About DELT-Her
Presidential Implementation Committee Technology Transfer/Information Exchange (PICTT) between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Czech Republic is tasked with the sole objective of implementing an Agreement signed between Nigeria, represented by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), and the Czech Republic, represented by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR). The purpose of the Agreement is to promote the adoption and deployment of technological solutions in different sectors of the Nigerian economy.
This collaboration has already birthed several ongoing programs/projects, including the Delta-2 program(which currently funds researchers on various R&D projects across the Country), under which the DELT-Her initiative is being launched.
The gender imbalance in Nigeria's engineering sector has worsened over the decades, it is therefore critical to channel available resources at creating a shift in this paradigm. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), women make up an average of 22% of the total number of engineering and technology graduates. The largest disparity is found in postgraduate enrolment between male and female in engineering and technology and this was estimated at 12.06% for female while male enrolment was 87.4%.
Developing Engineering Leaders Through Her (DELT-Her) is an initiative that seeks to create opportunities for women in engineering, by attracting and supporting innovative engineering ideas which would ultimately be mentored and developed into startup companies. The success stories from the first phase of this initiative would be projected to enthuse school-age girls across the country, with the aim of creating a paradigm shift to favor their choice of engineering as a lifelong career. DELT-Her is inspired by global projects from the Anita Borg Institute, Girl Up! at the UN Foundation, Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of British Columbia among others. The central objectives of this initiative are:
- To address the existing gender imbalance in the study and practice of engineering and technology in Nigeria, by sponsoring the innovative ideas of young, female engineers.
- To foster a more inclusive and diverse engineering practice landscape in Nigeria.
- To build a collaborative network of stakeholders including tertiary institutions, business, and industry leaders, who would enable a more supportive environment for women in engineering.
- To inspire the next generation of female engineers in Nigeria by making female engineering success stories more visible to them.
