TWOWS

The Third World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS) has been in existence since 1989 following the recommendation of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) meeting in October 1988 in Trieste. The formation of TWOWS followed intense exchanges among members of the interim Executive Committee, on the wisdom of establishing an organization for women outside mainstream international scientific bodies such as TWAS and International Council for Science (ICSU). After much debate, a consensus was reached which envisaged TWOWS as an international organization which would play a vital role in increasing women’s access to science and technology and in promoting greater participation of women scientists and technologists in the development process of their respective countries and in the international community.

The general objective of the Organization shall be the promotion of women in science and technology in the Third World with a view to strengthening their role in the development of their countries through directing their high level scientific activities to the improvement of the quality of life of the majority of their people. The Organization shall also promote the scientific and technological co-operation on both regional and global levels giving due consideration to different existing cultural and socio-economic systems.

In the first instance the Organization concentrates on the areas of the natural and exact sciences, both pure and applied, bearing in mind the need to incorporate the contributions of the human and
social sciences.

The TWOWS constitution was adopted in March, 1989 and ratified at the First General Assembly in Cairo, Egypt in January 1993 and further refined with amendments at the Second General Assembly
in Cape Town, South Africa in February 1999, and the Third General Assembly in Bangalore, India, November 2005.