UC scientist participates in the 7th International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly
This year's International Day of Women and Girls in Science has the theme "Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Water Unites Us" and brings together experts from all over the world.
Translation by Diana Taborda
Filipa Bessa, a researcher at the University of Coimbra (UC), will attend the 7th Assembly of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which is being hosted online today, 11 February, at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York.
This year the International Day of Women and Girls and Science has the theme “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Water Unites Us” and gathers experts from all over the world. The Assembly will showcase the best practices, strategies, applied solutions and experiences in the scope of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda, specifically SDG6 - Clean Water and Sanitation.
Filipa Bessa is an expert in the field of marine pollution by microplastics and will focus her intervention on "the challenges of protecting and restoring aquatic resources, the challenges of emerging pollutants and the opportunities that the Ocean Decade will offer for networking, cooperation initiatives and collective action".
"We need to empower every citizen to care for the ocean and enable all women to play transformative and ambitious roles in understanding, exploring, protecting and ensuring the sustainable management of our oceans. Women are involved in all aspects of interacting with the ocean, but all too often their voices are missing from the decision-making table," she says.
The researcher from the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE) of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), says, "it is an honour to be able to participate, as a woman and a scientist, in this initiative that promotes the fair and balanced contribution of men and women in science and society, and the sharing of inspiring stories that will help us in the challenges we face in protecting water - a vital resource for the survival of our species and the planet".
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science was established by the United Nations in 2015. Celebrated on the 11th of February, this day aims to promote equal rights between men and women at all levels of the education system, especially in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
More information about the event: https://www.womeninscienceday.org/index.html and https://february11.net/#to-top.