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The partnership between the UN Technology Bank and the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) has played a key role in strengthening the Southern African Development Community¡¯s (SADC) scientific capacity, with thirteen of the sixteen member states now being home to their own established Academies of Sciences. The Lesotho Academy for Science and Technology (LAST), being established in 2022, works hand in hand with the Lesotho Young Academy¡­

30 September 2022 / Jaye Louise Sergeant and Federica Irene Falomi Tweet The year 2021 was a record year for tech startups in Africa, with nearly 2.15 billion USD in investment capital directed to the sector [1]. This amounts to a 206% increase over 2020 investment figures [2]. However, much of this growth has been taking place in Nigeria, Kenya, Morroco, Tunisia, Egypt and South Africa. The Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report 2022 found that¡­

On Friday, 16 September 2022, the second cohort of the IDE students attended the 2022 welcome ceremony in Qixin Auditorium, Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University (ZJUNB) with other newly enrolled master¡¯s students. Dr. Taffere Tesfachew, Acting Managing Director of the UN Technology Bank gave his remarks Dr. Taffere Tesfachew, Acting Managing Director of the United Nations Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries, expressed a warm¡­

19 September 2022 / Torbj?rn Fredriksson Tweet During the COVID-19 pandemic, digital technologies have helped to mitigate some of its negative effects, to combat the virus and ensure the continuity of many economic activities. Lockdowns and other preventive measures that Governments have put in place to curb the spread of the virus have disrupted economic activity in ways for which societies were often unprepared. Amid the slowing economic¡­

This article is published in The South South Matchmaker 3, South South Network. An overview of the development challenges in the country Although the statistics showed two per cent (2%) of the Bhutanese population have hearing loss, the actual number is likely higher, especially the number of hearing loss cases in young children. The discrepancy results from gaps in knowledge, attitudes and practices around hearing loss in Bhutan. In addition, a¡­

14 September 2022 / Gebze New UN report reaffirms the business case for investment in sustainable science, technology and innovation systems in least developed countries (LDCs) to contribute to long-term productivity upgrading, economic development, job creation as well as addressing societal challenges. However, a significant funding gap between the current investment levels and policy targets remains and requires international collaboration to¡­

5 September 2022 / Paul Akiwumi Tweet The transformative role of technology Digitalization¡¯s importance for developing countries, including the 33 African least developed countries (LDCs) has become increasingly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the growing role of digital technologies since the onset of the pandemic, many African LDCs have not been able to fully benefit from the quick development of the digital economy due to¡­

19 August 2022 / Yesim Baykal and Burcu Kuru Tweet Climate change has global impact, does not recognize borders and has devastating consequences for the global community. Globally developing countries, especially the least developed among them, are struggling to adapt to the changes in the climate. Thirteen per cent of the world's population lives in the least developed countries (LDCs) and yet, more than two-thirds (69%) of people killed in¡­

12 August 2022 / Federica Irene Falomi and Taffere Tesfachew Tweet In 2019, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, noted that ¡°despite considerable efforts these past four years, we are not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030¡± [1], suggesting that the global growth and development model was already suboptimal and unsustainable. Three years and a global pandemic later, years of progress towards SDGs have¡­

¡°Together we must envision a Bhutan where no child shall endure hearing loss due to preventable causes¡± - Her Excellency Dasho Dechen Wangmo, Minister for Health, Bhutan August 11, 2022: The World Health Organization estimates that hearing loss affects 32 million children worldwide and opportunely 60% of pediatric hearing loss can be prevented through early detection and the robust implementation of public health measures, along with the timely¡­