Celebrating International Women’s Day 2021

Today, March 8, 2021, we – the leading ladies of 31 Flyings Labs in Africa, Latin America and Asia/Pacific and WeRobotics – are celebrating the International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is #ChoosetoChallenge. We choose to challenge our world, sectors and communities. And we choose to do so every day of the year. This recent study on women in the drone sector finds that women only represent 13% of the industry. And women are even more underrepresented in technical and executive positions. Acknowledging this reality, we choose to challenge and change it.

We believe in leading and motivating by example. Together, we are standing for a more inclusive and equal world. Together, we are changing the perceptions of the technology for good sector. Together, we are leading with our hearts, compassion and passion. Together we represent what the Flying Labs network and WeRobotics are all about: The Power of Local. The Power of Women with very different backgrounds and from all corners of the world coming together.

To celebrate the International Women’s Day together, we want to share our thoughts on how we contribute to positive change in the world and about our contribution to making the world a better place for women. Let us inspire you with our words of wisdom and passion:

“Promoviendo e inspirando a otras mujeres a estudiar carreras no tradicionales como la ingeniería en ciencias náuticas, y ahora en Flying Labs Panamá inspirando a otras féminas a ser pilotos de drones, analistas de datas, a través de programas como geonautas, y un uso de tecnología de forma ética y responsable.”

Dania Montenegro, Panama Flying Labs Coordinator

“In Bangladesh, there are some reasons behind the poor involvement of women in STEM which are socio-economic barriers such as lack of visible women leaders, lack of proper guidelines and support, fear of uncertain career etc. To pull out from these barriers, we launched a program titled as “#missingdaughter” which aims to bring out girls and women in STEM motivating and encouraging them to participate in the related events and thus build up their career in STEM. I do share positivity, arrange programming camp for girls, share the stories of inspiring women, create networking opportunities, work on the issues of women harrasment in cyber world to bring positive changes for women.”

Lafifa Jamal, Bangladesh Flying Labs Director

“I truly believe that women have the greatest power of all – the power to love and care uncoditionally. As leaders, they have the power to use empathy to guide mega developments to be more responsible, ethical and safe. Through our platform, Drones for Daughters, we are creating a model for girls and women to take lead tech-based development and have an equal representation in projects that impact the world at large.”

Ruchi Saxena, India Flying Labs Director

“My contribution is to directly and indirectly helping young girls in their quest for better education through content creation, mentoring and raising awareness on available opportunities.”

Amrita Lal, Youth Coordinator & GIS Support, WeRobotics

“As a business professional, I’m dedicated to being dynamic, vibrant, and full of potential no matter what age. I strive to weave the unique energy, compassion, and strength that women possess into global team and HR management.”

Joyce Monsees, Head of HR and Administration, WeRobotics

“There is a major confidence gap between men and women. A lot of women have the competencies and capabilities to achieve great things but they mostly struggle with self-belief and confidence and therefore cannot achieve their dreams. As a leader I seek to be a role model to inspire women in encouraging them to believe in themselves and bring their essence in everything that they do. I encourage them to always keep doing their best and take full control of their lives.”

Samuella Faulkner, Managing Director, Sierra Leone Flying Labs

“Sharing my experience, I’d like to support next generation to think and practice gender equality through workshops of drones.”

Yayoi Eguchi, Project Assistant, Japan Flying Labs

“I contribute by inspiring young girls in my country, especially those in rural areas and motivate them to pursue their dream by sharing my experiences and passion. I want to create opportunities for them and help them to unlock their potentials, so they can go out to the world and build their dreams!”

Uyangaa Munkhbat, Project and Community Coordinator, WeRobotics

“We are aware that women play an important role in the development and progress of society. Without women, there would be neither humanity nor society. For this, my main contribution to making the world a better place for women is to sensitize the world on women’s rights and promote the development of women in order to help them and encourage them to go even higher, even further because the sky is the limit. Building a better world for all through education, training and development.”

Regine Noel, Haiti Flying labs software engineering and project assistant

“There is a Mexican proverb that says “the house does not stand on the ground but in a woman’s hands”. Acting like a woman is therefore for me an opportunity to positively impact the world around me. To act with strength, respect and above all intelligently. It is also for me to go beyond the limits that have been set and to tell myself that nothing is impossible. This is why I sow all around me the seeds of confidence and empathy to show all women that we can do anything in this world.”

Adja Aminata Mbengue, Project Coordinator and Assistant to the Director, Senegal Flying Labs

“I pursued a career in tech, a world mainly dominated by men, to support societal development and prove to the girl-child that women can excel in tech.”

Awoyelu Omodademu Princess, Data scientist and GIS specialist, Nigeria Flying Labs

“I come from women head household, where all decision is made by women. So, certainly this has given me inborn capability to voice my rights and has always attracted me to work on social issue related to women, whether helping them brand their local product or promote their skill. I have certainly been blessed to work on events related to women empowerment where, we tried to bring the stories of women entrepreneurs from developing countries such as Nepal and Afghanistan. Similarly, I am working on event to celebrate Women’s Day (8 March) to highlight the gaps specially in the frontier technology that remain for women in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization region. I am mainly working on bring stories of young global women leaders to bring impact to other women.”

Shikha Thapa Magar, Research Director, Nepal Flying Labs

“No matter the situation, good or bad that Im confronted with i always face it as a human being not as a female and why do i act like that? Just to show that what matters is trying even if it seems hard. So I inspire my generation and the younger ones by examples. If I can do then you can do it and even in a far better way so that at the end of the day you can be able to contribute to a better world.”

Carole Kannankin, Flying Labs Communication Coordinator, Benin Flying Labs

“It’s not always easy for girls to pursue a career in STEM when there are no local role models, to not only show them that they can but also how to do it. It’s so easy to get lost in the age-old stereotypes that certain fields are meant for men, especially when role models show up for one event once a year but the stereotypes remain for the rest of the 364 days. Growing up, my father spent so much time exploring with me and teaching me science that he paved the way and sparked my interest in engineering long before I knew the word existed. For this reason, I am actively involved in showing girls various career options and the road they need to follow in order to achieving their goals. My involvement includes, exposing primary school girls to prospects in agriculture, redistributing textbooks to schools in need, as well as organising youth programs and camps. However, I cannot do this alone; I am a member of the Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) Namibia Chapter and Namibia Flying Labs where I have been blessed to work with so many amazing women and men who share a similar passion.”

Virginie Uwimana, Assistant coordinator and PR officer, Namibia Flying Labs

“One thing I would do to make the world a better place for women is to support every woman I get to have an encounter with, support their career, their talent, their education, their great ideas and opinions. I believe the world can be a better place for women if we support each other. My quote: A strong woman accepts both criticism and compliments graciously knowing that it takes both sun and rain for a flower to grow.”

Famusudo Oluwatomiwo Esther, Project Assistance, Nigeria Flying Labs

“As a geomatics engineer who harnesses the significance of space and time in providing services and storytelling, I do not hesitate to encourage other ladies (mostly younger) to dare the status quo and explore the numerous oppurtunities available and make the most out of them.”

Marian Edem Gadabor, Pilot Technician, Ghana Flying Labs

“Give time to listen to the small person – the dull, ignorant and frail, he too has a story; respect, justice, fairness, service to those disadvantaged not by choice, if I can give these too; and for one shy child less privilaged, if my humble work enables her social mobility so she can stand tall, grounded in her abilities and her voice amongst the illustrious; than that is contribution enough to me.”

Sophia-Joy Soli, Papua New Guinea Flying Labs Coordinator

“I contribute by creating safe spaces for women to grow professionally, ask questions, and challenge stereotypes. Women should be taking decision-making roles and put themselves on the map to represent and empower local communities.”

Leigh Lunas, Geospatial Technology Expert, Philippines Flying Labs