State Minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Oryem Okello has called for increased funding for Science and Technology Research and Development in Universities and Institutions funded by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Okello was speaking at the first summit of the OIC on Science and Technology which ran from 9-11 September 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan.
He led a 9-person delegation to the summit, comprising of Elioda Tumwesigye, the minister of science and technology and officials from the Ministries of Science, Technology and Innovation and Foreign Affairs.
The Astana Summit was meant to ensure a clear understanding of the necessity to completely reduce scientific and technological gaps between Muslim Ummah and developed countries. It will also contribute to the earliest implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promote the principles of cooperation and solidarity among all OIC Member States.
Okello informed the Summit that Uganda’s challenge, which was not much different from others in the developing world, was in the current education system, which emphasizes theoretical academic work with little depth on applied science, engineering and technical skills which are central to technological innovations.
