For information only - not an official document

UNIS/MA/240
Vienna, 7 February 2019

MEDIA ADVISORY

Media representatives are invited to the

UNOOSA event on Space for Women on the occasion of the International Day for Women and Girls in Science

Monday 11 February 2019
13.00-14.00
Board Room D, Vienna International Centre

VIENNA, 7 February (United Nations Information Service) - Members of the Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), to which UNOOSA is Secretariat, and members of the international space community, will gather in Vienna from 11 to 22 February 2019 for the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STSC) of COPUOS. Participants will discuss scientific evolutions in the space sector and their potential to address new and emerging sustainable development challenges. 

On the margins of the 56 th STSC, the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) will present its Space For Women project at a special event to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February.

The Space For Women project will create a web portal where women in the space sector, and in the STEM sectors more widely, can network and mentor each other. Recent research has shown that networking and mentoring opportunities can make a valuable difference for women's careers in STEM fields.  The Space For Women platform will also be the central hub for global initiatives and for research on various aspects of women's involvement in STEM and the space sector, under the UN roof.

The event will include remarks from:

•           Yury Fedotov, Director General, the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV)

•           Simonetta Di Pippo, Director, UNOOSA

•           Video-Message by Vice Minister of Science and Technology of Costa Rica, Paola Vega, (TBC) and Alejandro Solano Ortíz, Permanent Representativa of Costa Rica to the UN in Vienna

•           Nicole Shampaine, Deputy Chief, U.S. Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna

•           Ponthso Maruping, Chair of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee

•           Ersilia Vaudo, Chief Diversity Officer, European Space Agency (ESA)

•           Shimrit Maman, Director, Earth and Planetary Image Facility (EPIF)

More information about UNOOSA Space for Women project can be found here: http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/topics/spaceforwomen/index.html

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Follow @UNOOSA on Twitter for updates.

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Media representatives who wish to attend the event, and who are not accredited to the VIC, should write to press.vienna[at]un.org.

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To request interviews with UNOOSA please contact:

Ottavia Pesce
Communication Officer
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
Telephone: (+43-1) 26060 8717
Email: pesce[at]un.org