Mainstreaming Gender in HIV/AIDS Programs: Ongoing Challenges and New Opportunities in Malawi

Numerous efforts are in place in Malawi to address the high rates of HIV/AIDS in the country. Furthermore, several successes in HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation (including free anti-retroviral drugs to people living with AIDS) have been documented. Fewer successes, however, have been achieved in integrating gender issues into HIV/AIDS programs. In this article I begin by defining gender mainstreaming and why it is central to HIV/AIDS programming. The second objective of this paper is to summarize the existing initiatives to mainstream gender in HIV/AIDS programs. The final objective is to uncover the ongoing needs, gaps and challenges for gender mainstreaming in HIV/AIDS programs. One of the biggest hurdles in HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation remains the attitudes and cultural norms which reinforce women’s disadvantaged position. Efforts to mainstream gender into HIV/AIDS programs are inadequate because they address women’s practical needs rather than their strategic interests. Thus, current gender mainstreaming strategies are limited by the superficiality of the approaches for addressing gender inequality and HIV/AIDS, underscoring the need for transformative planning

Introduction: Global Citizenship Education for Learning/Volunteering Abroad

For several years Canadian universities and colleges have been expanding opportunities for students to learn and/or volunteer abroad for academic credit. Many of these study abroad programs are directed to the European Union, Singapore and other “business opportunity” destinations. For this collection, however, we are concerned with travel and study in less developed countries – those countries deemed by the United Nations to be low income whereby the vast majority of residents of the country live, on average, on $1-$2 per day. The focus on less developed countries exposes the specific ethical dilemmas one encounters abroad as a result of economic disparities, cultural differences, historical circumstances and social situations linked, for example, to the legacy of colonialism. This introduction provides context and background information on learn/volunteer abroad programs, the diverse opportunities available to college and university students, the potential impact of these programs, and the relationship (perceived or real) of learn/volunteer abroad programs, and global citizenship education

Employment outcome survey project (EOSP) : narrative report

The report presents findings from a study that explored the connection of education to employment in international development, the pathways to and through employment undertaken by graduates, and the impact of the design of International Development Studies (IDS) curricula on employment outcomes for IDS graduates. The study sample included 1900 respondents who were graduates of IDS programmes. New programs for education in development that devote attention to employability, through soft skills training, and technical skills training for the job market may impact the number of IDS graduates attaining desired employment outcomes

Expanding Our Understanding of Ethical Considerations in North-South Student Mobility Programs: Insights for Improved Institutional Practice

North-South student mobility programs (including internships as part of academic studies, education abroad, cooperative education, and field schools) offer immense opportunities for fostering cross-cultural understanding, mutual learning, and capacity building for students and partners. Drawing on diverse bodies of literature, we examine perspectives of host institutions and organizations in the Global South and the breadth of ethical considerations to be analysed in North-South student mobility programs, offering considerations for improved institutional practice.

The Global Research Agenda on Volunteering for Peace and Development

This brief discusses the global research agenda on volunteering in activities designed to advance peace and foster development, reviewing the agenda’s history, objectives, and priorities. It also revisits key areas of research progress made from 2015 through 2018 and discusses the resources needed to further advance this agenda through 2025

International development volunteering as transformational feminist practice for gender equality

Abstract: International and transnational commitments to gender equality require strategies that tackle root causes and prevailing attitudes that perpetuate disparities. In this article, we examine the role and impact of international development volunteers (IDV) as development actors who are well-placed for feminist transformational change, as they work in transnational spaces to influence, support, or reinforce changes in attitudes and behaviors towards gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE). This qualitative study analyses data collected from 45 interviews in three countries (Malawi, Kenya and Uganda) to document partner organization perspectives on relational dynamics emerging from interactions with IDVs. Partner organization staff highlighted several notable positive and negative contributions to GEWE outcomes arising from day-to-day interactions with IDVs. These interactions shaped their understandings of GEWE, enhanced confidence for GEWE programming, and provided exposure to role models who can shape alternative attitudes and behaviors to gender equality. While the study revealed varying degrees of challenges and benefits for partner organizations working with volunteers specifically on gender equality, partner organization staff highlighted contributions made by IDVs to transnational spatial relations, as well as the transformational interactions that shaped these relations. Insights provided by partner country staff members offer subaltern perspectives and rich insights into the contributions of IDVs in gender equality programming and shed new light on the challenges and opportunities for fostering transnational feminist spaces of knowledge sharing, relationship building, and alternative practices

Effective practices of international volunteering for health : perspectives from partner organizations

Abstract: The demand for international volunteer experiences to promote global health and nutrition is increasing and numerous studies have documented the experiences of the international volunteers who travel abroad; however, little is known about effective practices from the perspective of partner organizations. This study aims to understand how variables such as the skill-level of volunteers, the duration of service, cultural and language training, and other key variables affect partner organizations’ perceptions of volunteer effectiveness at promoting healthcare and nutrition..

Motivations for Learn/Volunteer Abroad Programs: Research with Canadian Youth

This paper examines the motivations expressed by Canadian youth who took part in learn/volunteer abroad programs in the global south. The findings indicate that many of the motivations identified by the participants (testing an academic background or career choice, skills development, language acquisition, cross-cultural understanding and even the desire to help others) generally fit under the category of personal growth. The findings also highlight the extrinsic, egoist and self-oriented nature of these motivations and reflect a one-directional flow of benefits from the global south to the northern-based volunteers. A feminist post-colonialism analysis is used to reflect on the implications of self-oriented motivations of Canadian youth travelling to the global south, especially when funding for many of the volunteers who travel to the global south is provided by the Canadian International Development Agency – money that is earmarked for addressing poverty in the global south and not the personal growth of Canadians

Introduction to Special Issue: The Practice, Politics and Possibilities for Globally Engaged Experiential Learning in Diverse Contexts

This special issue features eight articles all exploring globally-engaged experiential learning opportunities available to youth and/or students in diverse contexts such as transnational learning/volunteer abroad programs and locally-based global engagement. The collection brings together academics and practitioners to consider the efficacy, assumptions and stakes of the rise of volunteer abroad programming, and the implications for student learning outcomes