Programme Advocating Women Scientists in STEM (PAWS)

The equality of men and women is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations and therefore of global relevance. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) therefore addresses this issue prominently in its Africa Strategy (2018).

Equality between men and women is the 5th goal for sustainable development of the United Nations (Sustainable Development Goal 5: 'Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls'). The BMBF's new Africa Strategy (2018) also includes the promotion of young women academics and the representation of women in academic leadership roles.

The promotion of women in higher education, research and innovation is recognised as one of two cross-cutting issues and as a decisive factor for the economic and social development of the African continent.

The BMBF's intention here is to increase the quality of women's employment and the long-term systemic development of science organisations, especially in the STEM subjects (in German: MINT), in which the representation of women is usually particularly low.