UN speaks up on International Day of Women and Girls in Science- February 11.

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is an initiative for change observed by the United Nations General Assembly in order to promote equal participation of women and girls in Science, Technology and Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The main purpose of this day is to gain full participation for women and girls in science. To spread awareness about issues like discrimination and inclusion in these fields for women and girls.

"We must ensure that every girl can imagine a future in STEM, and that every woman can thrive in her scientific career" - UN Secretary-General António Guterres

On Wednesday, 11 February 2026; IDWGIS with its theme "Synergizing AI, Social Science, STEM and Finance: Building Inclusive Futures for Women and Girls." Focused on empowering women and girls in STEM fields as the society grapples with widening inequalities, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), Social science, Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Finance, there is need to accelerate approach on inclusion and sustainable development.

Mr. António Guterres warns "Excluding women from science weakens our collective capacity to address urgent global challenges from climate change to public health to space security."

The UN lists factors responsible for under representation of women and girls in STEM fields.

Lack of research funding

Research funding is essential in conducting research and advancing academic careers; With low funding, women are faced with reduced representation in senior STEM roles and advancement in career which leads us to why we are faced with low amount of women in STEM fields especially in high positions.

Discriminatory workplace practices

There are lower institutional support women in male dominated fields and more preference for opportunities and general work practices at the workplace. This discourages learning STEM for girls or furthered education. Some male dominated workplaces are toxic to women with little or no room for support to women's voices.

Gender stereotypes

Widely and strongly held beliefs of various kinds widely contributes to under represented women in STEM. Lesser opportunities are the major characteristic of under representation.

 As technology advances, the underrepresentation of women in STEM and AI; where they make up only about one in five workers, threatens to "bake in" gender inequality. - UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Meaning that AI developed in a biased system can reinforce stereotype due to automated discrimination from biased datasets.

The need for integrating AI, Social sciences, STEM and finance in accelerating sustainable developments

Today, women continue to represent less than one third of the world's researcher - UNESCO

There is a need to aid women driven startups and close gender gaps in digital skills in order to access early innovations for the benefit of economy, finance and sustainable development as a whole. This International event aims to foster the awareness for gender equality and Girl Education (SDG 4&5).

To advance renewable energy and prevent pandemics, our future hinges on unlocking as much human talent as possible says Mr. António Guterres

Statistics (UN WOMEN & UNESCO)

Women constitute only 22% of STEM Graduates, a stagnant figure over the decade

In G20 countries, women hold only 20% of STEM jobs

Women represents just 26% of the workforce in data and artificial intelligence and 12% in cloud computing

While women are more likely to pursue higher education, they face ‘leaky pipeline' where participation decreases at higher levels of research and leadership.

The ‘leaky pipeline’ situation refers to how women are represented well enough or overrepresented in STEM fields at the start of their career but as time goes on this inclusion drops and participation declines.

These saddening figures has become motivation to raise awareness and encourage inclusiveness on women in STEM fields and policy making.