Iranian woman scientist awarded by UNESCO

www.irna.com United Nations, Mar 1, IRNA -- An Iranian female scientist, Shiva Seyed Forootan, was awarded a United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO) fellowship on Friday.
The Iranian molecular biologist was among 15 outstanding women scientists in the world who won the UNESCO fellowship during a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
She was one of the two women scientists from the Asia-Pacific region who was awarded the fellowship at a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on Friday. The last fellowship recipient from this region is to be announced in the coming weeks.
At the ceremony, which marked the fifth anniversary of the L'OREAL-UNESCO "For Women in Science" program, 15 young scientific researchers received the annual UNESCO L'ORAL fellowships.
The awards, presented by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L'OREAL Lindsay Owen-Jones and Director-General of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura, recognized for the first time women working in the field of the material sciences.
Five laureates in the material sciences, in addition to 15 fellowships in the life sciences, were honored at the event.
The L'OREAL-UNESCO "For Women in Science" program aims to improve the position of women in science by recognizing outstanding women researchers who have contributed to scientific progress as well as young women scientists engaged in exemplary and promising projects.
The L'OREAL-UNESCO awards distinguish five remarkable women researchers representing the five continents of Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. Often, these women's exceptional careers have opened up new and revolutionary ways of improving conditions of life and well-being.
This year's awards bring to 71 the number of women from various countries who have been honored by the program.
The exemplary scientists come from 45 countries including Nigeria, South Africa, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia, Australia, Romania, Turkey, Argentina, Pero and Venezuela.
The annual international award ceremony is the highest of an increasingly full program of local initiatives being organized
worldwide, including activities in Austria, Belgium, China, Finland,
Germany, Italy, Republic of Korea, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey and the United Kingdom. These initiatives make sure women in science benefit even further from the partnership forged between L'OREAL and UNESCO.
Speaking at the ceremony, UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura said: "You are the role models for today's young girls, opening a door to freedom and adventure that has been forbidden them from too long. In today's knowledge societies, women must contribute to scientific research, and mark it with their vision of the world and its development."
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