Welcome to the United Nations
  1. Home
  2. Space for Women Expert Meeting: Initiatives, challenges and opportunities for women in space

Space for Women Expert Meeting: Initiatives, challenges and opportunities for women in space

UN/Brazil/United Arab Emirates

Space for Women Expert Meeting:
Initiatives, challenges and opportunities for women in space

21 - 22 OCTOBER, DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Organized jointly by
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Brazil (MCTI)
Brazilian Space Agency (AEB)
National Institute for Space Research (INPE)
Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC)

 
IMPORTANT NOTICE:

The organizers will be monitoring the the global health situation carefully and will be communicating any updates on the planning and preparations regularly through the events website.

 

DOCUMENTS AND LINKS

  • Application open until 31.08.2021
  • Read all about the Space4Women Initiative  here.
  • Contact details: space4women[@]un.org

 

Background

The meeting is part of the "Space for Women" Project (Space4Women), which falls under the United Nations Capacity Building Initiative. Space4Women encourages women and girls to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and raises awareness about career opportunities and the importance of gender equality and empowerment in the space sector.

Purpose & Target audience

The main focus of the meeting is to discuss how the benefits of space can reach women and girls, and ensure they have an equal and active role in the areas of space science, technology, innovation and exploration. During the meeting the participants will have the opportunity to engage in presentations, discussions, lectures and networking, whose main aim is to promote gender equality and women empowerment in the space area in accordance with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 (Quality Education) and 5 (Gender Equality).

Decision-makers and experts from international organizations, governments, non-governmental organizations, as well as senior officials and representatives of the private sector, research institutions and universities are all encouraged to apply.

 

General Objectives

  • Raise awareness about the role of women in the advancement of space science, technologies, applications and space exploration;
  • Identify the main initiatives, challenges and opportunities for women in the aerospace sector;
  • Enhance the participation of women in aerospace careers in terms of the number of women in the organizations of the sector and mainly in terms of the accessibility to leadership positions;
  • Promote discussion on how space technologies and applications can help women and girls to overcome the current gendered structures of inequality, promoting empowerment and inclusiveness;
  • Present models of women who can be an inspiration for young women and girls in their pursuit of careers in the aerospace sector;
  • Use gender-sensitive lenses to look at the effects of institutionalized attitudes and gestures that reflect policies often legitimated in terms of masculine characteristics, contributing to the perceived inauthenticity of women's voices in matters of policy-making in the aerospace sector; and
  • Discuss how capacity-building initiatives can help the achievement of the objectives and targets proposed.

 

Specific Objectives

Focus on the discussion of specific themes related to (1) role models and mentors who promote careers in STEM fields and in the space sector; (2) opportunities for women in the space sector; (3) the space sector working as a driver for women development and (4) hands-on experiences.

Themes
Key Topics

Session 1: Role models and mentors who promote careers in STEM fields and in the space sector.

 
  • Achievements and highlights of gender empowerment in the space sector (Keynote speeches)
Session 2: Opportunities for women in the space sector.
  • What can women do for space? How is possible to attract more women to the space sector? Which policies can be created to help the achievement of gender equality in these careers? How to increase awareness on that?
Session 3: The space sector working as a driver for womens development.
  • What do women need from space? What can space do for women? Which space technologies and applications can be developed to achieve that?
Session 4: Hands-on experiences.
  • What was already done in terms of policies and initiatives to encourage women to pursue STEM carriers in the space sector?

 

Expected outcomes

It is expected that the meeting not only raises awareness on the theme but also promotes further concrete policies and actions towards gender equality and women empowerment in the areas of space science, technology, innovation and exploration.