This site uses cookies, as explained in our terms of use. If you consent, please close this message and continue to use this site.
1 min Read
Since its inception in 2011, the Cryosphere Initiative at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has made a conscious effort to be more inclusive in its recruiting process to create a gender balanced team. Women lead most of the senior roles in the initiative and female scientists have been leading at least half of high altitude field expeditions, conducted in collaboration with national and international partners. As a direct result of this conscious effort, the Cryosphere Initiative was presented with ICIMOD’s gender innovation award during its 8th March International Women’s Day celebration, themed “Press for Progress: Closing the Gender Gap in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH).”
The gender innovation award recognizes the long-term efforts of the Cryosphere Initiative team to close gender gaps in research and science. This year’s award aimed to recognize how themes, programmes, and initiatives have empowered women and ensured gender equality in teams. It looked at the gender inclusivity of the implementation process and how this has contributed to gender equity. Towards these ends, the Cryosphere Initiative includes a gender perspective and factors in its capacity building activities and in recruiting processes, giving due consideration to women’s competencies and capacities and recognizing the value of diversity in the team.
Female students and scientists have been given opportunities to write blogs, op-eds, and other types of stories for wider audiences with the aim of increasing their visibility. Additionally, the initiative gives special attention to maintaining gender balance in nominating speakers for different events. For any event or activity, the target of female participation is 50%. The initiative also advocates gender inclusivity with its implementing partners in ICIMOD’s regional member countries to set the same target by encouraging them to nominate women participants in trainings organized by the initiative. Since cryosphere research in the HKH region is male-dominated, this inclusion of women, as well as female role models and female leadership can be important means to close the gender gap.
Some of the team members with the certificate, Photo: Jitendra Bajracharya
The team recognizes that there is still much to be done to encourage women scientists, especially from the HKH, to develop careers in this field, and continues to make conscious efforts to involve more women in the initiative by providing scholarships and training courses and by promoting the participation of women professionals from the region.
Share
Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.
Related content
A five-day regional hands-on training on community-based flood early warning system (CB-FEWS) was organized in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 8-12 June ...
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) through its Cryosphere Initiative hosted the first International Glacier Symposium (IGS) in ...
Mera Glacier, in the Everest region, is one of few glaciers in the HKH region whose glaciological mass balance data ...
As part of monitoring and assessment of changes in glaciers, snow and glacio-hydrology in the Hindu Kush Himalayas, the Cryosphere ...
A three-day training of trainers workshop was conducted at the Agriculture Development Bank Hall, Rupandehi district in Nepal by the International Centre ...
A multidisciplinary team was organised in the Mu Lar-Nam Ru watershed area of Putao district in Kachin, Myanmar late February ...
Thana glacier, Bhutan In Bhutan, Sharad Joshi, Associate Glaciologist and two glaciologists from the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Germany, ...
To learn best practices in Kangchenjunga Landscape, India on Ecotourism (home stay programme), waste management, off-seasonal vegetable ...