trieste

Women's work: researchers will train in other countries. Credit: DAVID REED/PANOS

The Third World Academy of Sciences (see above) has awarded 25 PhD training fellowships to women in sub-Saharan Africa to study in centres of research excellence in other developing countries.

The novel programme, launched with the support of the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA), is intended to help boost the participation of women in developing countries in science and technology. All the women, who are under the age of 30, are due to start their fellowships in the next couple of months.

“There are many fewer women than men in the sciences [in the developing world],” says Lydia Makhubu, president of the Third World Organization for Women in Science. Makhubu's organization is an independent, non-profit body, hosted by the Third World Academy of Sciences, which aims to strengthen the participation of women in science-based development and decision-making.

“The aim of the programme is to develop a well trained cadre of women in science and technology — leading to an increase in participation of women in science in these countries.”

Makhubu, a chemist who is vice-chancellor of the University of Swaziland, says one advantage of training women within developing countries — rather than sending them to laboratories in industrialized countries — is that their experience gives them a better chance of finding work afterwards. They also “become more keenly aware of the problems in developing countries that need scientific solutions”.

Candidates can choose to do some of their research training in their own countries, something that is crucial for those women who have homes and families they wish to return to. Areas of study will be primarily in the basic sciences.

If the programme is a success, the academy hopes to expand it with additional support from SIDA's Department for Research Cooperation (SAREC). At present, the aid agency is providing US$200,000 a year for the three-year programme.

A major factor behind SIDA's sponsorship of the programme was the Swedish government's recent introduction of a new development goal for the agency. According to SAREC official Afzal Sher, one of six development goals approved by the government a year ago “was that SAREC should work towards more gender equality”.

“We are aware that the situation with regard to women in science in developing countries is very bad, so it's good to give special support earmarked for women,” says Sher. “We have started in a relatively modest way, primarily for sub-Saharan African countries. This may be extended if the pilot works.”

It will be several years before SAREC knows the quality of the candidates selected to work on the scheme, and it will take six years to find out whether the programme overall is working. But Makhubu is optimistic. “If you select 25 out of 110 applicants, then you have only the best and most highly motivated,” she says.