Gender equality / women’s empowerment

• © UNESCO/D. Roger
• National Centre of Oceanographic Research, laboratory, ocean preservation, scientific research

Equality between men and women exists when both sexes are able to share equally in the distribution of power and knowledge; have equal opportunities, rights and obligations in terms of work or income generation; are given equal access to quality education, capacity-building opportunities throughout life and in all domains, and the possibility to develop their full potential and personal ambitions.

In UNESCO a two-pronged approach has been adopted: gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment in Member States and within the organization. “Mainstreaming gender” implies that a systematic effort is made to look at, and attend to, the specific experiences and aspirations of both women and men throughout UNESCO’s programme cycle, from planning to evaluation.

All Natural Sciences Sector programmes will increasingly be designed, monitored and evaluated from a gender equality perspective including all training, capacity-building, educational and research activities. Efforts will be made to ensure a more gender-balanced representation in networks of experts and researchers, as well as access by women to the outputs of research.

Notably, the UNESCO-L’OREAL Partnership “For Women in Science”, the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme and activities in the basic and engineering sciences place special emphasis on supporting women scientists, in particular young women scientists. Other specific examples include the fostering of applications by women to the Man and the Biosphere Young Scientists Research Grant Scheme, the increased assistance to the Association of African Women Geoscientists in order to encourage women to present their work at scientific conferences, and efforts by UNESCO/IOC to achieve gender balance in ocean science capacity-building activities.

Particular attention is paid to the key role of women in the transmission, preservation and elaboration of local knowledge and how it can inform science. In the Pacific small island developing states, efforts to assess, monitor and manage coral reefs, mangrove forests and sea grass beds focus upon the indigenous knowledge possessed by women, who are the main users of these near-shore marine habitats. Indeed, women are frequently the primary users or collectors of natural resources such as drinking water, fuel or small agroforestry plots, and the primary holders of knowledge concerning such resources.

The programme on disaster prevention emphasizes the needs and roles of women in building a culture of disaster resilience notably within the United Nations Cluster on Knowledge and Education for Disaster Reduction led by UNESCO. As is well documented, vulnerability and poverty are closely aligned with gender equality, and women therefore are more frequently victims of natural disasters than are men. However, mainstreaming gender considerations into disaster preparedness and education contributes significantly to reducing disaster impacts and improving sustainable development.

Related links:
::  Gender Equality at UNESCO
::  "For women and Science" - UNESCO-L'OREAL Partnership
::  UNITWIN/UNESCO Chair Programme 

Publications:
::  Science, Technology and Gender
::  Gender Indicators in Science, Engineering and Technology