Tech 4 Equality Talk to Mark International Women's Day
On March 5, the International Women’s day was marked with a Tech4Equality talk to discuss new ways of empowering women and girls by supporting their involvement in the field of technology and science. The talk was attended by UN and government representatives, the ambassador of Sweden to Georgia and Armenia, students and other guests.
The event was organized by the United Nations in Georgia in cooperation with the Administration of the President of Georgia, Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia, the governments of Sweden and Norway, and the Georgian civil society organization ‘Innovation Support Fund’.
Louisa Vinton, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Georgia, opened the event and the stage for a row of inspiring speakers. She pointed out the importance of celebrating women’s day and to use this day to shine the spotlight on both sides of gender equality, “To celebrate the positive while also seeking solutions for the negative side.” Women in Georgia are much better educated than their male counterparts but they’re still underrepresented in the working environment and particularly in high positions as well as in the science and technology field in general. Louisa Vinton stated this fact as “shocking” and referred to the need for innovation to equalize this imbalance. The field of science and technology shows a highly remarkable gender imbalance, caused by stereotypes, bias and the lack of role models for young girls in this field.
As the event continued a wide range of inspiring speakers from different fields told their stories and how they became successful in their career. Despite the fact that many of them had to face challenges and struggles, they kept going in a man dominated world. The speaker were on the one hand UN and governmental representatives laying down the structural perspectives and official efforts already made; as well as leading women in science and technology telling their rather personal stories and experiences working in the tech world. Among the speakers were Nana Dikhaminjia - Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering at Ilia State University; Natia Ninikelashviliv - Founder of soplidan.ge; Maia Todua - Director of the Abastumani Observatory; David Chechelashvili - a strategy oriented, experienced high-tech entrepreneur, technology commercialization expert; Esma Gumberidze - an activist who advocates for equal opportunities and access for all in Georgia; Mariam Rusishvili - CEO and founder of QuickCash AI; Ani Tsitsishvili - microbiologist, veterinarian and bio-artist.
The main message was the demand of new steps, which need to be taken to ease the access to science and technology for young women and to overcome stereotypes in technology-related jobs as well as to transform the rather hostile environment in the tech field that often tries to push out women. Ulrik Tideström, Ambassador of Sweden to Georgia and Armenia, stated, “There will be no sustainable development, welfare, sustainable peace or security, if we keep excluding half of the population” and he is demanding more engagement also from men to end with this exclusion.
“There are so many strong women standing out in Georgia but when you look at the averages of wage gap, the lack of representation, particularly in political leadership, I think women need to take courage and demand their rights. But we also need to work together with men, to ensure and spread the idea that gender equality is a good thing for women as well as men and at the end for the society in general”, Louisa Vinton told GEORGIA TODAY.
By Lisa Maier
Image Source: UNDP Georgia