National dialogue on women in science

On the 2nd and 3rd March 2022 an international conference “National Dialogue on Women in Science” was organized by the National Research University of Uzbekistan in Tashkent in cooperation with the UNESCO Almaty office, the Organization for Women in Science for Developing Countries (OWSD), International Agriculture University (IAU), the National Commission of Uzbekistan for UNESCO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) office in Uzbekistan.

The main objective of the conference was to share experiences on how to achieve gender equality in science, technology and innovation and to contribute to political, economic and social decision-making in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5.5.

Since 2019, at the initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office in the Republic of Uzbekistan, within the FAO/GEF project “Sustainable Forest Management in Mountain and Valley Areas of Uzbekistan” a Gender Equity Strategy in Forestry has been developed and is now effectively implemented.

According to a UNESCO Institute for Statistics study, despite the fact that girls achieve as good results as boys in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), today only 30% of scientists in this field are women. Uzbekistan also has a low proportion of women and girls in all STEM fields. The Uzbek government actively promotes STEM education and encourages young people to pursue careers in science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The conference was timed to coincide with International Women’s Day. This conference widely discusses achieving full and equal access and participation of women and girls in science, as well as ensuring gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Notably, the theme of the upcoming International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023, ‘DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality’ also underline the importance of digital agriculture for rural women, as well as for young and old.