Prishtina, 15 September 2023
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, welcomed to the Government building the “STEM Ambassadors” network, young men and women from Kosovo and the Diaspora, distinguished in the STEM fields.
This network, which will also launch the platform this month with funding from the Canadian Embassy, includes ambassadors who will volunteer to help with any activity that will be organized in the future either by the various institutions or by the organizations that implement projects in these fields.
Prime Minister Kurti, praising the objectives of the young people, informed that 3,978 scholarships have been awarded for studies in STEM fields inside and outside the country, doubling the budget for them. Thus, the Government has offered over 1,300 scholarships for STEM fields in the academic year 2021-2022 for girls only, and over 1,600 scholarships for STEM fields in the year 2022-2023 for both girls and boys.
“The participation of girls in studies in the STEM fields at the University of Pristina is 50%, and here no country can compare with us because in the countries of the European Union it is 17%, relatively 1/3 of what we have “, Prime Minister Kurti added, stressing that we are interested in more girls studying in STEM.
On this occasion, this year the first national conference for women and girls in STEM, STEMinists, was held, organized under the patronage of the Prime Minister, where conditions were created for networking of girls and women in these fields as well as opportunities for internship, mentoring and professional development.
The creator of STEMGirls, Erblina Bunjaku, who was recently announced as the winner of the Harmony Hero Awards for the “Innovative Initiatives” category, announced that during targeting Ambassadors, one of the principles of the organization is to maintain gender equality – at least 50% girls and women.
In addition to the network of Ambassadors, the main activity of the project is the construction of a mobile laboratory “Science in Motion”, which together with the team of experts in the STEM fields and a certain group of STEM Ambassadors will visit the rural areas of Kosovo regularly. The aim is to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application, enabling young minds to engage with the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
During the conversation today, the Prime Minister had the opportunity to learn more about the objectives of this network and the possibilities of cooperation and support from the Government.
Last modified: September 15, 2023