International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11/02)

«We need to encourage girls and women to reach their full potential as scientific researchers and innovators and support them in this». UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

Every year on February 11, starting in 2016, by decision of the UN, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated.

The background to the holiday is this. On December 20, 2013, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution «Science, technology and innovation for development», which recognized equal and full access for women and girls of any age to the achievements and development of science, technology and innovation as a guarantee of gender equality in this area. And two years later, at the next plenary meeting of the General Assembly, a resolution was adopted (70/212) proclaiming February 11 as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

The establishment of a new date was the next milestone in the implementation of the society development plan until 2030, known as the UN General Assembly Resolution «Transforming our world: Agenda for sustainable development for the period until 2030».

The global professional community is concerned that only 30% of researchers are women, and is trying to draw attention to this problem.

The main goal of the Resolution is to achieve qualitative changes in the process of involving women and girls in the scientific field. Although the global community has made significant progress in this regard over the past 15 years, women and girls still face limitations in this area.

Research conducted in 14 countries has revealed a certain imbalance in scientific participation between men and women, that is, an imbalance based on gender or gender. Thus, the possibility of obtaining a bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree for women in the field of science is 18%, 8% and 2%, respectively, while for men these figures are 37%, 18% and 6%. In such advanced areas as artificial intelligence, only one in five specialists (22%) — is a woman.

The resolution calls on all countries of the world to pay attention to the existing problem, try to identify the causes of gender imbalance in the field of science, technology and innovation, and organize programs of activities to involve women and girls in the scientific environment.

The first celebration of the Day took place on February 11, 2016 and was marked by a forum at the UN headquarters. The annual celebration of this day is designed to draw additional attention to the problem of women's participation in the scientific field, especially to celebrate the achievements in the field of science, technology and innovation made by women and girls.

The mention in the name of the holiday not only of women, but also of girls, is aimed at updating the topic of participation in scientific communities, clubs and other scientific associations of the school period not only of boys, but also of girls, whose participation in them is also noticeably lower. In addition, participants in events within the framework of the celebration of the International Day pay attention to the work of educators and teachers in school and preschool education institutions, where the principles of gender equality should be taken into account.

In its Resolution, the UN appeals not only to states and their governments, but also to international organizations and foundations, civil society structures, representatives of science, as well as entrepreneurs to promote the organization and observance of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. And also – try by all means to ensure the principles of equality and eliminate any manifestations of gender discrimination in the field of science, to encourage and strive in every possible way to introduce women from an early age to scientific achievements and innovative technologies, guaranteeing them an equal right to participate in this area with men.



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