December, 2022
Dear Members of INWES,
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of INWES. Although our history goes back to 58 years ago when the first International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES) was held in New York, USA, it was in 2002 that we began to be recognized as a formal global network of women in STEM. In 1999, the Science Agenda Framework for Action, adopted by the World Conference on Science in the 21st century convened by UNESCO and ISC, particularly emphasized the need for special efforts to ensure full participation of women and girls in all aspects of science and technology by establishing an “international network of women scientists.” This was what triggered the establishment of INWES twenty years ago by twenty pioneering women representing 10 countries and 8 organizations who met in Canada in 2001. They obtained support from the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and won the unanimous vote from the delegates representing 30 countries at ICWES12 in 2002. Since then we have reached over 60 countries worldwide to fulfill our mission to “build a better future worldwide through the full and effective participation of women and girls in all aspects of STEM.” As President of INWES, I am grateful to all our past and present members for their passion and endeavor to join in action to narrow the gender gap in STEM worldwide.
This message is an excerpt from INWES Newsletter No.39.
For the whole Newsletter issue #39, please click here.