guinea-Bissau
  11. Haiti
  12. Honduras
  13. Kenya
  14. Kiribati
  15. Lao People's Democratic Republic (the)
  16. Lesotho
  17. Liberia
  1. Madagascar
  2. Malawi
  3. Mali
  4. Mauritania
  5. Mongolia
  6. Mozambique
  7. Myanmar
  8. Nepal
  9. Nicaragua
  10. Niger (the)
  11. Paraguay
  12. Rwanda
  13. Sao Tome and Principe
  14. Senegal
  15. Sierra Leone
  16. Solomon Islands
  1. Somalia
  2. South Sudan
  3. Sri Lanka
  4. State of Palestine (the)
  5. Sudan (the)
  6. Syrian Arab Republic (the)
  7. Tajikistan
  8. Timor-Leste
  9. Togo
  10. Tuvalu
  11. Uganda
  12. United Republic of Tanzania (the)
  13. Vanuatu
  14. Yemen
  15. Zambia
  16. Zimbabwe