{"id":93255,"date":"2023-05-24T16:35:10","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T16:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award"},"modified":"2023-05-24T17:33:32","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T17:33:32","slug":"scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award","title":{"rendered":"Scientist Kelemu feted with French award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. <\/strong><\/span>International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe) Director General Segenet Kelemu has been awarded the insignia of Officer of the Order of Merit by the French embassy.<\/p>\n

She was presented with the National Order of Merit ( L\u2019ordre National du Me\u0301rite) badge by the French ambassador to Kenya, Arnaud Suquet in a colourful ceremony held in Nairobi.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the awarding ceremony, Suquet said the award is the second most eminent national order in France. He said its purpose is to recognise and reward \u201cdistinguished merits\u201d in different fields such as science, economics and politics among others.<\/p>\n

The Order now has 177,000 members, where 337,000 have been admitted or promoted since the creation of the order. This is according to the grande chancellerie de la le\u0301gion d’honneur.<\/p>\n

Each year, about 3,800 French and 300 foreigners receive the badge with 53 years being the average age of admission. At least 57 per cent of members are decorated in a civilian capacity, 43 per cent in a military capacity.<\/p>\n

Some 50 per cent are women where gender parity applies to civilian awards. \u201cKelemu has a long outstanding career in science and this is why the French government wanted to recognise and appreciate the work of this global leader,\u201d Suquet said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe little girl who helped her mother in Finote Selam, Ethiopia has become an international player with an impact on key issues for our planet and mankind. Africa is lucky to have you and we are lucky to have you as a partner. \u201d<\/p>\n

In appreciation, Kelemu reflected on her challenging upbringing saying how hard it was for her to access opportunities in her home country. \u201cI grew up in a small village in Ethiopia with nothing. No electricity, no running water and I didn\u2019t have shoes to put on until I joined high school,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a kid, I never imagined that I would one day become a scientist because I didn\u2019t even know of a profession called science. I also never imagined that I would become the boss of the only global science organisation that specialises in insects and is based in Kenya.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReceiving this award is such an honour.\u201d Kelemu said a lot of children are often too ambitious but rarely know what opportunities they have out there. She added little to no access to opportunities denies a child the exposure they need.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is possible to have dreams but they can\u2019t come to life without exposure. When I see kids being raised in the countryside just as I was, I am always telling myself, Oh My God, this could be a scientist, engineer, or doctor but is a waste of good talent because there are no opportunities for them. If there are, then they don\u2019t know about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelemu added that she would have told her younger self to continue being ambitious, with or without exposure. \u201cOpportunities were created for me by free education in Ethiopia, free scholarships in the US, and now here I am. I am proud to say that I am a product of the global village that is enabled by scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelemu has served as Icipe\u2019s director general since 2013. Prior to that, she served as the director of the Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa (BecA) Hub at ILRI. She also served as the VP for programmes at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) for about a year.<\/p>\n

As a molecular plant pathologist, her research involves better understanding of molecular determinants of host-pathogen interactions and the development of new plant disease control strategies such as genetic engineering and biopesticides.<\/p>\n

Suquet noted that under Kelemu\u2019s leadership, many of Icipe\u2019s results were obtained in cooperation with researchers from around the world including French researchers from the Institute for sustainable development (IRD) and the Agricultural Research Centre For International Development (CIRAD), which have regional offices in Nairobi. Kelemu has also received a number of awards and distinctions including the 2014 L\u2019Oreal UNESCO award for women in science.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Kenya<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe) Director General Segenet Kelemu has been awarded the insignia of Officer of the Order of Merit by the French embassy. She was presented with the National Order of Merit ( L\u2019ordre National du Me\u0301rite) badge by the French ambassador to Kenya, Arnaud Suquet in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":93254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[6857,7003,544],"class_list":["post-93255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-kenya","tag-kenya"],"yoast_head":"\nScientist Kelemu feted with French award - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe) Director General Segenet Kelemu has been awarded the insig ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scientist Kelemu feted with French award\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe) Director General Segenet Kelemu has been awarded the insig ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-24T16:35:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-24T17:33:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2023\/05\/sm_1684932963.345184.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"561\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Scientist Kelemu feted with French award\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-24T16:35:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-24T17:33:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award\"},\"wordCount\":685,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2023\/05\/sm_1684932963.345184.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Kenya\",\"Kenya\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"culture and art\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/scientist-kelemu-feted-with-french-award\",\"name\":\"Scientist Kelemu feted with French award - 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