Training Course on Feminist Leadership 2010
Organised by The Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance (IPLG) at Africa University and the Open Society for Southern Africa (OSISA), this training course on feminism and public policy is designed to provide a broad conceptual and practical understanding of feminism by locating it within in a pan-African discourse. According go the organisers, feminists have always vigorously contested the effects and policies designed to ameliorate women’s oppression. This course provides a forum to critically examine some of these differences by looking at the historical tenets of feminism and its evolutionary progression, feminist perspectives to politics, power and power relations, patriarchy, gender-based violence, sexuality, women’s rights, and justice. The course further analyses the claim that public policy is gendered, implying that public policies affect men and women differently and that men and women participate differently in public policy making processes. The course takes public policy as both an important component in the construction of gender differences and as a site where gender is critiqued, resisted, and renegotiated.
The course is designed for young women who are motivated to play a critical role in promoting women's issues through advocacy and lobbying. Using examples and experiences from their own lives, it is hoped that participants will gain a deeper understanding of a feminist analysis of issues affecting women in the Southern African Development Community region. The goal of the course is to provide participants with knowledge and practical skills to engage with feminist discourses and feminist approaches for effective lobbying and advocacy on gender and women’s rights.
The objectives of the training course are to:
- familiarise participants with key tenets of feminism and the most influential works in the evolution of feminist theories and ideologies;
- give the participants a sound grasp of a fundamental and central body of feminist philosophical thinking;
- engage with young women who are working with gender focused organisations and are at the forefront of best practice in the field;
- situate and examine the gender question in relation to emerging disciplines;
- help participants use feminist approaches to analyse, critique and participate in contemporary public policy debates on women issues; and
- facilitate the development of feminist research skills to carry our policy oriented research on issues that impact on women's lives.
Click here for more information about the course.
Registration Information
Deadline for registration: July 9 2010.
This course is intended for young feminist advocates in non-governmental organisations, the public, and private sectors. OSISA will be fully sponsoring this training course. Sponsorship will cover tuition, course materials, airfare/transport, accommodation, teas and lunches and dinners during the course. Participants are however, advised to take out personal and health insurance as the organisers cannot take liabilities in this regard.
Prospective participants are expected to meet the following criteria:
- possess an undergraduate degree in a relevant field;
- be a young woman of between 18 and 30 years of age;
- have at least 1 year work experience in civil society and/or gender and women's rights related area;
- currently employed, or working in an area where feminist or gender policy advocacy and lobbying is important;
- English proficiency (as the course will be delivered in English);
- commitment to participate for the duration of the full course; and
- be from any of the following SADC countries: Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Young women who wish to apply for the training course are required to submit a completed application form; a one page motivation letter; and a commitment form completed by employer.
Click here to download application form in a word document.
