GWS Africa Team
Assoc. Prof. Jane Bennett
Jane Bennett is an Associate Professor has been with the African Gender Institute since 1996, working mainly in two Programmes: Gender Studies and Gender-Based Violence in Education. She holds a doctorate in Applied Linguistics from Teachers College, Columbia University, and has taught literature, linguistics, social studies, and women's and gender studies at a number of university campuses in Africa and the U.S.A. She has been an active member of various community organizations committed to fighting colonialism, especially as colonialism has impacted the psychological, sexual, and physical, health of women. At the AGI, she is responsible for academic teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level, for the delivery of training with her colleagues, and for the development of research and action projects.
Email: Jane Bennett
Yaliwe Clarke
Yaliwe Clarke is Lecturer at the African Gender Institute. She teaches undergraduate courses on gender and development, and contributes to postgraduate teaching and supervision. Selected courses accentuate African experiences and perspectives on gendered dimensions of peace building, conflict transformation, and militarism.
Clarke has a Masters of Philosophy in Peace and Conflict Transformation from the University of Tromso, Norway. Prior to joining AGI, she interacted with African women’s rights activists and peace-builders/conflict resolution practitioners and gained extensive continental training experience in gender and peace-building. As a part-time lecturer at the Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation Peace Centre in Kitwe, Zambia, Clarke developed a gender and conflict module that formed part of a diploma and certificate course on peace-building. As Senior Project Officer at the Centre for Conflict Resolution, she co-authored a Peace-building Training Manual for African Women in Decision-Making and conducted various training workshops for women in civil society and government in West, East and Southern Africa. Over the last nine years, Clarke has worked with a range of civil society organisations in Southern Africa, notably: Zambia Civic Education Association (as Project Coordinator); Zambia Association for Research and Development (as ordinary member and Chairperson); the Southern African Conflict Prevention Network (as Network Coordinator); Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation; and the Centre for Conflict Resolution.
Email: Yaliwe Clarke
Selina Mudavanhu
Selina Linda Mudavanhu is a Project Convenor at the African Gender Institute (AGI). She is responsible for the Strengthening Gender and Women’s Studies for Africa’s Transformation (GWS) project. Before joining the AGI, she worked for the Southern African Media and Gender Institute based in Cape Town as the Coordinator of the Women’s Media Watch Unit. Some of the work she did includes managing projects in the unit, media monitoring, writing for and editing the organisation’s quarterly newsletter, assisting in the development of advocacy manuals and organising advocacy campaigns to promote the rights of women. Mudavanhu has also worked for the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Zimbabwe office as a Media and Gender Projects Officer. Some of her responsibilities included suggesting and developing media and gender project outlines for the Foundation, liaising with partners working on media and gender projects and coordinating the publication of an annual advocacy diary for women. Mudavanhu holds a Masters degree in Communication and Media Studies from the University of Zimbabwe.
Email: Selina Mudavanhu
Felix Liersch
Felix is the administrative assistant for the Feminist Africa journal published bi-annually by AGI and the project assistant for the GWSAfrica online platform. He holds a Bachelor degree in Political Science and Gender Studies as well as an Honours degree in 'Gender and Transformation' from the University of Cape Town.
Email: Felix Liersch
Fareeda Jadwat
Fareeda has worked at the African Gender Institute for 5 years, serving as the Senior Programme Officer responsible for all the AGI's Information and Communication Technology projects since mid 2005. Before joining the AGI she co-founded UNWEMBI Communications where she worked as Director. Fareeda grew up during the struggle years of the 1980's, becoming a committed political and community activist, eventually joining the an ANC underground operative, she worked in CODESA, also responsible for developing the National Information Systems for 1994 Democratic Elections.
In her current capacity she manages the AGI's online presence, including the Feminist Africa Website and all the AGI's electronic networking and communication projects. Her most recent achievement is the newly launched the redesigned GWSAfrica website.
Email: Fareeda Jadwat
About the GWS Project
