The project aims to strengthen the capacity of beneficiary developing countries to harness science, technology and innovation (STI) for the purpose of promoting and achieving sustainable development. This goal will be pursued by building their STI policy-making and institutional capacities and supporting them in developing improved STI strategies, policy approaches and practical technology transfer and absorption capacities. It also seeks to establish and/or strengthen national, regional and global networks for innovation and knowledge sharing to support sustainable development. The capacity building activities will be concentrated in selected countries in at least two developing regions, and target several policymakers and key stakeholders from each beneficiary country to achieve a critical mass of capabilities in each country that can support eventual national policy action. The networks to be established and strengthened may cover a much wider group of developing countries in all developing regions. UNCTAD will be the main implementing agency, building on its considerable experience in supporting STI capacity building in developing countries and its research and analysis on STI policy issues. The project will seek to make use of collaboration with various organizations within and outside the UN system that have specific areas of expertise and experience in STI policy or directly related issues, or a common interest in promoting sustainable and inclusive development. They include ECLAC, ECA, ESCAP, ESCWA, UNU-MERIT, UNIDO, UNESCO and UNEP, as well as key local academic institutions (universities or research centres) and best-practice STI institutions (such as patent offices, technology transfer offices, innovation institutions).The project has been prepared in response to the growing consensus on the need for achieving growth and development that is both sustainable and more inclusive (that is, leads to broad-based improvement in human welfare, including the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the societies of the world). Sustainable development comprises the three pillars of economic, social and environmental elements, and would reconcile the need for economic development that leads to inclusive social development with the need to maintain environmental sustainability. These goals were recognised in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio+20, and will continue to play a central part in the internationally agreed development goals under the Millennium Development Goals and the process of building the post-2015 United Nations development agenda. Strong scientific, technological and innovation capabilities, and access to technology (and knowledge more broadly), can play an important role in supporting the goal of achieving sustainable development. The project will start in the second semester of 2013 and will be executed over a period of two years and a half, ending in late 2015.