The commitment of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to advance women empowerment and leadership has recently been renewed with the launch of the “Women in Deep-Sea Research” (WIDSR) project aimed at enhancing the role and participation of women in deep-sea scientific research (#OceanAction15467). Implemented with the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States of the United Nations (UN-OHRLLS), ISA is committed to address the critical challenges faced by women scientists from developing States in actively participating and accessing opportunities for careers and leadership roles in deep-sea related research disciplines and activities. This will also contribute to the strengthening of the resource base of their countries in highly technical areas of knowledge.  

The WIDSR project has been designed around four key areas of action, namely: advocacy and policy development, capacity development, sustainability and partnerships, and communications and outreach.  

Activities will range from improving data availability for informed policy development to establishing communities of practice, mentorship and leadership programmes, among others, through strategic alliances. I am grateful to all the different partners representing governments, international and regional organizations, industry and academia to have joined us in this initiative and accepted to contribute to concrete and transformative actions. 

A lot of work is ahead of us but I am confident that with the support and engagement of all, we will achieve significant results.  

Michael W. Lodge 
Secretary-General, ISA

The WIDSR project was formally launched on the International Women’s Day through a high-level webinar jointly organized by ISA and UN-OHRLLS. The webinar brought together senior government officials, leaders and heads of international organizations, who collectively emphasized the importance of ensuring that women scientists from developing States, and especially those from the most vulnerable ones, such as the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS, can fully engage in deep-sea research and can reach high-level leadership positions.

The summary and recording of the high-level webinar can be found here. 

In his opening remarks at the high-level webinar, H.E. Mr. Luis del Solar Dorrego, Permanent Representative of Argentina to ISA and Champion of the ISA Action Plan in support of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, highlighted the importance of gender equality and Argentina’s commitment to women empowerment in science. “Argentina has strong commitment to gender equality and to diversity. With regard to actions at the national level in relation to stimulating the participation of women in ocean science, it is worth mentioning that the issue of gender equality is a matter of state policy in Argentina. A national programme for gender equality in science, technology and innovation (STI) was established in June 2020. The general purpose of this program is to guarantee and effectively promote  equal participation of women and LGBT population at all levels in STI fields,” Ambassador del Solar said.

As an International Gender Champion (IGC), ISA Secretary-General H.E. Mr. Michael W. Lodge renewed his commitment towards the IGC Panel Parity Pledge by: (i) ensuring that ISA Secretariat maintains a gender parity including at the most senior levels (P5 and above) and, (ii) in reaffirming the importance of advancing women’s empowerment and leadership in deep-sea research with a focus on designing and implementing tailored activities and programmes.

The relevant strategic framework and objectives within which ISA acts towards women empowerment and leadership - particularly in the field of marine scientific research and deep-sea research, was featured in the most recent World Maritime University's report "Empowering women for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development" released in July 2021. The article highlights initiatives put in place by ISA, both at the institutional level and through capacity development programmes and the WIDSR project.

As a keynote speaker of the Conference on Ocean Law & Policy organized by the Stockton Center for International Law held on 10 May 2021, ISA Secretary-General H.E. Mr. Michael W. Lodge highlighted the importance of advancing gender equality amongst the global community of law of the sea scholars and practitioners.  

The first initiative under the WIDSR project consists of a gender-mapping analysis and identification of critical barriers to the participation of women from LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS in deep-sea related research disciplines and activities and access to leadership positions. To that end, a call for consultancy was circulated on 14 June 2021 for the recruitment of one or two international consultant(s) (Work stream 1: Data collection and Work stream 2: Cross-cutting analysis). Further details are made available in the Terms of Reference. Work is underdevelopment and preliminary findings will be made available before the end of 2021.

As part of the WIDSR project, several exploration contractors holding contracts with ISA for the exploration of deep-seabed minerals in the Area have pledged to support women’s empowerment and leadership in deep-sea research and in some cases, allocate half of their training opportunities available under the ISA Contractors’ Training Programme, to women.  This is notably the case for the calls for nominations created under the training programmes of BGR, Ifremer, Marawa and NORI.  

As of June 2021, partnerships have been established for the implementation of the WIDSR project with (i) governments - Argentina, Kiribati, Malta, Nauru, Norway and South Africa, (ii) Research organizations – Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea (MABIK), National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF-Egypt), National Oceanographic Centre (NOC) UK (iii) international and regional organizations – UNDESA, the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals (IGF), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Pacific Community International Women in Mining, and (iv) industry/ contractors - Deep Ocean Resources Development Co., Ltd (DORD), Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR), Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploration de la Mer (Ifremer), Marawa Research & Exploration Limited, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI) and Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML).

Governments

International and regional organizations

Research institutions

ISA contractors