Excellencies, dear colleagues from the EU Member States;

Members of the Diplomatic Corps; and let me great in particular our women ambassadors,

Dear Ms Bali, Head of Gender Unit, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare;

Director, Higher Education Commission;

Respected scientists and members of the panel;

Dear Students;

Distinguished guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

It gives me an immense pleasure to host this morning gathering on Women & Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM for short) together with our two EU Member States – Finland and Sweden;

This is indeed quite amazing!  Why?

Because 4 weeks ago I was invited to a panel discussion on Women in Leadership position to share the European example of women on company board and corporate level;

Two weeks ago, I was yet on another panel discussion on Women in Parliament – 50:50 symposium by Gender Links to discuss parity in Parliament;

And today we are here to complete the cycle with Women & Girls in STEM;

This clearly shows that there is commitment from all sectors – be it government, private sector, civil society organisations and academia to discuss the role of women and girls in all the sphere of Mauritian society.  And this is very encouraging;

Today’s gathering reflects the growing interest and need to promote women’s talent and to close the gender gap in STEM;

And I am happy that some young students and our Youth Ambassadors from our youth Forum have joined us this morning to share their thoughts on the subject.

Let me start by sharing with you :

1 What is the situation of Women in STEM in the European Union?

2 I will then explain briefly what we are doing here in Mauritius about this very important subject.

So what is the situation of Women in STEM in the European Union?

Today in the EU, men still represent more than 80% of the workforce in the digital sector.  That is a hard fact!

Women, on the other hand, account for only 29% of PhD graduates in engineering, manufacturing and construction across the EU. They represent only 25% of self-employed professionals in technical professions such as science, engineering, or information and communication technologies. They are significantly under-represented among inventors, with only 10% of patent applications coming from women.

These figures show that Europe needs more women in STEM!

Moreover, we are leaving in a world where new technologies emerge and where online education, work life, entertainment and services are increasing, therefore ensuring women are equally and fully part of the digital transition is a must!

In order to align the digital transition with a more sustainable, a greener future, STEM skills will be in a high demand for tackling global issues;

As we have seen, Europe has not yet tapped into women’s and girls’ full potential to ensure this inclusive participation in our changing world;

Despite women’s high level of education, they still tend to shy away from STEM subjects.

So faced with these figures, what is the EU doing to motivate women & girls to turn to STEM subjects?

The EU has in fact developed a set of strategies, policies and tools to achieve this objective.

This morning I want to use this platform to share these tools with you as sources of inspiration:

First Our strategies / policies:

1. We have our EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020 – 2025 which sets out measures to ensure that women and men have equal opportunities and access to digital jobs as well as to address the gender gap in digital skills;
2. This is further reinforced by our European Union Global Gateway Strategy, launched on 1^st December 2021, to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport as well as to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world. Education and research features as one of the five sectors for investment priorities under the Global Gateway Strategy
3. As part of our 80 bio€ budget for development and partnership cooperation, we have decided that at least 85% of the development programmes will need to contain a significant or a principal objective related to gender equality  and women empowerment

Second Our tools to implement these strategies: sorry it will be a long enumeration of 6 different activities, but I believe it is important to show the diversity and the commitment in many sectors to act concretely.

1. The EU’s Digital Education Action Plan and Updated Skills Agenda include actions to guarantee the uptake of digital and ICT skills specifically by girls and young women; these contain for example dedicated online learning platforms or organising girls and women E-STEAM festivals to enhance digital competences among girls and women and boost confidence to use them…the set  goal is to have 40000 young female students in training on circular economy and digital skills.
2. Horizon Europe 2020 which is the EU's key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of almost 100 billion (€95.5), has a new eligibility criterion that research organisations applying for funding must have an actionable Gender Equality Plan; this plan must present a target for a gender balanced of 50% in all Horizon Europe related decision-making bodies and evaluators;
3. Under the same programme, the annual EU Prize for Women Innovators gives awards to the most talented women entrepreneurs for breakthrough ideas. It aims to inspire the next generation to follow their footsteps;
4. Last year the EU also launched the Women TechEU initiative supporting 50 women-led tech start-ups with a budget of EUR 3.8 million. The scheme offers first-class coaching and mentoring to female founders, as well as targeted funding to help take their business to the next level;
5. The European Union has developed in response to the Covid crisis a €750 billion recovery  called NextGenerationEU. We have committed to invest 20% of NextGenerationEU in digital recovery; here again when implementing a special women objective is required.
6. Finally the Talent Partnerships under the Erasmus+ programme will facilitate the mobility of partner countries' young professionals and trainees to Europe for employment or training. Through the Team Europe Global approach, the European Union will act as a major catalyst to increase scientific excellence and addressing global challenges while enhancing economic growth and job creation. In this context a special attention will be given to female candidates.

Through these various strategies and tools, our overall goal is to create gender-equal working environments where all talents can thrive and better integrate.

Now what are we doing in Mauritius about this very important subject?

Our action to accelerate the trend in promoting gender equality and women & girls empowerment is guided by the EU Gender Action Plan (GAP III) 2021 – 2025; and we are actively  using this plan here in Mauritius ;

 The Gender Action Plan III aims to walk the talk, defining policy objectives and targets around six key thematic areas of engagement, and one of them is precisely :

• Freedom from all forms of gender based violence,
• Promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights,
• Strengthening of economic and social rights and empowerment of women and girls,
• Advancement of participation and leadership,
• Integration of the Women in the  peace and security agenda,
• Harnessing the challenges and opportunities of the green transition and digital transformation

Besides, we have an annual Gender Policy Dialogue with Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare. Last November, we signed a Joint Monitoring Framework with the Minister that provide for a number of KPIs to track progress on the achievement of SDG5 on gender equality. This was done in presence of my two colleagues here present – Ambassadors from Finland and Sweden (+France);

We have also provided the Ministry of Gender Equality with Technical Assistance for law enforcement and drafting of the Gender Equality Bill;

Additionally we also provide grants to NGOs for capacity building at improving their advocacy role on gender issues, women and girls’ empowerment as well as in service delivery.

Concluding remarks

Ladies and gentlemen,

A true recovery has to be inclusive. And this will only happen if women enjoy the very same opportunities as men. This is why we are putting a special focus on digital skills. Every man and woman should be equally fit to contribute in the economy of the future.

The EU will therefore invest in programs that will encourage more girls and women towards STEM education.

We must not forget that most green and digital jobs are STEM jobs.

President Von der Leyen said, and I quote “We should definitely have more women in space and more women on Earth in science, technology and engineering. But the most important thing is for girls and women to understand that no job is out of reach. There is no such thing as “jobs for men” and “jobs for women”; end of quote!

Let me remind you that some of Europe's most famous and best scientists and engineers are women; and I am not just referring to Marie Curie!

The Italian team that recently discovered water on Mars is led by a woman, Elena Pettinelli. This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Emmanuelle Charpentier for her ground-breaking research on genome.

Together with the participation of our scientists present this morning, we want to raise awareness and promote role models to increase and empower girls and women in science and technology;

Because we simply believe that more girls and women can actually go to space!

For that we need to close the Gender STEM Gap; 

And for that to happen we need to work together.  I am glad that we have been able to work with embassies of two Member States – Finland and Sweden in a Team Europe approach to organise this event today.

I thank you for your attention.