Alice Ikuzwe, the chairperson of RAWISE, said their goal is to showcase the work of Rwandan women in STEM and highlight the challenges they face while providing role models for younger women wishing to enter the fields of science and engineering.
RAWISE is involved in different activities, including outreach and mentoring programmes as well as research.
Marie-Christine Gasingirwa, the Director of Science and Technology, at the Ministry of Education, while officiating the launch, noted that STEM fields offer some of the fastest growing fields with so many employment opportunities and that women deserve a chance to access these opportunities.
“Working in STEM means that you’re innovative, creative, passionate, a critical thinker, good analyser and decision maker based on evidence generated from research. STEM needs women and women need STEM,” she said.
OSWD aims at uniting eminent women scientists from the developing and developed worlds with the objective of strengthening their role in the development process and promoting their representation in scientific and technological leadership.