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Women encouraged to be more involved in science and innovation

Women encouraged to be more involved in science and innovation

The workshop is in collaboration with UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa and the government.

The main objective of the workshop is to position women to effectively mobilize Science Technology and Innovation (STI) policy systems and governance strategies and harness opportunities that the African Agenda 20163 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 present for socioeconomic transformation and sustainable development. Through discussion and engagement with stakeholders and advocates of gender and science including Ministers, policy makers, academics, researchers and gender experts.

Other objectives of the workshop are to promote inclusion of women scientists in key decision-making positions and to encourage women to take up long term careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and to enhance STI policy systems and governance by mainstreaming gender.

Despite the importance of women in sustainable development, they are not fully participating in Science as they remain a minority in the fields that are vital for the transition to sustainable development such as energy, engineering, transportation, information technology and computing.

Recent research done by UNESCO shows that only 28% of researchers employed globally are women, while in Sub-Saharan Africa women in research and development in 2013 stood at 30%.

This is a let down because, women play a crucial role in Africa’s development including advancing the Africa 2063 Agenda’s Aspiration 1 and the (SDGs) specifically goals 4,5,9 and 11 by helping to identify global problems and find solutions.



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