Director

What we do

The Gender and Development unit is responsible for mainstreaming a gender perspective, that is, the process of assessing the implications for men and women of any planned activity, including research, legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels at the HSRC, nationally in South Africa and in Africa.

It pursues a strategy for researchers to make men's and women’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all social spheres so that women and men benefit equally. The goal is to encourage South Africa and African countries to attain gender equality.

The Unit's theoretical stance is that gender is already intersected with other forms of power relations, roles and identities. In South Africa, given the history of apartheid, the intersection of gender and race is particularly salient. For this reason, a gendered approach should include an analysis across both gender and race, and equally be sensitive to other forms of power and difference, such as disability, sexual orientation etc. A critical function of this cross-cutter is to help/empower researchers to use gender analytical tools to ensure that all our researchers use a gender lens in understanding social phenomena.

Scope of work
The Gender and Development unit supports research and research partnerships that address agendas both locally and internationally, and is party to scholarly publications and other outputs emanating from research initiatives. It works closely with a number of governmental departments, NGOs and academic institutions, in conjunction with other research associates in various parts of the country.

The Unit continues to develop relationships with other African countries.

The following diagram illustrates Gender and Development’s positioning within, and outside, the HSRC