Science for all nations

From preventing environmental damage to halting the spread of disease, many 21st-century problems can be tackled with scientific and technological know-how and capacity. But not all nations possess this, and slow progress on the Millennium Development Goals has badly hampered their development. In this article, Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations, calls for a new global partnership between the developed and developing worlds that focuses on science and technology. Several initiatives are showing the way, yet more is needed.