International days are occasions to raise awareness on issues of major concern, to mobilise institutional will and resources to address global problems and to celebrate and reinforce the achievements of humanity.
Today, we celebrate UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science to draw attention to the difference that women can make in science, but more importantly, to raise awareness for gender parity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
We would like to ensure that, in the long term, more young girls have access to the opportunities that ICGEB can provide. In particular, the ICGEB wishes to engage its Alumni Network in fostering scientific curiosity amongst the younger generations in developing countries. We take this opportunity to address global challenges by harnessing the full potential of the ICGEB advocacy mandate: to spread the word across the ICGEB Network and to ask our Alumni to pass the legacy of science on to future generations by supporting the first ICGEB Alumni fundraising initiative.
The objective of the “ICGEB Alumni for girls in STEM” fundraising campaign is to finance actions aimed at making science appealing for young girls in developing countries. We aim to do this by organising “Discover Science through the lens of the Foldscope” events, initially in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa, where we have a pool of active alumni and support institutes. Our South Africa Component has been running workshops to great effect. We also aim to organise two “Science and the City Young” events and expand the project in other ICGEB Member States. These public engagement conferences bring the public into direct contact with scientists and experts to enhance discovery, development, and dissemination. The ICGEB will provide Foldscopes, participation in the event, and lunch for children, and will co-fund the events up to 50%.
We invite all ALUMNI, or alumni regional communities, to express their interest in championing the organisation of events (please check the ICGEB Alumni World Map to identify other Alumni close to you).
We encourage all ALUMNI to make symbolic donations to support these initiatives and, more importantly, to spread the message across their network of friends, colleagues or donors and on your social media to encourage donations and increase the opportunities for girls to build successful careers in STEM.
We hope we have raised your interest and inspired you to read further about this initiative on the ICGEB Donation page
Please consider that:
- 10$ represents a chance for five children to receive, construct, and experiment with their own Foldscope
- 30$ will pay for participation in the event, a Foldscope each, and lunch for five children
- 100$ will pay for participation in the event, a Foldscope each, and lunch for a whole class
Whatever your contribution, ICGEB will match it in support of the cause.
We look forward to hearing your feedback on this initiative, and to your support!
#GirlsinSTEM #WomeninSTEM #ICGEBAlumni #WomeninSTEMday