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News | Latin America and the Carribean | 07 October 2016

GenderInSITE at CILAC 2016

At the  I Latin American and the Caribbean Open Science Forum (CILAC 2016) in September, in Montevideo, Uruguay, GenderInSITE was pleased to take part in three sessions on issues ranging from the role of international organizations in promoting women in science to the application of a gender lens to sustainable water management in the Americas. All three sessions were well-attended and inspired interesting discussions, and we thank those who came to hear us. Below, we share some photos from the event as well as the full presentations from the sessions, available for download:

 

CILAC 2016 GIS OWSD IANASI IAP TWAS

L-R: Maryse Lassonde, President of the Royal Society of Canada: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada; Alice Abreu, Director of GenderInSITE; Jana Rodriguez Hertz, Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World

 

During the session Networking globally to advance women in science: the role of international organizations, panellists discussed the successful practices of four important international organizations: GenderInSITE; TWAS; OWSD; and IAP/IANAS, in capacity building, networking, leadership training and raising awareness regarding gender, science and sustainable development. Policy recommendations that emerged from this discussion include:

  • Encourage governments to increase and intensify the gender lens applied to science and development in the region;
  • Encourage cooperation in capacity building and training, including South-South models, for both women and men;
  • Support networking of organizations and science academies, that can provide independent policy advise to governments on how to bring a gender lens to science and sustainable development.

CILAC 2016 GIS OWSD IANAS IAP TWAS 3CILAC 2016 GIS OWSD IANAS IPA TWAS 2

Discussion during the panel Networking globally to advance women in science: the role of international organizations 

CILAC 2016 High Authorities Lunch

L-R: Gloria Bonder, coordinator of the UNESCO regional chair on Women in Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean; Alice Abreu; Katherine Vammen, Co-Chair of IANAS Water Programme; and Marcia Barbosa, Director, Institute of Physics, UFRGS, Brazil

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Katherine Vammen speaks during the session Managing water in the Americas: bringing a science and gender lens to the table

 

During the session Managing water in the Americas: bringing a science and gender lens to the table, panellists presented the following recommendations:

  • Promote mutually reinforcing evaluations of the use of energy and water management, on both sides of the link. To support this, it is necessary to have more information to develop systems based on synergies benefiting both energy production and water management to find the best solution;
  • Build capacity in water resource managers and energy and water experts who are focused on assuring benefits for participating communities in the development of new solutions, and with vision and experience in dealing with the interdependence between energy and water, involving both women and men;
  • Countries should develop a gender and science lens in relation to energy and water, so that leaders understand that women, particularly those in developing countries and those who are described as ‘underserved’ with respect to energy and water are, in many instances, the primary users of these resources yet have little control over their management or their development.

Presentations from sessions

Networking globally to advance women in science: the role of international organizations

Managing water in the Americas: bringing a science and gender lens to the table