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Mededeling

ESO signs agreement with UN Women, celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in Science

11 februari 2020

Today, the International Day for Women and Girls in Science, we highlight some of the steps ESO has taken towards diversity and inclusion, and how the organisation is celebrating this special day.

On 30 January 2020, ESO and UN Women signed a Memorandum of Understanding at ESO’s Vitacura Office in Santiago, Chile, under which ESO stresses its commitment to advancing gender equality, diversity and inclusion. ESO and UN Women Chile will combine forces to promote science and engineering careers among young girls in Chile, as well as to create training opportunities for disadvantaged women who have struggled to finish their formal education. In addition, ESO will use the Women Empowerment Principles as guideposts to structure and measure the progress of its diversity and inclusion actions. The agreement was signed by María Noel Vaeza, UN Women Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean, and Xavier Barcons, ESO Director General, in the presence of UN Women and ESO staff involved in the implementation of the agreement.

On 7 and 14 February, to celebrate women at ESO and to showcase their work, we are featuring a series of interviews with female ESO employees on the ESOblog. These cover a diverse range of roles from engineering to telescope operations to astronomical research, and we hope they can inspire young women and girls to pursue a career in science, technology or engineering.

ESO is also proud to participate in the EIROforum celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a profile gallery featuring female scientists, physicists and engineers. EIROforum is the European Intergovernmental Research Organisation forum and brings together eight of Europe's largest research organisations, including ESO.

Internally, ESO has been taking a range of steps towards promoting diversity and equality in the organisation. In 2017, it established a Diversity and Inclusion Committee to promote diversity at ESO and within the broader astronomical community. Some of the measures the committee has taken include analysing the recruitment procedures at ESO and the training process of the selection boards. Additionally, the committee initiated a series of diversity and inclusion talks, inviting scientists from all fields and backgrounds to present their topics. To celebrate women in science this week, members of this committee are organising a range of events for staff at ESO to promote the values of the day and support women at ESO.

Additionally, to celebrate the day, ESO is hosting a public talk at the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre, organised by the neighbouring Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE).