Gender Mainstreaming: How Ghana is Working with the IAEA to Increase the Participation of Women in the Nuclear Sector

Ghana is working actively to promote female participation in science and technology education, research and innovations, including working with the IAEA to redress imbalance at the professional level in the nuclear field. The IAEA, through its technical cooperation (TC) programme, supports women scientists from Ghana and other partner countries with PhD fellowships, and with tools and equipment for scientific research in nuclear fields. Member States are strongly encouraged to nominate women to participate in TC projects and in all IAEA training programmes, with the goal of stimulating the interest of women scientists, building capacity and supporting greater female representation at the highest career levels. In the case of Ghana, the number of women benefitting as fellows, scientific visitors and participants in nuclear science training courses is increasing.

Such initiatives support Ghana’s public policies which address gender inequalities and promote the participation of women in all endeavours, particularly in the area of science and technology.  In particular, Ghana’s Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy encourages girls to specialize in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at the secondary and tertiary levels of education. The policy also outlines strategies for promoting innovations to women in micro and small-scale enterprises, with the aim of ensuring that women adopt new and appropriate technologies conducive to their fields of operation.