ICBA - IsDB Side Event: Young Arab Women Scientists Leadership in MENA Region – Tamkeen

As the general theme for 42nd Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) is about “Youth”, the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and IsDB will co-organize a seminar titled Young Arab Women Scientists Leadership in MENA Region – Tamkeen. The seminar will highlight the outcomes of Phase-I (Design phase) of the Tamkeen program and discuss the way forward to enhance and promote Arab women researchers in the MENA region.

In 2016, ICBA launched the design and development phases of the “Arab Women Scientists Leadership Program in the MENA Region – Tamkeen”. The project was supported by IDB through its Capacity Building Division in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since then, the project team has produced three reports:

• Arab Women Scientists in Agriculture: Characteristics, Challenges and Perspectives;
• Education, Scientific Research & Development and Agriculture-related Academic Programs in MENA;
• Capacity-Building Programs Review.

In addition, the project team developed a database of potential women researchers in the MENA region that could participate in the project activities and training programs in the future. Recently a pilot training course was conducted for ten participants from eight countries in the MENA region.

The Tamkeen initiative will achieve the following targets:

• Increase availability of highly skilled Arab women scientists in the MENA region;
• Increase the number of Arab women scientists occupying key leadership positions in agriculture research and development centers globally;
• Fill the gender gap in the agricultural research workforce;
• Improve networking between Arab women scientists and their counterparts globally.

The seminar will highlight the outcomes of Phase I of Tamkeen and discuss the way forward to enhance and promote Arab women researchers in the MENA region.