By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has hosted a national capacity-building workshop in Ghana to support the country to develop SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely) policies.
This would ensure that Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) were reflected across all sectors of the economy.
The two-day hybrid workshop held in Accra in December formed part of an on-going project in six African countries (Congo, Ghana, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zimbabwe) funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
It aimed at strengthening national and regional STI policies and governance and institutions in research and innovation in line with the UNESCO Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers (RS|SR).
Addressing participants, UNESCO’s Science Policy Consultant, Guillermo Lemarchand explained the key concepts of STI policies and policy instruments, using global and regional examples; as well as the methodological approach and analytical units of UNESCO’s Global Observatory of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy Instruments (GO-SPIN).
Discussing Ghana’s Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Experimental Development (GERD), Mr Lemarchand noted that the country’s R&D strength appeared to be skewed toward medical research.
He emphasised the importance of the government, in partnership with the private sector, investing more in diverse scientific research to reduce the country’s reliance on foreign aid for its R&D.
The Deputy Director of the STI Directorate at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI), Mr Cephas Adjei Mensah; spoke about the measures the ministry and its agencies were undertaking with the support of UNESCO to strengthen the country’s STI system.