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Women Scientists Poised to Make
Africa's Green Revolution a Reality
Nearly 80 African women scientists will reap the benefits of
professional mentoring, leadership and networking opportunities
over the next two years.
In addition to administering the Rockefeller Fellowship program
for East African women crop scientists, CGIAR's Gender &
Diversity Program (G&D) is collaborating with the US Agency of
International Development (USAID) and US Department of Agriculture
to provide leadership training to African women researchers. This
collaboration draws upon a shared vision to empower women
agricultural scientists to contribute to Africa's Green
Revolution and the fight against hunger and poverty. Currently,
these are the only programs designed to specifically support the
careers of African women in the agricultural sciences. Both are
made possible with the help of G&D.
Fellows from both the G&D Rockefeller
Fellowship Program and the USAID Borlaug Fellowship Program during
the Mentoring Orientation Workshop held in July 2006 in
Mombasa
G&D's Mentoring Orientation Workshop in Mombasa, Kenya,
in July brought together the first seven USAID Borlaug Fellows and
their Rockefeller Fellowship Program counterparts. They
participated in plenary sessions, innovative role playing, and
personalized coaching.
Piloted in 2003, G&D's s Mentoring Program has expanded
to eight CGIAR Centers. The program was designed to enable senior
scientists to impart their experiences and knowledge to junior
scientists, while receiving fresh ideas on the newest trends in
science. It has now been successfully adapted to benefit African
women scientists.
G&D's mentoring program is an example of diversity in
action. Our training puts strong emphasis on building effective
cross-cultural and cross-gender relationships and supports the
achievement of concrete career goals. It works!" says Vicki
Wilde, G&D's leader.
For more information see:
http://www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org/resource/women_fellowships.asp
For more information about the USAID-USDA Norman E. Borlaug
International Agricultural Science & Technology Fellows Program
for African Women Scientists see:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/icd/borlaug/westafrica.htm
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