The Caribbean region faces a range of pressing development challenges, from strengthening climate resilience to expanding inclusive digital growth — and women scientists and innovators across the area are now getting a targeted boost to advance their work and step into leadership roles through a new fellowship initiative.
The UNESCO Office for the Caribbean has officially launched WINGS Caribbean, short for Women Inspiring New Generations in Science, a fellowship program built around the unifying theme “Advancing Science. Advancing Women. Transforming the Caribbean.” The program fills a critical gap in regional support, focusing specifically on mid-career and advanced-career women scientists, a group that has historically been underserved by existing capacity-building initiatives in the region.
Two total fellowships will be awarded through the inaugural round: one focused on STEM disciplines, and a second dedicated to social impact innovation. Each award carries a $10,000 grant to support recipients’ project work over a 12-month period. Eligible applicants must be mid-career or advanced-career women working on solutions aligned with key regional development priorities. Eligible projects span a wide range of critical focus areas, including climate and environmental resilience, disaster risk reduction, digital innovation, applied scientific research, social development, public governance, social entrepreneurship, and community-engaged research. UNESCO emphasizes that it is seeking proposals that will deliver clear, practical, measurable benefits to local and regional communities across the Caribbean.
To qualify, applicants must be nationals of UNESCO Member States or Associate Members in the English-speaking and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. The program is being delivered in partnership with two leading regional academic institutions: The University of the West Indies Mona Faculty of Science and Technology, and the Caribbean Academy of Sciences, which will provide technical guidance and regional expertise throughout the implementation process.
Beyond financial support for individual projects, the core mission of WINGS Caribbean is twofold: to elevate overall scientific excellence across the region, and to boost the representation and leadership capacity of women working in research and innovation. The program also aims to build a connected regional network of women scientists, whose collective work will drive long-term progress toward a more resilient, innovative, and sustainable Caribbean. This initiative builds on years of UNESCO-led work to support women and girls in science across the region, but narrows its focus to supporting established women professionals, helping them scale their research, align their work more closely to pressing local needs, and turn their scientific achievements into greater leadership influence and tangible societal change.
Applications for the 2026 round close at 11:59 p.m. Jamaica Time (UTC−5) on September 30, 2026. Full details on eligibility requirements, application guidelines, and access to the official online application form are available via the UNESCO WINGS Caribbean official application portal.