CEGENSA - Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy

Gratitude, Fulfillment and A Sense of Accomplishment at CEGENSA’s Maiden Mentor Appreciation Event

admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:46:13 +0000

Gratitude, Fulfillment and A Sense of Accomplishment at CEGENSA’s Maiden Mentor Appreciation Event

admin Wed, 04/24/2024 - 17:46

At the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy’s (CEGENSA) maiden mentor appreciation event, organised with support from the African Women's Development Fund (AWDF), in commemoration of the 2024 International Women’s Day (IWD) celebration, twenty-eight (28) academic mentors, nominated by early and mid-career female faculty of the University were honoured.

Explaining the rationale for celebrating the mentors, the Director of CEGENSA, Dr. Deborah Atobrah, noted the Centre’s role in promoting mentorship within the University, as a strategic pursuit for fostering gender equity. She highlighted the mentorship strides achieved by CEGENSA and the setbacks including the enormous demands that mentoring places on mentors.

Director of CEGENSA, Dr. Deborah Atobrah

“Mentors make sacrifices to support and nurture mentees, a pursuit which does not count in the formal appraisal of one’s work, albeit extremely critical for the very sustenance of the academy”, she said. Dr. Atobrah also emphasized the decision in not calling the event an awards event because no award can match the selfless labour of mentoring. “We therefore call it a celebration and appreciation of your distinguished mentoring work”, stated Dr. Deborah Atobrah.

Representing the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Gordon Awandare, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Academic and Student Affairs, pointed to the progress being made in women’s leadership within the University, with reference to the historical all female Principal Officers and the attainment of the female to male student gender ratio.

Prof. Gordon Awandare, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Academic and Student Affairs presenting a citation to Emeritus Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, former Vice-Chancellor.

“Despite the progress, there is still a lot of work to be done”, lamented Prof. Awandare. He elaborated on the need to stir up the interest of women and girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) related courses. Prof. Awandare emphasised giving more women equal opportunities as men to propel them to greater heights.

Participants at the event

Dr. Doreen Owusu-Fianko, Global Vice-Chairperson for North and West Africa for Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT), who was the Chairperson for the event, congratulated all the mentors and praised CEGENSA and AWDF for spearheading and acknowledging the tremendous efforts of the mentors.

Dr. Doreen Owusu-Fianko, Global Vice-Chairperson for North and West Africa for Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT)

In brief remarks, Prof. Dan Frimpong Ofori, Provost, College of Humanities, encouraged the honourees to continue to look out for and mentor more female faculty.

Prof. Dan Frimpong Ofori, Provost, College of Humanities presenting a citation to one of the honoured mentors

On her part, Mrs. Beatrice Boakye Yiadom, representative of AWDF, indicated that in accordance with the 2024 IWD theme –Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress, her outfit decided to award grants to 10 women led organisations in Ghana including CEGENSA to keep the issue of investing in women and girls on the radar in Ghana.

The heartwarming ceremony evoked the feeling of gratitude, love, accomplishment and fulfillment among the mentors and mentees, with the latter acknowledging the role of the former in guiding them to win grants, publish papers in internationally acclaimed journals, which has led to their promotion in record time. The mentors were presented with citations and hampers.

One of the beautiful highlights of the event was when mentees who had nominated mentors, were also nominated by others as mentors. The ceremony was interspersed with choral and beautiful cultural performances by Lordina the Sopriano and the Ghana Dance Ensemble.

A group photograph of the honoured mentors

At the end of the ceremony, the mentors, represented by Prof. Akosua A. Ampofo, Prof. Akosua K. Darkwah and Prof. Charlotte Wrigley-Asante extended appreciation to the organisers and their mentees. They drew attention to the intentionality of mentoring and encouraged others to reach out to more female faculty in particular.

LIST OF MENTORS HONOURED AT THE CELEBRATION AND APPRECIATION CEREMONY.

Emerita Prof. Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf, former Head, Department of Geography and Resource Development
Emeritus Prof. Ivan Addae Mensah, former Vice-Chancellor
Emeritus Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, former Vice-Chancellor
Prof. Emmanuel Kweku Osam, former Pro-Vice-Chancellor
Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, Vice-Chancellor
Prof. Akosua Adomako Ampofo, former Director, CEGENSA & Institute of African Studies
Prof. Audrey Gadzekpo, former Dean, School of Information and Communication Studies
Prof. Adobea Yaa Owusu, Past Head, ISSER Social Division
Prof. Esther Sakyi-Dawson, former Head, Department of Nutrition and Food Science
Prof. Akosua Darkwah, Dean, School of Information and Communication Studies
Prof. Charlotte Wrigley- Asante, Head, Department of Geography and Resource Development
Prof. Angela Ofori-Atta, former Head of Department of Psychiatry
Prof. Michael Tagoe, former Acting Provost of the College of Education
Dr. Lilian Akorfa Ohene, Head, Department of Community Health Nursing
Prof. Richmond Nii Okai Aryeetey, Head, Population, Family, and Reproductive Health Department
Prof. Wazi Apoh, Dean, School of Arts,
Prof. Kwadwo Owusu, Director, Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Studie
Dr. Priscilla Twumasi Baffour, Department of Economics
Prof. Irene Kretchy, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy
Prof. Jemima Anderson, Director, Pan African Doctoral Academy
Madam Cecilia Adjei, Senior Lecturer, School of Performing Arts
Prof. Daniel Frimpong Ofori, Provost, College of Humanities
Prof. Awo Mana Asiedu, Acting Director of the School of Performing Arts
Prof. George Boateng Kyei, Director of the Medical and Scientific Research Centre, UGMC
Prof. Dorcas Osei-Safo, Vice-Dean, School of Graduate Studies
Prof. Emmanuel Kwasi Torpey, Dean, School of Public Health
Dr. Efua Vandyck, Senior Lecturer, Department of Family & Consumer Science
Dr. Millicent A. Cobblah, Senior Lecturer, Department of Animal Biology and Conservation Science

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Inception and Validation Workshop

admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 23:25:07 +0000

Inception and Validation Workshop

admin Tue, 04/02/2024 - 01:25

The inception and validation workshop was the first in-person engagement of the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA) with the team from the Global Center for Gender Equality (GCfGE) as part of the Gender Integration Technical Assistance capacity strengthening activities. The nature of capacity-building support required by CEGENSA’s team of experts and the curriculum to be used for the capacity-building training was agreed on during this inception and validation workshop.

PAGIP Activities

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Gender Integration Capacity-Building Training

admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 23:22:43 +0000

Gender Integration Capacity-Building Training

admin Tue, 04/02/2024 - 01:22

CEGENSA’s team of malaria and gender experts has undergone intensive capacity-building training in gender integration facilitated by the Global Center for Gender Equality (GCfGE). The training consisted of online synchronous and asynchronous components, as well as some in-person sessions.

PAGIP Activities

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Reading Group Meetings and Case Simulation Exercises

admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 22:21:08 +0000

Reading Group Meetings and Case Simulation Exercises

admin Tue, 04/02/2024 - 00:21

The team of Malaria and Gender Experts meet periodically to review their reading and knowledge acquired in gender integration and malaria.

PAGIP Activities

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Functional Training

admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 22:17:46 +0000

Functional Training

admin Tue, 04/02/2024 - 00:17

The entire project team participated in an organization and relationship systems coaching workshop. The purpose of this workshop was to help create team synergy, high morale, creativity and productivity, and functional communication among the team of experts, the project management team and the CEGENSA staff.

PAGIP Activities

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Mrs. Harriet Napier

admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 07:48:09 +0000

Mrs. Harriet Napier admin Mon, 04/01/2024 - 09:48

Mrs. Harriet Napier serves as Senior Program Manager for Community Health on the global malaria team at Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). Harriet has over ten years of experience working with NGOs and governments to design and implement strong community health worker (CHW) programs. In her current capacity, she supports countries across sub-Saharan Africa, the Greater Mekong Sub-region, Mesoamerica, and Hispaniola to holistically engage CHWs as key partners in the fight to eliminate malaria and improve access to basic health services. She oversees CHAI’s emerging portfolios of work at the intersection of malaria, gender, and community co-creation. Harriet has served as regular winter term faculty in the anthropology department and global health program at Middlebury College for the past five years. She holds degrees in public health and anthropology.

Mrs. Harriet Napier

Advisory Board Member

Dr. Irenee Umulisa

admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 07:18:32 +0000

Dr. Irenee Umulisa admin Mon, 04/01/2024 - 09:18

Dr. Irenee Umulisa is a gender and development specialist and consultant, epidemiologist, and public health expert with over 17 years of experience in clinical practice, public policy development, and disease control programs. She leads the Gender and Youth Task Force and serves as the Senior Programme Officer for Neglected Tropical Diseases at the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA). From 2006 to 2016, Dr. Irenee worked at the Rwanda Health System and Rwanda Biomedical Center at various levels before joining the World Health Organization/Rwanda Country Office as an epidemiologist. She holds a medical doctorate and three master's degrees in public health, Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme (FELTP), and Gender and Development. She has worked in clinical practice, research on health systems, policymaking, and stakeholder engagement. She is the ALMA Gender Focal Point, ensuring gender mainstreaming within all the ALMA work. She is a member of the Global Malaria and Gender Community of Practice (CoP) and a member of the Rwanda Gender Experts forum.

Dr. Irenee Umulisa

Advisory Board Member

Ms. Katya Halil

admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 06:55:50 +0000

Ms. Katya Halil admin Mon, 04/01/2024 - 08:55

Ms Katya Halil is the Associate Director of Advocacy for Medications for Malaria Venture (MMV). She works on the advocacy team to support the creation of funding opportunities and enabling policies for MMV's work. Her role involves driving innovation against malaria. She has held a variety of communications and advocacy positions with United Nations agencies and public-private partnerships, including the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, UNESCO, the joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, the World Health Organization, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, since 2002. She holds a Master of Science in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a Master of Arts in French Literature from the University of Toronto.

Ms. Katya Halil

Advisory Board Member

Dr. Jonathan Kayondo

admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 06:54:45 +0000

Dr. Jonathan Kayondo admin Mon, 04/01/2024 - 08:54

Dr. Jonathan Kayondo currently serves as the Principal Investigator (PI) for Target Malaria in Uganda, leading a diverse research team focused on developing innovative approaches for malaria vector control via genetic drive mechanisms. He is also the Principal Research Officer (PRO) in Entomology and the Head of the Department of Entomology at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). He has conducted research in molecular genetics, biochemistry, and chemistry as part of his academic background. He holds a B.Sc. from Makerere University, Uganda, and a Ph.D. in Vector Biology from the University of Notre Dame, USA. His research's scope centers on the genetic characteristics of disease-causing agents and carriers, with a specific emphasis on viruses and insects that facilitate malaria transmission. He is particularly interested in molecular genetics and vector biology and is involved in multiple capacity development networks at the Uganda Virus Research Institute. During his professional journey, he conducted a study on the primary carrier of malaria in Uganda, which is the Anopheles gambiae species complex.

Dr. Jonathan Kayondo

Advisory Board Member

Dr. Odell Wannie Kumeh

admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 06:53:09 +0000

Dr. Odell Wannie Kumeh admin Mon, 04/01/2024 - 08:53

Dr. Odell Wannie Kumeh is an expert Global Health specialist with more than 15 years of experience in the public health sector of Liberia. She held a position of authority, overseeing the implementation of Ministry of Health policies and programs. Amidst the Ebola epidemic in Liberia, namely in Maryland County, which was severely affected, she served as the sole physician responsible for coordinating both curative and preventive healthcare services. She assumed the role of leading the Incident Management team, coordinating with NGOs and other partners to ensure the county implemented highly strategic measures to battle the spread of the disease. She previously served as the Acting Program Manager during the successful implementation of the Malaria Indicator Survey. Currently, Dr Odell Kumeh serves as Deputy Program Manager for the National Malaria Program at the Ministry of Health in Liberia, overseeing the Case Management Unit, Vector Control, and Diagnostic activities, and instructing courses at a State-run university.

Dr. Odell Wannie Kumeh

Advisory Board Member