2026 International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Join UNESCO on 11 February 2026 for a global event celebrating women in science and shaping a future where science and gender equality advance together.
Event
International Day of Women and Girls in Science
11 February 2026 – 9:30 am – 11 February 2026 – 5:00 pm
Location
UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France
Rooms :
Room I
Type :
Cat VIII – Symposia
Arrangement type :
Hybrid
Language(s) :
French
English
From vision to impact: Redefining STEM by closing the gender gap
Today, women continue to represent less than one third of the world’s researchers (see the UNESCO factsheet). Closing the gender gap matters not only for fairness, but also for the quality, relevance and impact of science, technology and innovation.
Building on the 2024 UNESCO Call to Action “Closing the Gender Gap in Science” and the 2025 “Imagine a world with more women in science #EveryVoiceInScience” campaign, the 2026 International Day of Women and Girls in Science shifts the focus from recommendations and reflection to showcasing existing good practices and solutions for building more inclusive Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) ecosystems.
A hybrid one-day event will take place on Wednesday, 11 February 2026 at UNESCO Headquarters under the theme From Vision to Impact: Redefining STEM by Closing the Gender Gap. Organized in collaboration with Femmes@Numérique, it will place particular emphasis on new and emerging technologies and their influence on gender equality.
This celebration will bring together Member States, rising and renowned scientists (including from the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Programme and OWSD Chapters), stakeholders from the public and private sectors, UNESCO scientific networks, journalists and students.
Key discussion areas
This edition will highlight the positive impact of inclusivity through personal testimonies and evidence-based discussions. Panelists from diverse regions and professional backgrounds will share concrete measures that have proven effective in reducing the gender gap in 4 key areas:
- Health research
- Cybersecurity
- Artificial intelligence
- Scientific entrepreneurship
They will also reflect on the conditions that enabled these successes and how such practices can be adapted or scaled in other contexts.
Register now
The event is now fully-booked and in-person registration has closed.
Please note that the event will be held in a hybrid format, and online registration remains open to interested attendees.
Register here for online participation
Programme
The programme is provided in Paris Time (CET). Click on the panels to view the speakers in each session.
08:30 – 09:45 | Registration & welcoming coffee
09:45 – 10:45 | Opening plenary session
10:45 – 10:55 | Special address
10:55 – 12:10 | Roundtable #1 – Redefining inclusive health research: Women, new technology, and the future of well-being
12:10 – 12:30 | Ignite talk: Reimagining AI Without the Gender Gap
14:00 – 15:00 | Roundtable #2 – Redefining Inclusive Cybersecurity: Women, New Technology, and the Future of Digital Trust
15:00 – 15:30 | Fireside chat: Reimagining Science Entrepreneurship Without the Gender Gap
15:30 – 16:45 | Roundtable #3 – Redefining Futures: Educating, Inspiring, and Leading with Women in STEM
16:45 – 17:00 | Closing remarks
By Mr Ezra Clark, Chief of the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Section, UNESCO