UNESCO-MEETING ON PROMOTION OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN

UNCLAS PARIS 007446 SIPDIS FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS FOR OES - ANDREW REYNOLDS FOR IO/UNESCO - JIM DUFTY DEPARTMENT PASS NSF FOR ROSE GOMBAY DEPARTMENT PASS OSTP FOR GENE WHITNEY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNESCO SCI TNGD PHUM SUBJECT: UNESCO-MEETING ON PROMOTION OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) ¶1. Summary. A two-day workshop, "Re-engineering Development: Engendering ICT" was held November 13-14 at UNESCO. Though sponsored by UNESCO, the event was organized by the Centers for Women and Information Technology; Women in Global Science and Technology; and the European Association of Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology. Other sponsors included the National Science Foundation and several American technology companies. The workshop objective was to chart a course of action for projects and initiatives to promote the role of women and girls in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). UNESCO officials contributed opening remarks, and a representative from the Science sector suggested a future partnership between a proposed task force and the existing UNESCO network of university chairs working in this area. End Summary. ¶2. The meeting, whose theme was "Global Efforts for Local Impact: Moving from Knowledge to Action," included breakout groups on the following topics: education through and with ICTs; workforce development, recruitment, and retention; entrepreneurship for small and medium-sized enterprises. Desired outcomes of the event focused on the creation of new programs and collaborative projects associated with each of these three primary areas of concern. ¶3. Claudia Morrell, Executive Director of the U.S. Center for Women in Information Technology, led a debate on the proposed creation of a five-year task force to achieve greater implementation of already existing instruments and projects on gender and ICTs, as well as to encourage progress on future initiatives. Participants debated the criteria for joining such a task force. ¶4. Ms. Rene Clair of the Basic and Engineering Sciences division at UNESCO reminded participants that UNESCO has already organized a network of chairs from Sudan, Ctte d'Ivoire, Brazil, Argentina, Morocco, Burkina Faso, and Pakistan called the "Women, Science, Technology, and Development Network." She reiterated that this network is ready to work with the task force on mutually beneficial projects once the task force is created. ¶5. During the final plenary session, the breakout groups presented ideas for several future projects. Russell Jones, Chairman of the Capacity Building Committee of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, suggested that an electronic portal be created to ensure that these projects go forward in the future. He also argued that future gatherings should be organized to coincide with other significant global events where task force members would already be present. ¶6. Comment. Although this was not an official UNESCO event - it simply took place at UNESCO -- capacity building in the areas of water resources, basic science and math education and engineering have been priorities for the U.S. at UNESCO. The aim of this event was to launch an effort to which UNESCO would potentially contribute by establishing networks and creating partnerships, including with the private sector. This seems in line with the sort of role advocated for UNESCO by leading members of the U.S. science community. In addition to these positive points, this event illustrates UNESCO's sometimes ad hoc approach to program planning. This event also illustrates the limits of cross-sector cooperation. The Deputy of UNESCO's Communication and Information (CI) Sector did not know about the event when asked, and was almost certain that no one from the sector had attended. This is ironic, since the CI sector is one of the strongest proponents of cross-sector work at UNESCO, and its ADG chairs the UNESCO cross-sector working group on capacity building. ¶7. All of the issues highlighted above might be considered by the high-level panel that is currently reviewing UNESCO's Natural Science and Social and Human Sciences Sectors. KOSS