FINAL WORD
Donors target North African women in technologies
The International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture launched the design phase of a new major regional programme to empower young Arab women scientists and leaders in research and development. Funded by the Islamic Development Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the design phase will lay the groundwork for the Young Arab Women Scientists Leadership Tamkeen Programme, the first of its kind in North Africa and Middle East region.
The programme will help to build and improve skills and capacities of a new generation of young Arab women scientists and leaders, contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality and women’ s empowerment.
Dr Ismahane Elouafi, Director General of International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture, said:“ Women are keepers and developers. They do deserve and require more opportunities. That is why in this programme we wanted to give priority to equipping women, namely women scientists, with necessary knowledge, skills and tools so that they can realise their full potential and contribute more to their countries’ economies.”
The past few decades have seen a considerable increase in the number of women scientists and leaders working in agricultural research in both industrialised and developing countries. However, empirical evidence shows that there is a disproportionately low number of women working in senior scientific and managerial positions, especially in the MENA region.
Women scientists face a wide range of barriers ranging from family and social expectations to limited networking opportunities to lack of targeted leadership programs. These challenges limit women’ s opportunities for advancement into senior positions.
“ Islamic Development Bank pays significant attention to the role of women in development. Therefore, improving the skills of Arab women scientists in agricultural research is a step in the right direction. We believe that empowering women with the right skills in agricultural research will contribute to alleviating poverty and making food available to the poor. We will work with our partners to ensure that skill acquisition in our member countries is barrier free,” stated Dr Osman El-Feil, Director, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, Islamic Development Bank.
Agricultural research, development and extension agencies will benefit from the increased presence of women in senior research and leadership positions as increasing diversity of leadership voices is shown to improve outcomes. Women leaders in science are better placed to identify challenges and solutions for women in agriculture, resulting in improved food security and nutrition for all rural people. Therefore, it is important to promote more balanced representation of women in decision-making processes related to agricultural knowledge, science, and technology at all levels.
The design phase will serve to identify the barriers and challenges facing young Arab women scientists working in agricultural research and development, as well as knowledge and skills they need to advance their careers.
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