International Forum on WOMEN IN SCIENCE &TECHNOLOGY in Muslim Countries 20 – 22 September 2011 Swiss Garden Residence Kuala Lumpur Jointly Organised By In Collaboration With BACKGROUND The International Science, Technology and Innovation Centre (ISTIC) under the auspices of UNESCO was established on 21 January 2008 and is based in Kuala Lumpur. The creation of the International Science, Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation under the Auspices of UNESCO (ISTIC) is a follow up of the Doha Plan of Action which has been adopted by the Heads of States and Government of the Group of 77 and China, during the meeting in Doha, Qatar, from 12 to 16 June 2005 on the occasion of the Second South-South Summit of the Group of 77. One of the principle objectives of the ISTIC is to provide capacity building in science and technology through providing training, policy advice and exchange of experiences and best practices. The NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women, Malaysia (NIEW) under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development was established on 1 July 2006 following the First NAM Ministerial Meeting on the Advancement of Women in 2005. Its vision is to be the catalyst in providing visionary and leadership roles including setting priorities and broad policy directions for itself and its regional offices together with NAM countries towards promoting and enhancing the advancement of women. Included among the main activities is capacity building for NAM member countries in collaboration with other agencies including the diplomatic community, international bodies, private sector, academia and civil society in ensuring empowerment of women and achieve gender equality in NAM countries. In line with the spirit of South-South Cooperation and in achieving the Millennium Development Goals with regards to women, ISTIC and NIEW will jointly organise an international forum on Women in Science and Technology in Muslim Countries from Sept 20 – Sept 22, 2011. INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY At the Millennium Summit in September 2000 the largest gathering of world leaders in history adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time- bound targets, with a deadline of 2015, that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world's time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions-income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion-while promoting human rights-the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter, and security. UN MDG No 3 is “Promote Gender Equality and Empowering Women”. Ten years on, in 2010, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon made his progress report to the UN MDG Summit Assembly. With respect to MDG No. 3, it makes depressing reading, although some bright spots are highlighted. Under the sub- heading “Insufficient progress on gender equality”, it states “Redressing gender inequality remains one of the most difficult goals almost everywhere with cross-cutting implications. The root cause of gender disadvantage and oppression lies in societal attitudes and norms, as well as power structures, as identified in the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA).” Very little progress has been made with respect to: Women‟s share of national parliamentary seats; Only 53 of the 171 countries with available data had achieved gender parity in both primary and secondary education, 14 more than in 1999. There are still significant gender gaps in participation rates, occupational levels and wages. Violence against women everywhere remains a major blight on humanity. The report goes on to state that specific MDGs will require specific acceleration efforts: As for MDG No. 3: they are: Remove key barriers to girls‟ education; Make the generation of full and productive employment and the creation of decent work and income the primary goal of macroeconomic, social and development policies; Introduce social protection measures and labour laws and policies that are gender responsive; Introduce positive action to improve the numbers and influence of women in all political decision-making; Improve national level capacity to track and report on progress, gaps and opportunities through better generation and use of sex-disaggregated data and statistics; Reduce women‟s work burden through investments in infrastructure, labour saving technologies and gender-responsive economic stimulus packages; Strengthen accountability for enhancing women‟s rights and ending gender discrimination. For MDG No. 5 whi ch aims at achieving the target of reducing by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio between 1990 and 2015, it is reported that although maternal mortality is declining, more needs to be done. The UN General Assembly in 2010 also created “UNWomen”, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The main roles of UNWomen are: To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms. To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society. To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress. It can be gleaned from the above that the global community as represented by UN is deeply concerned by the lack of progress in MDG No. 3. However, the above UN recommendations are typical of macro- policy exhortations on the global level. Without solid and sustained actions on the ground at the country level, MDG No. 3 is unlikely to achieve by 2015. This International Forum on Women in Science and Technology in Muslim Countries will address a range of critically important themes relating gender equality and gender empowerment in the Muslim countries and endeavour a positive country-level approach by presenting success stories in Muslim countries such as Malaysia, Turkey, and other countries where significant progress in the empowerment of women has been generally acknowledged not only in OIC but only throughout the world. The International Forum on Women in Science and Technology in Muslim Countries is jointly organised by the International Science, Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation (ISTIC), the NAM Institute of the Empowerment of Women, Malaysia (NIEW) in collaboration with UNESCO, ISESCO, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysian National Commission for UNESCO and Organisation for Women in Science for The Developing World. OBJECTIVES I. To address the issues and challenges related to the advancement of women in Muslim countries; II. To demonstrate efforts taken by Muslim countries in addressing obstacles and challenges facing Muslim women; III. To share and exchange experiences amongst all participants on best practices in women empowerment; and IV. To develop concrete, innovative strategies and models that can be shared by Muslim countries TOPICS/SESSIONS Under the over-arching frame of enabling political, social and economic environment by government; providing broad based education and literacy level, including in science and technology; and recognising the role of women in the transformation of societies. The International Forum will focus its deliberations on 4 main topics/sessions: Women in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI); Meeting MDG Goals 3 (Gender Equality); Muslim Women in Health and Wellness; and Women in Leadership. EXPECTED OUTCOME The Forum is expected to contribute to a better understanding of gender equality perspectives in designing, monitoring and implementing policies and to produce a set of recommendations for improving women empowerment in Muslim countries. The recommendations will then be submitted to UNESCO, ISESCO, NAM member countries and strategic partners for necessary follow up. PARTICIPANTS The Forum will bring together senior and young representatives and experts from governments, international organisations, research organisations, academies of sciences, organisations of women in sciences, organisations of women in health, higher education institutions, and non-governmental women organisations. DELIVERY The Forum will be in the form of keynote addresses, short presentations of 15 minutes each and discussion. The presentations should address the status, the issues and problems and recommendations of the topics given. English will be used throughout the Forum. FORUM DURATION The Forum will be held for three days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 20 to 22 September 2011. VENUE SWISS-GARDEN RESIDENCES KUALA LUMPUR 117, Jalan Pudu 55100 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA FORUM PROGRAMME DAY 1: 20 SEPTEMBER 2011 (TUESDAY) 08:00 – 09:00 Registration 09.00 – 09.40 Opening remarks by i) Dato‟ Ir Lee Yee Cheong, Chairman of ISTIC Governing Board ii) Tan Sri Datuk (Dr.) Rafiah Salim, Director of NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women iii) H.E. Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijiri, Director General of ISESCO represented by Hon Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Deputy Director General of ISESCO iv) H.E. Irina Bokova, Director-General, UNESCO represented by Dr. Lidia Brito, Director, Division of Science Policy and Sustainable