New York, 11 February 2023 (TDI): The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, is implemented by United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN-Women, celebrated on 11 February.
It is also a collaborative effort with institutions and civil society partners that aim to promote women and girls in science.
This day is celebrated to promote opportunities for women to promote full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls.
UNESCO prioritize gender equality globally, and the support of young girls, their education, and their full ability to make their ideas heard are levers for development and peace.
This is also one of the major agendas for Sustainable Development, to harness the talent of women in all fields including science.
More and more inclusion of women in research would expand the pool of talented researchers, bringing in fresh perspectives, talent, and creativity.
This day is celebrated to remind that women and girls play a critical role in science and technology communities and that their participation should be strengthened.
Facts and Figures
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields are widely regarded as critical to national economies. So, far most countries, no matter their level of development, have not achieved gender equality in STEM.
Only 35 percent of women around the world are attached to the STEM field, and 33.3 percent of the female are included in the research field.
Similarly, 30 percent of all countries with data available on the national share of women researchers had reached parity in 2016.
Despite statistics that show the close performance of girls and boys in science and mathematics, strongly gendered stereotypes prevail.
Many girls are still less encouraged in STEM fields and have limited choices for their education and career development.
Even countries that have reached gender parity in terms of researchers are still facing important challenges in achieving it in all aspects since vertical and horizontal segregation persists as barriers.
In top-level positions, women occupy a small minority despite an improvement in recent years and only 22 women have been awarded a Nobel prize in a scientific discipline to date.
The 2030 Agenda of sustainable goals includes a bold commitment “to leave no one behind” to shed a light on the intersecting inequalities through the collection.
Also, analysis of data that are systematically disaggregated by sex, age, income, disability, ethnicity and ethnicity and other relevant factors.
Let’s reiterate this fundamental message, on this International Day of Women and Girls in Science: women need science, and science needs women.
Only by tapping into all sources of knowledge, all sources of talent, can we unlock the full potential of science, and rise to the challenges of our time.
This day is adopted by the General Assembly on 22 December 2015, to establish an annual International Day to recognize the critical role women and girls play in science and technology, through Resolution A/RES/70/212.
