UNESCO

120
Gender and science
The high-level conference ‘Re-Thinking
Women’s Empowerment and Gender
Equality in 2015 and Beyond’ was held at
UNESCO Headquarters on International
Women’s Day (4 March). The eminent
panellists included Dr Masoumeh
Ebtekar, Vice-President of the Islamic
Republic of Iran; Laura Chinchilla, former
President of Costa Rica; Tsetska Tsacheva,
President of the National Assembly of the
Republic of Bulgaria; Gertrude Mongella,
former Secretary-General of the Fourth
International Conference on Women,
Bejing; Nicole Ameline, President of the
CEDAW Committee; and Professor Hynd
Ayoubi Idrissi, member of the Committee
on the Rights of the Child. They discussed
progress made since the World Conference
on Women in Beijing in 1995, and the
remaining challenges in achieving gender
equality. Topics included education of
girls and women, and recognizing the
importance of women’s empowerment for
sustainable development.
March saw the announcement of the
five winners of the 2015 L’Oréal-UNESCO
for Women in Science Awards. Each has
made a major contribution to the physical
sciences, where the gender imbalance
is even greater than for science overall.
They all offer role models to inspire future
generations.
For the sixth time the L’Oréal-UNESCO
For Women in Science (FWIS) Sub-Saharan
Africa Programme awarded fellowships
to 12 women scientists in the fields of
life and engineering sciences, food and
water security, health, and the new and
emerging areas of laser science/technology,
nanotechnology, renewable energy
and climate change science. The award
ceremony in Johannesburg (South Africa)
in December was an acknowledgement of
the contribution African women scientists
make to solving the myriad challenges
of the continent as well as to global
knowledge, and to the importance of
continuing to build capacity in this field.
‘Strengthening capacity in genderresponsive
SETI policy systems and
governance for sustainable development
in Africa post 2015’ was the theme of
a regional workshop held in Harare
(Zimbabwe) in July. The workshop was
organized by UNESCO in partnership with
ANSTI, GenderInSITE and the African
American Success Foundation (AASF), in
response to the fact that many national
policies give little attention to gender
mainstreaming and to evaluating progress
in attracting and retaining women to
SETI in Africa. There is a need for gender
mapping to enhance capacity-building
initiatives, and systematic operational
frameworks to promote the advancement
of women. Evaluating and reforming
policies in this area is particularly timely in
the context of the African Union Science,
Technology and Innovation Strategy
for Africa 2024 (AU-STISA-2024) and
the SDGs. The workshop, attended by
40 scientists, academics, policy-makers,
and representatives of the media and the
private sector, from nine African countries,
provided a platform for discussion and
sharing of ideas and good practices.
Participants from 13 countries from
Latin America and the Caribbean gathered
at the Training Centre of the Spanish Agency
for International Development Cooperation
(AECID) in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia)
in November. They attended the workshop