From 10-14 March 2019, the World Forum for Women in Science took place in Cairo (Egypt) with a focus on ‘Science Diplomacy for Sustainable Development’. The event was organised by the initiative Women in Science Without Borders. The Global Young Academy was present thanks to the participation of its members and alumni from Thailand, Peru, Ghana, Tunisia and Egypt. GYA alumna Amal Amin (Egypt) continues to act as the Conference Chair.
In addition, the GYA Science Advice working group presented the panel ‘Catalysing Science Diplomacy for the Global South’ during the workshop on Science Diplomacy at this conference. This panel presented three initiatives in Latin America, Africa and South Asia that are promoting Science Diplomacy with the aim of empowering young researchers and professionals in the southern hemisphere. The panel was formed by GYA alumna and past co-chair, Orakanoke Phanraksa (Thailand), Science Advice working group co-lead Clarissa Rios (Peru) and GYA member Meron Zeleke (Ethiopia), who discussed how crucial the international mechanisms and multi-lateral collaborations that have been put in place to help train, connect and mobilize young students and professionals around the world are.
The organizations behind these initiatives, in partnership with the Global Young Academy, are working to unleash all of the talent and potential that exists in developing countries and whose contributions have too often gone unnoticed due to a lack of essential resources such as mentoring, academic advising, collaborative environments, as well as gender and race disparities and discrimination. By using the power of the scientific endeavour and its essential collaborative character to connect more young students, researchers and professionals from developing countries around the world will keep building a network that will help advance the careers of professionals in the global south and will also contribute to building the global capacity we need to address humanity’s present and future challenges.
For more information, please contact Meron for details on the ‘African Good Governance Network’, Clarissa for the Latin America Ekpa’palek, and Orakanoke for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Young scientist network.