With the global community gearing up for World Health Day, informal dialogues can build partnerships to drive health policy.

Messages about the workings of policymaking should be easier to come by, and can inform how scientific evidence is presented.

Governments in the Middle East and North Africa are recognising the links between the uprisings and science for development, says Bothina Osama.

A SciDev.Net survey reveals the challenges of applying research insights to policy and practice, and underscores that evidence is not enough.

Making science integral to the new development agenda will need new frameworks — and new thinking about the goals.

Progressive scientific diplomacy focused on building research capacity is in everybody's political interests, but significant challenges remain.

A consultation with science policy stakeholders in Asia–Pacific throws up tensions between research priorities that link to science governance.

A greater commitment to multidisciplinary research, and to local problem solving, is essential to achieving future development goals.

Big scientific discoveries, such as the God particle, can have great Earthly potential that must be shared by the world's poor.

Last week's summit has confirmed that sustainable development will only be achieved through the political leadership of developing countries.

The message from Rio+20 is for practical action to deliver existing targets. Scientists must identify and overcome barriers to change.

Efforts to promote sustainable development must tap into technologies developed locally, driven by community needs and priorities.

It's time to move from debate to action with new mechanisms for funding research into diseases faced by developing countries.

The shortage of credible and diverse voices in science undermines the capacity of journalists to respond to development challenges.

A meeting in London this week will show whether science can not only diagnose our environmental crisis but also provide effective solutions.

Yet more failure to make much progress on climate change in Durban means that developing countries must exert stronger political pressure.

A Ugandan report suggests that policymakers' interest in science and technology is growing. But they need support to turn it into action.

Millennium Science Initiative funding has produced an impressive range of projects in Uganda. The government is wrong to bring it to an end.

The Horn of Africa drought exposes the continuing gap between our ability to predict disaster and to take effective humanitarian action.