Message from the Directress

The Institute of Gender Studies has continued to exhale in the various activities it conducts in the year 2010. The Institute has graduated 21 students in 2009/2010 academic year. 17 students have proceeded into the second year and are currently conducting their research. To improve the teaching learning process and to keep the MA program as per the standards the Institute has continued to invite different experts both from abroad and locally so that the students and staff members benefit from a whole round of expertise and experiences. IGS has now more than ever strived to foster partnerships with different institutions. Currently there are five major project areas with different partners that the institute works in collaboration with. The five year collaboration project with NUFU is coming to an end in 2011 and different research activities under it are being finalized and some have went for publishing. IGS is ready to continue partnership with the NUFU partners and is working to that effect. The Gender and Reproductive Health Project with the Packard Foundation is also finalizing its first phase in terms of the processes required to integrate reproductive health and to develop a gender and reproductive health curriculum. Curriculum and research needs assessment studies have been conducted and are in the process of being finalized. Priority areas have also been identified for researches to be undertaken in the areas of gender and reproductive health.

Also a new Regional Institute for Gender, Diversity, Peace and Rights (RIG/DPR) has been formed in collaboration with Academic Institutes from Sudan (Afhad University for Women) and Uganda (Makerere University).

There is also an ongoing research project that will soon go for publishing with FAWE. Last but not least IGS is working with North-South-South Higher Education Institutional Network (NSS). The network was established mainly to learn from the different experiences of the Northern and Southern Gender Institutions and to build the capacity of the institutes involved in terms of scholarships, intensive courses and in the form of student-teacher exchange programs. IGS will continue to foster partnerships with different institutions and organizations in order to achieve its objectives in improving the gender relations and the situation of women in the Ethiopia.

I would like to express my gratitude to our supporters and partners both in country and abroad for their partnership and specially the School of Graduate Studies and Research for facilitating our work. I would also like to thank friends of IGS for their active participation and IGS staff members for the strong team work to make it all possible.

Hirut Terefe (PhD)

Director, Institute of Gender Studies