Dr Ghina Halabi, a postdoctoral researcher in the
Institute of Astronomy
, has proposed a “UN sponsored international female alumni ambassador programme, for female role models to go back to their countries and their alma maters to inspire young girls to aspire, to dream and to achieve”.
Halabi received her doctorate from the American University of Beirut, and holds the distinction of being the first person to be awarded a PhD in Astrophysics from a Lebanese institution. She is keen to share her story, to highlight the opportunities available to women. Speaking at a high-level panel meeting at the UN Secretariat she raised the importance of role models, and said; “I feel it is my role, and obligation, to go back and inspire other women.” The UN’s Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women Lakshmi Puri, Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs Simonetta Di Pippo, and NASA Astronauts Scott Kelly and Sandy Magnus were among the panel members who heard her proposal.
“We need more role models,” she says. “But the research shows that for role models to work, girls need to be able to identify with them. You can
be
it if you can
see
it.
“The key thing I’m proposing here is to bring the role model back to her alma mater. The Kenyan scientist would go back to her school and university in Kenya, the Indian woman would do the same thing in India, the Iranian in Iran, and this way you have perfect engagement, girls can identify with these role models.
“We would visit our hometowns and our localities often and hold an event or two, just sharing our stories. It doesn’t have to be our science, just our stories. And imagine, if I go and talk to 20 girls every time, and there are 200 of me and we do that every year, and they go and tell their stories, think how big the network would get.”
Halabi was invited to speak at the UN Expert Meeting on Space for Women, at the UN-Women Headquarters in New York City last October. She was the only UK academic at the event, which was organised to discuss the scope and goals of the UN’s Space for Women Project. A key theme was innovative ways to empower women and girls, particularly in developing countries, to get into science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), and effective approaches for capacity building and development.
Halabi delivered a presentation to the meeting on the Institute of Astronomy’s work towards equality and diversity, and spoke about their success in achieving an
Athena SWAN
Bronze Award. She said “Athena SWAN is an excellent initiative because it standardises the efforts to improve representations of minorities and women in STEM. It’s currently extending pilot schemes in different countries, including Ireland and Australia, and I think people, in the US for example, thought ‘why don’t we have a nation-wide scheme like this’. It was very well received.”
Halabi has collaborated with a colleague in Washington DC, Dr Sara Langston, to create an outline of how the alumni ambassador programme will run, and is keen to secure endorsement and logistical support from the UN. She said; “If the UN can give an ambassador role to women who are successful in their fields, they will have an incentive, and feel encouraged and driven to take part.
“My involvement in the Space for Women project has introduced me to civil society leaders and experts from governments, international organisations, United Nations entities and research institutions in the public and private sectors in space and non-space fields. The fact that astronomy and space bring us all together was an eye opening experience on the role of astronomy in bettering the human condition.”
UNISPACE+50 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. The UN describes it as ‘an opportunity for the international community to gather and consider the future course of global space cooperation for the benefit of humankind.’ Events this week include a two-day conference, an exhibition, and a special high-level session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
