The Now is Africa Classroom, on loan from the UNED in Vitoria, starts its activities
Madrid, 20th of February of 2023. As of tomorrow, the Foundation Women for Africa will have a brand new headquarters in the Basque Country. Thanks to the cession of a spacious classroom by the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) at its Vitoria center. The foundation will have a space dedicated to the subject of Women and Science in the Basque capital.
The classroom will be named Now is Africa, just like the network of women scientists who are part of our program Ellas Investigan. The opening will occur tomorrow in a ceremony presided over by the Rector of the UNED, Ricardo Mairal, which will be attended by the Minister of Education, Universities and Research of the Basque Government, Jokin Bildarratz, the Deputy General of Alava, Ramiro González Vicente, the rector of the UPV/EHU, Eva Ferreira, and the director of Fundación Mujeres por África, Teresa Langle de Paz.
The Councilor for Equality, Justice and Social Policies, Nerea Melgosa, will also attend, as well as those responsible for public cooperation in the Basque Country, and academics from the two universities present.
After this institutional opening, the more scientific content of the event will follow, with a speech on the situation of women in the scientific field by the virologist and immunologist Margarita del Val, who is a member of the Scientific Committee of Women for Africa.
She will then moderate a dialogue between four African women researchers participating in our Women in Research program on the topic “The leadership of African women scientists”. They are Ehimwenma Sheena Omoregie (BioCruces); Sabah Ben Fredj Melki (BioCruces); Gloria Dada (Instituto de Salud Carlos III) and Amira Kebir (The Basque Center for Applied Mathematics).
The Ellas Investigan program, initiated in 2014 and currently in its eighth edition, brings senior African women scientists to research in Spanish centers on six-month stays. Started with 5 partner centers, it now has more than 30 and has brought 150 women scientists from numerous African countries.
The Basque Country is the community with the most collaborating centers, a total of 7, and has so far received 35 female researchers.
Women for Africa is grateful for the sensitivity and generosity of the UNED and all the public institutions of the Basque Country that have supported our scientific program and with it the science that women do in Africa.
Event: Opening of the Now is Africa Classroom
Day: February 21, 2023
Place: UNED, Calle Pedro Asúa, 2. Vitoria
Time: 12:15, attention to the press. 12:30 start of the event
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