About the GWS Project
Strengthening Gender and Women’s Studies for Africa’s Transformation (GWS Africa) Project
The AGI’s Strengthening Gender and Women’s Studies for Africa’s Transformation (GWS Africa) Project pursues the Institute’s mission by developing and disseminating intellectual resources, and supporting intellectual dialogue and networking.
The AGI has developed strong connections with a number of national, sub-regional and continental partners and networks. These connections and its own continental and national curriculum drew attention to the challenges faced by higher education institutions on the continent and, in particular, to the development of Gender and Women’s Studies (GWS) programmes.
Expanding efforts to institutionalise strong and relevant programmes in gender studies at African universities have been hampered by several key challenges, including the structurally weak position of women in tertiary institutions and the often limited resources for teaching and research in gender studies. There is also a dearth of home-grown gender research that addresses the poorly understood realities of African gender relations and cultures.
In 2002 the AGI initiated the ‘Strengthening Gender Studies for Africa’s Transformation’ project in response to the above challenges. The project set out to strengthen African-based teaching and research in gender studies by bringing together teachers and researchers in African universities in a series of strategic training, research and publishing activities. It aimed to enhance the intellectual quality, the strategic relevance and the applicability of African teaching and research in the field of gender studies. Furthermore, the project hoped to generate a strong community of locally-grounded gender-competent faculties, equipped with the analytical and policy advocacy skills required to deliver relevant curricula design, teaching and research that will ensure gender justice in African contexts. This collegial network promises more sustained intellectual and policy dialogue in the field of gender, bringing some coherence to the hitherto often fragmented community of scholars located all over the continent.
The project has evolved through different forms of action. One arena has involved consultation, theoretical debate and networking within discussion contexts. Here, individuals with substantial experience in the field of GWS research and teaching have attempted to develop strategies to sustain, energise and stimulate diverse GWS work. The AGI conducted a survey to identify those currently engaged in GWS in African higher education institutions as well as to gather information on the institutional capacity, areas of specialisation and the ICT capacity of various centres. We have so far identified 30 different sites for teaching and researching gender and women’s studies on the continent.
As part of an effort to strengthen transformative teaching and research in the field of GWS and to enhance its relevance to the particular challenges of African contexts, a teaching resources group (TRG) was convened in 2003 comprising 12 experienced academics from GWS centres in 6 African countries (Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa). The working group set out to develop conceptual frameworks, methodologies and resources for teaching in areas identified as being of central importance in strengthening transformative practice, writing and research.
After nearly seven years of running of the project, the AGI decided to evaluate the GWS project website and its contents. A team was set up from the AGI staff members to manage the process of revamping the site. In this regard, a new website with a new design was conceptualised and put together. In terms of content, there are some remnants from the old website; however the bulk of the content is new. New themes like gender and militarism, gender and development, gender and media have been included. In future, we hope to add more themes and material from Francophone and Lusophone Africa.
Other Resource Material
African Women’s Studies: 1980-2001
A Review Essay for the African Gender Institute’s “Strengthening Gender Studies for Social Transformation: an intellectual capacity building and information technology development project” by: Desiree Lewis - January 2002
About Feminist Africa 
