Address at the World Conference on Science
Budapest, June 26 - July 1, 1999
Flavia Pansieri, Deputy Director
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am greatly honoured to represent the United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM) at this World Conference on Science. I am also convinced, as we all are at
UNIFEM, of the importance of this Conference for the work of UNIFEM, but also of the
importance of the work of UNIFEM in relation to the topic of this Conference, which is
seeking A new Commitment for the XXI Century.
This is why UNIFEM, which is a small UN organization with still far too limited
resources, decided to be present at this Conference with its own staff and, more
importantly, by sponsoring the participation of a number of women scientists who would
otherwise not have been able to contribute their voice, their wisdom to the deliberation of
this Conference.
We strongly believe in the importance of scientific progress and technological advances
for the improvement of women’s lives. We equally believe in the importance, indeed the
essential need, of women’s contributions to scientific progress and technological
advancement.
Science is not neutral, as we have been repeatedly reminded over the last few days.
Science impacts on society, promotes well being, improves lives, but can also be used for
destructive purposes.
The ethical underpinnings of scientific progress, the non-neutrality of science, implies
that outcomes are not necessarily the same within different socio-economic contexts.
They are also not the same for women and men.
We must all recognize the potential for this differential impact. By way of example, how
can we address the potentially negative impact on women’s health of newly developed
drugs, if their positive effects are assessed without taking into account not only men’s,
but also women's specific characteristics and reactions?
Or, to give another example, how can we accurately measure the impact of technological
innovations if this is measured only in relation to men's productive activities without
taking into account the parameters of women's specific economic and productive roles?
Science and technology impact on women's lives, but it has to be equally recognized that
women too have played and still play a significant role in advancing scientific
knowledge. This role goes often unacknowledged: on the one hand women's lesser
participation in decision-making and their consequent lesser visibility in society results at
times in their contributions as scientists and technologists being appropriated by male
relatives or acquaintances; on the other hand, this role is also unacknowledged because
women’s scientific knowledge and technological innovation has been produced outside
the formal scientific and technological sector, as is the case for indigenous technologies.
The language, problem diagnosis and experimental methods of the women who are
custodians of a significant part of this indigenous knowledge are detailed, logical and
internally consistent frameworks of understanding, even while the do not correspond
fully to the established parameters of mainstream scientific analysis.
Let me refer to a Food Technology Contest in the Andean region, which UNIFEM
sponsored, in partnership with the Women’s Popular Education Network. The contest had
the objective of presenting, sharing and rewarding women’s scientific and technological
activities in food production. The winner of the contest was a group of women in Peru’s
central highland region, who were using traditional Andean cereals to make snacks,
sweets, preserves and other foods. They experimented with different grain mixtures and
evaluated the results based on the quality of the product and its nutritional content. They
found a market in schools thanks to the high nutritional content of their products. They
were also successful in blending traditional knowledge with that of their group leader
who, having attended university, possessed also a formal training in nutritional science.
They were able to link their indigenous knowledge and production methods with those of
official science. This experience exemplifies the inventiveness of women in blending
informal and formal science and technology. It also highlights the potential of
technological innovation in overcoming poverty and contributing to sustainable human
development.
Why are these and many other contributions of women to scientific and technological
advances so little recognized? One of the reasons is their lack of representation at all
levels within the scientific community.
To start, we need to ensure equal access for girls and boys to science education. This calls
for special programmes to promote girls' participation and retention in schools, and in
particular in scientific and technical fields. This requires also adequate retraining of
teachers, both male and female, to overcome the implicit perception that girls are less
interested or apt in scientific disciplines than boys. The result, as has been documented by
research, is that boys receive greater attention from their science teachers, thereby further
reinforcing the stereotype of girls' lesser aptitude for scientific disciplines.
In academia and scientific bodies in general there is still considerable gender imbalance.
The lack of recruitment and retention programmes that take into account the dual role of
women, their productive and reproductive functions, results also in a much lower number
of women scientists obtaining adequate recognition and professional advancement.
Research on the effects on women of scientific developments is still grossly inadequate,
mostly as a result of a lack of collection and analysis of sex disaggregated data that could
substantiate the better targeting of policies, but also the more responsive definition of
research priorities, taking into account the differential needs and impact of research
outcomes.
A new way of thinking is necessary, doing away with gender stereotypes and with the
image projected in educational systems of the role of women in science and technology.
Women need to join the scientific mainstream. Strong networks of concerned men and
women at the national, regional and global levels have to be established, to advocate for
women's rightful place in science and technology.
And finally, the insufficient representation of women in policy making bodies, where
decisions are taken on research topics and priorities, perpetuates a situation in which
women's specific needs go unheard, women’s specific contributions and skills are not
acquired nor acknowledged.
In turn, science and technology stand to benefit greatly from women’s increased
participation. Scientific breakthroughs are often the result of looking at problems from
different angles, of thinking differently. The more diversity in an institution or field, the
higher the quality of the work and the more our knowledge is enriched. It is a
documented fact that the more diverse a project team is, the more innovative results it can
produce.
The role of women in science and technology needs to be rethought, as does the role of
science and technology for women. As beneficiaries of science, women need to be on a
par with men. Therefore, as producers of scientific advancement and technological
innovation, women need to take their rightful role alongside men.
It is the hope of UNIFEM that this Conference will have contributed to raising awareness
of the right, and duty, of women to participate in scientific work and benefit from
scientific progress.
The new commitment to Science for the Twenty First Century that we are making here
today, should thus reflect this and ensure that the next century will provide equal
opportunities for women and men globally to participate in and transform science and
technology.
UNIFEM will continue, within its resources and in line with its mandate, to promote
women’s role and support the process to ensure that women scientists from the South and
from the North are given all opportunities to participate and contribute to our common
efforts to make this world a better place for all, for women and men, for girls and boys
alike.
Thank you.
