UNAM To Offer Master's Degree In Gender Studies

University of Namibia

The University of Namibia (Unam) will for the first time in its history offer a Master of Arts Degree in Gender Studies next year.

The course is described as timely, considering the fact that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) has become endemic in Namibia and remains a major concern. According to Erastus Negonga, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Namibia lacks capacity for the effective implementation of gender mainstreaming in society.

Gender mainstreaming is a strategy aimed at promoting gender equality. Negonga also said Namibian society has major challenges that point to the dislocation in gender relations across societies. Negonga yesterday addressed a stakeholders' consultative meeting aimed at soliciting inputs for the Master's degree in gender studies curriculum and development process.

He said it is saddening that the country's higher education institutions do not offer advanced gender courses and in-service training is not always adequate to respond to the overwhelming gender oriented demands in work environments. "We trust that this MA (Master of Arts) programme will provide its students with skills to deal with these multitudes of issues to root out gender-based violence from our society," said Negonga. He also expressed the hope that the programme would promote gender mainstreaming and women's economic empowerment.

New Era has learnt that stakeholders from institutions in Africa and Europe were consulted to draft the course curriculum, making the programme relevant to respond to Namibian needs and yet equally relevant to modern global realities and imperatives. "We applaud Unam for extensive engagements with stakeholders to ensure that the course meets international standards and national demands," Negonga said.

The Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Unam, Professor Kingo Mchombu, said the programme would produce the required human resources and expertise to handle the complex challenges of gender issues in the country. "It has become increasingly clear that the major challenge of capacity-building to create sufficient expertise to address all aspects of gender planning and programming has not been adequately addressed," said Mchombu.

Participants were tasked to analyse critically the draft curriculum on gender studies to determine areas that need further fine-tuning. After the stakeholders' input, the programme will be presented to the various organs of Unam. In August, the programme will be presented to the Unam Senate.

Negonga urged Unam to thoroughly market the course to ensure that potential students apply for the course. Potential students should possess a first or undergraduate degree in any any discipline to qualify for the course.