On 27 April 2026, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched a continental report titled “Investing in Women in Science: The Economic Impact of Public Funding in Africa”, marking a shift from advocacy to evidence-based policy discourse on women in STEM, according to a press release by UNESCO. The event convened Member States, regional institutions, and partners around the recognition of women in science as a central pillar of Africa’s development agenda. It introduced an econometric framework quantifying the economic value of gender parity in science. The launch positioned women’s participation in science as a prerequisite for sovereign economic survival. The report calls for urgent reforms in science, technology, and innovation (STI) investment across the continent.
Opening the event, Dr. Rita Bissoonauth, Director of the UNESCO Office in Ethiopia, stressed the urgency of moving from advocacy to evidence-based policy action in science and innovation. She was joined by H.E. Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on Women, Peace and Security. Ms. Doris Mpoumou, UN Women Special Representative to the AU and UNECA, also addressed the gathering. Dr. Helen Nigussie, Associate Professor of Genetics and Bioinformatics, was among the institutional leaders present. The message delivered was that gender parity in science is no longer merely a matter of social inclusion.
For the first time, an original econometric model developed by Prof. Adama Sow Badji and her team at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop quantified the stakes. The data shows that a 10% increase in targeted higher education investment for women yields a 12.8% boost in national GDP. It also produces a 14% expansion of the tertiary sector. The cost of inaction currently drains an estimated $105 billion annually from sub-Saharan Africa’s economy. Nearly one in two women scientists globally faces sexual harassment, with documented consequences for career progression.
According to Dr. Bissoonauth, “no scientific progress can be truly sovereign if more than half of our population remains underrepresented in the production of knowledge.”
The report attributes these losses to entrenched structural barriers, including the systematic absence of gender-disaggregated data in national planning frameworks. It concludes that Africa’s scientific productivity is constrained not by a deficit of talent but by institutional inertia. The launch issued a call to dismantle these barriers through three strategic pillars. These are Governmental Accountability, Institutional Reform, and Private Sector Synergy.
The pillars include institutionalizing gender-responsive budgeting within national STI frameworks and enabling women to own intellectual property and advance into senior scientific leadership. They also call for catalyzing co-investment to bridge the gap between women-led research and venture capital, particularly in high-growth digital domains. Through its Women in Science (WiS) Initiative, UNESCO is committed to serving as a continental coordination platform. The initiative is fully aligned with Agenda 2063, STISA 2034, and the 2030 Agenda. UNESCO emphasized that investing in women in science is the most economically rational course of action.
