MORE than 500 women researchers from across the world will be part of a new think tank initiative to be launched at a first-of-its-kind summit to be held in Bahrain next month.
The women on board the Think Tank and Civil Societies Programme (TTCSP) of The Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania will play a leading role in helping create policies and legislation.
This was announced by TTCSP Director and International Studies Senior Lecturer James McGann yesterday at the 2021 Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Think Tank Summit, held virtually in collaboration with the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat).
The initiative will be unveiled at the Bahrain summit -- the last of the 2021 Mena Think Tank Summit series – to be held on December 6 and 7 at the Sofitel Bahrain Zallaq Thalassa Sea and Spa.
The kingdom will be hosting the global forum for the first time and the event will be organised by Derasat, in partnership with TTCSP.
The summit series organised by TTCSP aims to mobilise support for more than 14,000 think tanks.
Mr McGann said that TTCSP hopes to embed more programmes for women and young people while welcoming Bahrain’s Youth and Sport Affairs Minister Aymen Almoayed for his keynote address.
“Women will be a central part and a major feature in the global summit – this will be the realisation of a global network of women and think tanks,” said Mr McGann.
Mr McGann
“We have to date 400 women who have joined the global TTCSP network.
“I’m certain now that we will touch the 500 mark as the summit is held on December 6 and 7 in Bahrain, and we will launch that initiative.
“This is what we would call ‘breaking the glass ceiling in the ivory tower’. The 500 women who have joined this network will be presented at the meeting.
“Youth and women will play a central part and will be of great importance to the future of think tanks.”
At the virtual summit yesterday, themed ‘New Partners and Paradigms in an Age of Conflict and Covid-19’, experts highlighted the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, public health, politics and social issues in the region.
In his keynote address, Mr Almoayed praised Derasat for its efforts and vision amidst the ‘perfect storm’ of economic, social, medical, environmental and security-related turbulence.
Mr Almoayed
“Derasat helped the country’s youth rudder through the turbulence,” said the minister.
“Young men and women who have not been through this before do not have the privilege of the knowledge that you require,” he said.
“You will appreciate that they do not understand, like the saying goes, that this too shall pass for them.”
Meanwhile, Derasat chairman Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, in his address, acknowledged that international partnerships had helped to contribute towards the decision-making process in the kingdom.
Shaikh Abdulla
“Our mission is to build bridges with other organisations – regionally and internationally – because of the realisation that such relationships contribute to building a sense of community between nations and peoples,” he said.
“It’s my hope that throughout the global think tank summit in two weeks from now, we will be able to play a constructive role in addressing the world’s most vexing problems by establishing new partnerships and proposing new paradigm.”
Think tanks are organised for interdisciplinary research with the objective of providing advice on a diverse range of policy issues through the use of specialised knowledge and the activation of networks.
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