(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Coinciding with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2020, Qatar University (QU) organised an event aimed at celebrating women's achievements in science. It also encouraged present and future generations of girls to face modern scientific challenges, to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Qatar National Vision 2030.
The event comes as part a cooperation with the Unesco Office for the GCC and Yemen as well as the Qatar National Committee for Education, Culture and Science (QNCECS).
It was attended by QU President Dr. Hassan Al Derham; Secretary-General of the QNCECS Dr. Hamda Al Sulaiti; QU Vice-President for Research & Graduate Studies Professor Mariam Al Maadeed, a number of researchers and students from Rawda Bint Mohamed Independent Secondary School for Girls and Zubaidah Independent School for Girls.
Director of the Unesco Office for the GCC and Yemen Dr. Anna Paolini opened the event saying, 'Women researchers still represent a small percentage in STEM fields.
According to the Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS), females constitute only 28.8 percent of researchers in the world, although that number is constantly increasing. So we are keen to hold annual events such as this one, in collaboration with Qatar University, to present the experiences that woman researchers have and share expertise with one another, in order to know and understand the challenges we face and learn how to solve them.
Secretary-General of the QNCECS Dr. Hamda Al Sulaiti spoke about the Qatar's role in supporting women and girls in science, saying, 'The State of Qatar places great emphasis on the strengthening the position of the Qatari women in science and scientific research and developing a foundation of constructive scientific thinking.
The country offers a number of specialized programs and grants to study the latest in technological developments and to be at the forefront of scientific developments. Qatar also allocates scientific awards to the most prominent research projects conducted by female students, and organizing and hosting a number of conferences and initiatives designed to spread the culture of science among young girls.
Professor Mariam Al Maadeed confirmed Qatar's role in the support of women in science.
'Through various laws, legislations, plans and strategies, Qatar has continued to encourage women as equals to men in society and has opened the doors for women to work and find opportunities to reach top centres and leadership positions. Qatari women also play a vital role in achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Sh also pointed out the QU's role in encouraging women, commenting that Qatar University female students make up over 76 percent of the student body.
The event included a keynote address by Dr. Buthaina Ali Al Mulla (from Sidra Medical and Research Center and Hamad Medical Corporation), who spoke of the important role that women play in society in general, as well as the role they play in the field of science in particular.
The event also included a number of presentations that highlighted a number of success stories including QU's Al-Bairaq program and QU's Empower Generations Consortium project.
The event featured a panel discussion on empowering future generations of female scientists led by QU female students.
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