REGIONAL SCIENCES AND WOMEN Co-organised by the FCRM and the Bayer German Foundation, with the support of several national and international partners, the Regional Fellowship "Women and Science" is a program that aims to increase the number of women scientists in Central Africa by supporting doctoral students enrolled in a university in the subregion. This allowance is intended to encourage women scientists with at least one child to continue their commitment to science. The grant consists of an allocation of 900,000 CFA francs (1,400 Euros) for doctoral students and a sum of 500,000 CFA francs (+/-800 Euros) for mothers and scientists. Co-organised by the FCRM and the Bayer German Foundation, with the support of several national and international partners, the Regional Fellowship "Women and Science" is a program that aims to increase the number of women scientists in Central Africa by supporting doctoral students enrolled in a university in the subregion. This allowance is intended to encourage women scientists with at least one child to continue their commitment to science. The grant consists of an allocation of 900,000 CFA francs (1,400 Euros) for doctoral students and a sum of 500,000 CFA francs (+/-800 Euros) for mothers and scientists. The programme has been launched at the national level since 2014 and opened for the first time to other countries in the subregion. This first edition had three categories. The first edition, "Mothers and Scientists," distinguished three women from Cameroon, the Congo and the DRC. Since the occurrence of pregnancy in the course of studies may represent the risk of interruption or abandonment, the organizers wanted to encourage women who manage to overcome this handicap by providing financial support to enable them to continue their research projects in a Central African country. The second category, called "PHD ", was awarded to eleven doctoral graduates, including one from Chad, one from CAR, one from Gabon, three from Congo, three from Cameroon and two from DRC. In addition, a PhD student from the Congo won the Diaspora Prize, which was supported by Congolese people living abroad. "I am very happy to be among the winners. As an organician chemist, the greatest difficulty is to have the necessary reagents and equipment to allow us to dissipate the molecules that are active. This scholarship will allow me to acquire reagents and continue the continuation of my work on the phytochemistry and pharmacology trial of two Chadian medicinal plants and formulation of a phytopharmaceutical ," said Dij Mioingar Lafya Bodeboret, winner of the PHD category. This year, considerable enthusiasm was observed during the applications. "We received a total of 424 files, including 358 HDPs and 66 scientific mothers. Following the compliance of the files, 64 applications from all categories were selected for assessment by the selection committee. 30 candidates, including 20 doctoral students and 10 scientific mothers, received sufficient marks to be invited to an interview with the selection committee," explained Georges Missontsa, project leader for the call for applications plan. According to her comments, the assessment of candidates included oral expression, scientific dynamism, presentation of the research project, relevance of the research topic, knowledge of the professional environment, and use of the award. Professor Francine Ntoumi, President of the FCRM and a member of the jury of the regional fellowship "Women and Science 2024" was the heartbeat. "Investing in women is not only a matter of social justice, but also an intelligent and strategic investment that benefits society as a whole. The natural contribution of women is to carry life. Unfortunately, in working life, instead of simply being a happy event, this can sound like a glimmer of professional ambitions. Pregnancy and childbirth become a handicap, a hindrance to the development of a promising career," she lamented. Indeed, investing in women are not only a matter of social justice, but also an intelligent and strategic investment that benefits society as a whole. The empowerment of women and the promotion of gender equality are indeed essential for building a more prosperous, inclusive and sustainable future for all. This is the first edition of the regional scholarships. SCIENCES" brought together many personalities, scientists, diplomats, decision makers, students and their families, artists and friends of the FCRM.