The Institute of Women, Gender and Development Studies (IWGDS) is part of the Ahfad University for Women, in Omdurman, Sudan. For more than two decades since 1986 IWGDS has worked with women and men from throughout Sudan and around the world to help emancipate Sudanese women through education, extension, intervention and advocacy. The fundamental mission of the university is to create from those female students leaders in their societies with first hand experience of identifying local people's needs and addressing them. Moreover, graduating empowered females who have skills to address these needs and become role models. Social change and the training of future change agents was the vision that guided the establishment of further schools, disciplines or programs. Through its internationally recognized Master’s and Doctorate-level programs, world-class teaching and curriculum development, training courses, research and publications, the Institute:
Enhances research on gender and development studies at Ahfad University in collaboration with universities at national and international levels;
Promotes the integration of gender studies within university courses both at Ahfad University and in other universities;
Influences policies and advocates for gender mainstreaming in development;
Disseminates information on gender and development issues as well as women’s empowerment;
Integrates civil and peace education programs within university courses;
Prepares students to become future change agents in their societies.
Sudanese Universities are designed mainly to address programs which are traditional mainstream disciplines, being not multidisciplinary nor integrated in nature. A few recent exceptions are programs on issues of development, environment, studies on peace, human rights and diplomacy, which were mainly introduced in two government universities, although they neither include any gender dimension nor courses on women's and gender issues within their MSCs in development, environment diploma, human rights or peace studies. There were also no bachelor level degrees on women or gender issues until 2000.
Courses on women or gender studies as part of university requirement or of degrees offered by certain faculties is not found in all Sudanese universities except at Ahfad University for Women (AUW) that has two university requirements courses taught since 1986 on women and gender studies, a 6 credit hour course in two semesters. Further, the country is faced with development problems and regional disparities that led to maldevelopment practices leading to conflict in almost all parts of the country, making Sudan having the longest civil war in Africa. Moreover, gender disparity along all human development indicators is prominent, gender gap characterizes the gender profile and patriarchal ideology and systems are part of the various sub cultures. Poverty being feminized and expanding reproductive health problems as well as low progress along the MDGs are issues that The Institute of Women, Gender and Development Studies (IWGDS) tries to address through its multifaceted capacity building programs.
The main objectives of the institute are:
To broaden the base of theoretical and practical approach on the field of gender, peace and development studies.
Providing solid education and training for cadres to become gender sensitive policy makers, planners, researchers and academics.
To empower women to become more effective players in the processes of gender and transformation.
To promote government mechanisms by capacity building to its staff targeting main relevant ministries.
To avail expertise on gender issues in the regions of Sudan.
To raise capacities of young staff at university on advance research methodologies and doctoral research proposal writing.
Preparing students to work in academia media, government institutions, international and national non government organization, and other agencies and at the wider community locally where a deep understanding of these issues is crucial.
To promote the integration of gender studies in university courses, both at Afhad University and other universities.
To advocate for gender mainstreaming, equality, peace and democracy and influence policies.
The Institute of Women, Gender and Development Studies (IWGDS) is the natural evolution of the Women’s Studies Unit established in 1987. Women’s Studies as a discipline has been part and parcel of Ahfad University for Women's (AUW) curriculum for more than two decades. As a crosscutting area, it has been a requirement for all schools of the University. This is commensurate with the overall mission of AUW, aiming at the emancipation of Sudanese women through education, extension, intervention and advocacy. One of the major achievements of IWGDS is the M.Sc. programme in Gender and Development. Starting in 1997, the IWGDS has awarded the M.Sc. degree in GAD to women coming from different governmental bodies, university staff, employees of NGOs and international organizations and a few self-financed students, in addition to students from the Arab and African regions. The Ph.D. programme in Gender and Development Studies was started in 2001. The IWGD has developed various Capacity Building Programs which in agreement with the mission of the IWGD aim to help emancipate Sudanese women through education, extension, intervention and advocacy. The practices of the IWGD Capacity Building Program are three fold: On the one hand, the program has initiated curriculum and text books development and teaching of the university requirement 6 credit hours for the 4th year semi-final students. It also develops and teaches two-track master degrees in Gender and Development Studies (1997) and Gender and Peace Studies (2008). Finally, it has developed three short training courses, offered annually. One regional on Gender and Reproductive Rights since 2004, an other national on Gender Mainstreaming and Planning since 2001 and a third on Advanced Research Methodology, since 2004. other ones upon request are on Women Legal Rights, Female Genital Mutilation, Violence against Women, Gender and the Displaced Rights, Gender Budgeting and Auditing, Gender in Organization, Endengering Credit Programs, Conflict Resolution and Voters/Democracy Education. All courses have training manuals or materials developed by IWGDS and AUW staff. The methodology used to identify needs are through requested from NGOs, INGOs, government, UN agencies, links with universities, workshop to discuss the initiative of introducing a graduate or short training course in partnership with others to address a societal problem and achieve universities social responsibility commitment and vision. The strategies used to develop the degree or university requirement or short training courses include workshops with experts, and targeted trainers/students as well as potential employers, developing linkages with regional and western or international universities to develop programs (course outline, degree structure including intake requirements, assessment methods, degree award). Assigned staff is given responsibility to finalize the degree program proposal, submitted to academic council for approval, marketing the program through media and letter the government universities, UN, INGOs, NGOs. They also are responsible for launching the new intakes such as memorandum of understanding for partnership with one or two international universities to support the first 2 or 4 years of the program.
The IWGD responsible stated that the main results get since 1999:
Since 1999 a total of 120 females have been graduated in Msc. in Gender and Development Studies.
One Ph.D graduate and four registered in gender and development program.
Enrolled new batch on Gender and Peace Studies of 18 students in 2008, among mail and female.
Female and male graduates within BSc who studies Women and Gender studies are 1500 since 1986.
Trained in the Gender Planning course and other related courses are 370 women and men.
Trained in the Advanced Research Methodology course are 10 males and 40 males.
Developed readers for the 10 MSc courses, one text book for undergraduate students (The Gender and Women Studies Textbook).
Linked with Mancehester University (6 years) and with Humboldt University 30 staff from all universities have benefited froma summer school with 350 participants of both gender.
Build a partnership with the World Health Organization (4 years) and the United Nations Population Fund (10 years), whose support courses and women empowerment projects.
Build a partnership with University of Peace which has resulted in a four staff exchange and two MSc in Costa Rica.
Linked with national universities (University of Khartoum, Juba University, Al Iman Al Mahdi University, Sudan university for Science and technology) to fund the NGOs CORDAID scholarships (a total of 5).
Linked with United Nations for four year supporting training courses on girls’ education.
Graduates employed in UN, INGO.s, government universities and established NGOs.
Some one in not relevant specialization but in big petroleum companies trying to engender them through the social components or training opportunities offered staff. 100 graduates employed in Sudan.
Helped to establish a gender unit in a total of four Sudanese universities.
Indirect impacts are the establishment of a Diploma on Women Studies in Sudan University for Science and Technology, the Islamic Women studies in the African International University, and the Gender Research and Trainig Centre, a non-profit consultancy company established in 2000. The IWGDS collaborated with them in training and advocacy activities. Some of their graduates work there.
Developed a aspecial library on women and gender studies of international and regional publications as well as a gery amterial being the largest in Sudan with more than 500 books, 100 non published reports and 200 dissretetion of graduate and undergraduate students.
Held several training courses for NGOs, governments making due relations, becominga centre of excellence in capacity building activities at national level and establishing formal and informal partnership.
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