The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), in partnership with the Kenya Space Agency (KSA), recently hosted a Space4Women Expert Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, from 27 to 29 November 2024. The meeting, which was held at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, was themed “Integrating Women in Space Activities and Solutions.”Furthermore, the meeting’s objectives will focus on developing a toolkit to enhance STEM education accessibility for women and girls in marginalised communities. Additionally, this was a pivotal meeting as it was the first Space for Women Expert meeting held on the African continent. Events in previous years have been held in the United States of America, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Korea and Canada.
The meeting convened over 80 space sector experts, focusing on gender inclusion and women’s potential to address global challenges in agriculture, food security, and space technology integration. In addition, this fifth edition of the meeting was officially opened by Honourable Soipan Tuya, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Defence. Honourable Tuya acknowledged UNOOSA for selecting Kenya as a host and highlighted the meeting’s potential to inspire women in the Global South to join the space sector. She emphasised Kenya’s constitutional commitment to gender equity and its efforts to promote STEM education for women and girls.
Ms Aarti Holla-Maini, UNOOSA’s Director, urged women to share inspiring stories and emphasised collaborative efforts between women and men in science and technology. She also highlighted STEM education’s crucial role in empowering women and enhancing nations’ socio-economic status. Brigadier Hillary Kipkosgey highlighted KSA’s commitment to gender inclusivity, noting women represent 45% of its board of directors, and praised the event as a key platform for advancing women’s participation in space-related fields.
Event Highlights
The event featured presentations, panel discussions, and keynote presentations that focused on various aspects of inclusive women’s participation in space and celebrated the milestones of this endeavour so far. Day one focused on insightful discussions on women’s involvement in space and championing the gender mainstreaming toolkit that countries will advocate for its implementation over the next year. Actors from the Kenya Space Agency, the Senegal Space Agency, the German Space Agency BEA Systems and the Philippine Space Agency featured in this panel session. Col Mercy Kamau from the Kenya Space Agency emphasised equal employment, internship and training opportunities for women, adding that equal pay should be underscored.
Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership of the Australian National University, further highlighted quantitative data on women’s participation in the space. She highlighted that women only represent 30% of public space sector organisations. She further stated that women represent only 24% of managers, 21% of C-suite and executive roles and 19% of board positions. As such, women remain largely below a ‘critical mass’ in the global space sector. The presentation featured that the region with the highest representation of women overall and in leadership was Africa. However, there remains a high level of variation across and within other regions.
Additionally, Ameera Ali, a research analyst from the Canadian Space Agency, presented the gender mainstreaming toolkit, which was the key outcome of the 4th Space4Women Expert Meeting hosted in Canada in 2023. The toolkit’s main aim is to strengthen the capacity of the global space community to undertake gender mainstreaming efforts to address underlying systemic gender inequalities at various levels and contexts. In her presentation, she recommended that to achieve gender equality and inclusion, there has to be a commitment at all levels to advance gender equality and also creating dedicated programmes to empower women and girls.
Day Two and Day Three
Day two of the event celebrated the transformative power of space education. Trailblazers from their respective countries, such as Lily Asongfac from Cameroon, Ira Sharma from Nepal, and Hira Fatima from Pakistan, shared their stories on how education can unlock potential and shape brighter futures for future generations. They shared their insights and grassroots experiences in scaling STEM activities to bridge gender gaps in education and technology and the initiatives that support these endeavours, such as the Edufun Technik STEM Foundation and Youths for Sustainable Space Development, among others.
On the final day, the event emphasised entrepreneurship and awareness-raising initiatives in the space sector. Viviane Meta from Locate IT in Kenya, Nandi Mtethwa from South Africa’s Research Institute of Innovation and Sustainability and Angela Corbari, the founder of Studiomapp in Italy, explored how women’s entrepreneurship in the space sector could further drive innovation, create opportunities and foster inclusivity. The panel further discussed women’s empowerment in the space industry, sharing their insights and exploring strategies for creating a more inclusive future in the sector.
Conclusion
The event proved to be a pivotal step in empowering women’s participation in space while also inspiring the future generation of girls to pursue careers in space. Further consultations also highlighted developing a toolkit to enhance STEM education for women and girls in underprivileged areas during the event. In addition, The Space4Women Network expanded its national and local focal point network to support more regional and national initiatives. Participants also advocated for increased funding opportunities, including scholarships and mentorship programs to support women and girls in space-related fields.