Luanda – The Vice-President of the Republic, Esperança da Costa, defended Wednesday the need for a full and equal promotion of access to science for the participation of women and young girls in the country.
At the opening of the forum on “Women and Young Girls in Science in Angola”, the Vice-President stressed that the promotion should be based on the training and development of skills in order to make their ideas heard, as well as boosting development, harmony and peace.
At the time, Esperança da Costa, recalled that the promotion of gender equality is crucial due to the Constitution of the Republic and one of the fundamental tasks of the Angolan State.
Esperança da Costa said that the national policy for gender equality and equity set the lack of access of women to scientific research as constraints to be tackled.
She stressed that the strategy was set as targets to achieve a 30% increase in the rate of women in scientific research.
To Esperança da Costa the holding of the Forum for Women and Young Girls in Science in Angola is an important event in the framework of the celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, in the current month.
The Vice-President considered that the meeting draws attention to the role of science to promote women's empowerment based on education and teaching.
She highlighted the fact that worldwide women are increasingly playing a crucial and decisive role in social, economic and political development, achieving great success in various fields.
According to Esperança da Costa, Angola has been developing actions to empower young people and women for science, highlighting, among others, the Science and Technology Development Project led by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.
The mentioned project establishes that 55% of the post-graduate scholarships and of development funding for scientific research should go to women.
The event that was promoted by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation in partnership with the Ministry of Education was attended by members of the Angolan Government, MPs and academics.
