ECA publication to spotlight breakthroughs of African female scientists

A new publication ‘Earth, Oceans and Skies: Insights from selected, outstanding African women scientists’ by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) will spotlight African female scientists whose contributions seek to address some of the most critical challenges of the UN’S Decade of Action leading up to the year 2030.

ECA announced on International Day of Women and Girls in Science, marked on 11 February 2022, that it would release its highly-anticipated publication in March 2022 at the ongoing Dubai Expo in the presence of government officials, business leaders, academics, women’s rights campaigners and members of the public. From exploring the depths of the ocean to studying the vastness of space, the publication features dozens of autobiographies of selected scientists including female doctors, engineers and scientists from Africa whose research and discoveries are helping to tackle complex global challenges. The publication offers unique insights into the careers of African female scientists who are pushing the boundaries of science, technology and innovation. It aims to enable more young girls to enter and thrive in the field of science, a domain where Africa, in general, and women, in particular, are disproportionately underrepresented. About 2.4 per cent of the world’s scientists are from Africa, with women representing only 30 per cent of the continental figure. Announcing the publication, Keiso Matashanemarite, acting Chief of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Section in ECA’S Gender, Poverty and Social Policy Division, said: “African women have been making considerable contributions to science for millennia. ECA is playing its part in spotlighting a few selected areas that respond to the urgency of delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. “Next month, ECA will join the global annual celebration of women’s achievements with the launch of this publication. The women featured in the publication embody the pioneering spirit and their stories create a mosaic of individual journeys interwoven with the historical, political and socioeconomic contexts that influence the science, technology and innovation discourse in Africa.”