Dr Hellen Venganai is the inaugural Director of the Gender and Diversity Centre. She is a gender expert and researcher with over 10 years of progressive experience working in gender and women’s rights context. She also possesses leadership experience working in academia, civil society, private sector, and media with high level interaction with various stakeholders.
She holds a PhD in Sociology from Stellenbosch University, a Masters degree in Development Studies from Institute of Social Studies - Erasmus University Rotterdam where she specialised in Women, gender and Development. She also holds an undergraduate degree in Sociology and Gender Development Studies from the Women’s University in Africa, and a National Diploma in Journalism from Harare Polytechnic. She has taught courses in Development Studies, Child Sensitive Social Policies, and Gender Studies. She also possesses experience in supervising PhD theses and MSc and BSc dissertations. Dr Venganai has expertise in women rights centred research and her research interests revolve on gender, child rights, women’s rights, sexuality, culture, postcolonial studies, and development policies. Some of her previous publications focused on sexuality, identity construction, and gender based violence, sexuality and culture. Her doctoral research was on understanding the significance of cultural practices, notably labia elongation, in the lives of young urban Shona women and men in contemporary Zimbabwe. She has also been involved in a regional research project by the Stellenbosch University Department of Economics on the contemporary roles of African women in politics in Sub-Saharan African countries. At a personal level, Dr Venganai is also a gender and child rights advocate.
Education and Qualifications
| 2017 | PhD in Sociology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. |
| 2012 | MA in Development Studies (Women, Gender, and Development), Erasmus University Rotterdam (Institute of Social Studies), Netherlands. |
| 2009 | Certificate in Monitoring & Evaluation |
| 2009 | BSc Honours in Sociology & Gender Development Studies, Women’s University in Africa, Zimbabwe. |
| 2001 | National Diploma in Mass Communication, Harare Polytechnic, Zimbabwe. |
Record of Employment
| 2022 – Present | Director, Gender and Diversity Centre |
| 2018 – 2022 | Senior Lecturer in Development Studies, Child Sensitive Social Policies, Gender Studies, Women’s University in Africa. |
| 2009 – 2010 | A& R Executive, Gramma Records. |
| 2007 – 2010 | Corporate Communications Officer, Gramma Records |
| 2005 – 2007 | Executive Producer (Continuity), Radio Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. |
| 2002 – 2007 | Producer/Presenter, Radio Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. |
University Service
2021 – 2022 Chairperson, Gender Transformative Sciences Department
2021 – Present Member, University Research Board
2019 – Present Member, Higher Degrees Committee
2019 – 2020 Child Sensitive Social Policies Programme Coordinator
Recent Research (WUA Funded)
Selected Academic and Media Publications
Woyo, E., & Venganai, H. (2022). Situating Gender and Disability in Tourism Scholarship in Africa: An Introduction to Intersectional Perspectives. In Gender, Disability, and Tourism in Africa: Intersectional Perspectives (pp. 1-29). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Venganai, H. & Benhura, A. (2022) Interrogating gendered exclusion of womxn in COVID-19 vaccination policies and practices in Southern Africa, Agenda, DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2022.2111082
Benhura, A. & Venganai, H. (2022). Exploring Gendered Monitoring and Evaluation of the Social Protection System in Angola: A Rights‑Based Perspective. Journal of Human Rights and Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-022-00218-z
Venganai, H., 2021. Extending Conversations around Labia Elongation beyond Heterosexual Encounters. African Arguments. https://africanarguments.org/2021/04/extending-conversations-around-labia-elongation-beyond-heterosexual-encounters/
Venganai, H., 2020. Covid-19 prevention measures should leave no school child behind (NewsDay, 28 May 2020). https://www.newsday.co.zw/2020/05/covid-19-prevention-measures-should-leave-no-school-child-behind/
Venganai, H., & Benhura, A., 2020. Girls’ stolen voices, future (Sunday Mail, October 2020).https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/girls-stolen-voices-future/amp?fbclid=IwAR30wWQrTmQrD8lskIj5840lt0xA17kh2W7rEIxhOo17J99CVX1LU_v3wWo
Venganai, H., 2019. “These things might be there in the Bible, but they are hidden” – Christian appropriations of the practice of labia elongation in Zimbabwe. The African Journal of Gender and Religion, 25(1), pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.14426/ajgr.v25i1.5
Mbereko, A., Scott, D., & Venganai, H. 2019. Experiences of different household structures caring for people living with HIV and AIDS in the antiretroviral era: Case study of Nyamakate rural area in Zimbabwe. Cogent Social Sciences 5, pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2019.1565075
Venganai, H., 2018. Reinterpretation of “Traditional” bodily modifications by young people in contemporary Zimbabwe. Africa Development, 43(1), pp. 43-60. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ad/article/view/190301
Venganai, H., 2017. Urban Shona women negotiating their identities through the cultural practice of labia elongation in contemporary Zimbabwe. Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research, 8(3), pp. 306-324. https://www.genderopen.de/handle/25595/1437
Venganai, H., 2015. (Re) constructing positive cultures to protect girls and women against sexual violence. Agenda, 29(3), pp.145-154. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2015.1052679
Venganai, H., 2015. The Gendering and Sexualisation of Young Women through Sex Educational Practices and Discourses in Southern Africa, in J. Wyn and H. Cahill (eds.). Handbook of Children and Youth Studies, pp.289-300. Springer: Singapore.
Consultancies
Dr Venganai has experience in consultancies including being part of the WUA team that developed the UNICEF funded Conflict and Gender responsive Social Protection Delivery Handbook and Training Manual for the Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare. She has done consultancy work for community based organisations (CSOs) on vulnerabilities of adolescent girls and young women including child marriages in various districts. Dr Venganai was also part of the team of WUA consultants who conducted the Supporting Adolescent Girls Education (SAGE) Beneficiary Identification Programme for Plan International Zimbabwe.
Conferences/Workshops/Seminars attended;
Presented in the Round Table on Gender, sexuality and social justice: unpacking dominant development and policy discourses at the 16th European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) General Conference (online): Solidarity, Peace and Social Justice, 5-8 July 2021.
Presented a paper titled “Rethinking queerness in the context of labia elongation”. 8th European Conference on African Studies, Edinburgh University, Scotland, 11-14 June, 2019.
Presented paper titled “Equal rights are okay, but we may end up having makanda asina nzungu (empty shells without groundnuts): The social construction of women interested in politics by young people in Masvingo urban”. Gender equality and the human rights of women in Zimbabwe National Symposium, Harare, Zimbabwe, 5-6 November, 2018.
Presented a paper titled “Bodies at the centre and voices on the margins: Debating women’s contraceptives in Zimbabwe”. 14th Development Dialogue on “Do We Need to Grow” Problematising Growth Economy in Development. International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands from 21st to the 22nd of November 2016.
Presented a paper “Why do you go to the gym if you were created perfect?” – Unpacking the ‘modern’ African body through ‘traditional’ bodily modifications. CODESRIA International Conference on (Re) Making African Bodies. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 3-4 November, 2016.
Presented a paper titled “The place of the “traditional” sexual practice of labia elongation in the lives of young urban Shona women and men in contemporary Zimbabwe.” 9th Global Persons and Sexualities Conference. Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom, 10-12 July, 2016.
Presented a paper titled ‘Even whites do it’: A Study of labia elongation with young women and men in Zimbabwe. New Social Forms Seminar Series, Department of Sociology & Social Anthropology, Stellenbosch University, 26 May 2016.
Presented a paper titled “Thinking about researching culture in ways that do not reproduce gendered stereotypes”. 22nd Annual South African Sociological Association Conference. University of Johannesburg, South Africa. 28 June – 1 July, 2015.
Attended the Social Sciences for Development Conference. Stellenbosch University. Stellenbosch. South Africa. 9 - 10 September, 2015.
Attended the Narrating Lives and Living Stories in Contexts of Socio-political Change Symposium. Wits University, Humanities Graduate Centre. Johannesburg. South Africa. 7 – 10 July, 2015.
Attended the Colloquium on Young people engaging in/for non-violence and equality: Challenges, opportunities and constraints – Finland/South Africa Research Cooperation. STIAS. Stellenbosch. 29 – 30 September, 2014.
Honours/Awards
Tel (Bus): +263 242 459601 |459647
Mobile: +263 774 399 281 | +263 715 378 638
Skype: hellen.venganai
Email: hvenganai@wua.ac.zw
Twitter handle: @hellen_venganai
The idea of establishing the WUA Gender and Diversity Centre was conceptualised in 2011 at a workshop supported by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). The university needed to respond to the 21st century gender issues and contribute to policy making and programming by various stakeholders. The Gender and Diversity Centre is a hub for collaboration, engaging diverse groups of experts, scholars, and community members to identify and tackle critical questions related to gender equality. The aim is for the Gender and Diversity Centre to be a one stop and resource centre for anything that relates to gender and women empowerment in Zimbabwe and the African region. The Centre builds upon WUA’s remarkable legacy of addressing gender disparity and fostering equity in University Education, and promoting the participation of women in leadership positions.
The Centre uses a multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder approach in addressing gender disparities and embraces the principle of intersectionality by being responsive to the needs of diverse groups of people. The Centre emphasises problem solving through promoting increased use of gender research evidence to inform policy and programme decisions. We amplify gender research, promote research collaboration in the study of gender, as well as support teaching and learning of and around gender. We also produce resources and spaces for community engagement around gender issues so that we do not leave no one behind. In addition, the Centre supports especially female scholars and students to realise their full potential through mentorship and capacity building programmes.
Feminist Knowledge Hub
The Centre also houses the Feminist Knowledge Hub which was established in 2023 in partnership with UN Women. The Hub provides: capacity strengthening in evidence-based programming and advocacy; spaces for engaging in feminist dialogues; digital resources for enhanced feminist knowledge; and ICT access to women in the surrounding community.
Feeding mothers Lounge
The WUA Nursing Lounge, located in the Gender and Diversity Centre, is for open for use by both students, staff, visitors. The Nursing Lounge offers a private space where a parent can nurse or bottle feed their child as well as change diapers. Providing such a facility demonstrates WUA’s commitment in addressing gender disparities and promoting diversity and inclusion in Higher Education.
A breastfeeding student in the Department of Social Work (captured below) who accessed the nursing lounge pointed out that, “I am so happy that I have been able to nurse my child and to change the diapers in the Nursing Lounge. I enjoyed the privacy and safe space that is provided by the university. My child was crying due to diaper irritation. I was then referred here, and I found this facility very useful.”
Research and Publication
Gender Training
The Centre offers gender-related short courses which are guided by periodic needs assessments which reflect the needs of the community and industry. Through short courses and seminars, the Centre aims to change discriminatory attitudes and norms of decision-making structures and procedures at national and regional level. To contribute to poverty alleviation for women and other vulnerable groups, the Gender Centre imparts various entrepreneurship skills to groups such as women, out of school young women and men, and people with disabilities.
Resource Centre
The Centre is a one stop resource centre for anything that relates to gender including feminist knowledge, gender related reading material, as well as information on accessing services such as counselling and legal aid.
Consultancy Services
We offer consultancy to individuals, groups and organisations for various services including:
Community Engagement
Our Centre is community oriented and has the drive to:
Trustee & Co-Founder
She is the Founder and Founding Vice Chancellor of the Women’s University in Africa. She holds a PhD in Public administration with the University of Zimbabwe where her research was on “Critical Organisational problems of administering and Managing Social Development in a newly-independent Public Service”: the case of Zimbabwe. She also holds a Masters degree in Public Administration with the University of Missouri, Columbia and BSc Public Administration with the same university. She holds a Primary Teachers Diploma with Waddilove Teachers’ College, Marondera in Zimbabwe.
Professor Sadza’s employment record backdates to 1964 as school teacher. Post Independence she became registrar of Apprenticeship Authority in the Ministry of Manpower Planning and Development in Zimbabwe. She is one of the founding Directors of the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration & Management (ZIPAM).In 1987 to 1989 she was Commissioner of the Public Service Review Commission, Government of Zimbabwe. In 1988 to 1990 she was Zimbabwe Parastatals Commissioner. In 1990 to 2000 she was Public Service Commissioner in Zimbabwe.
Professor Sadza has done a lot of publications with emphasis on gender issues.
She has presented papers at national and international fora among which were:
Professor Sadza is a member of various Boards among them:
CURRENT
COMMITTEES/TRUSTS
She is also into consultancy mostly in the education field.
She has won several awards in recognition of her outstanding works of empowering women through education.
Awards:
Professor Sadza is married and has two children.
Chairperson & Co-Founder
Dr Fay Chung is co- founder and Chairperson Board of Trustees for Women’s University in Africa. A former Minister of Education Sports and Culture Dr Chung has been involved in a number of non-governmental organizations in Zimbabwe. An accomplished educationist and driver of women education, Dr Fay Chung has worked in the education system in a number of capacities. Dr Chung is a founder member of the Forum for African Women Educationalist and Association for Strengthening Higher Education for Women in Africa Dr Chung has been instrumental in the education of women in Africa. Dr Chung has worked in a number of international organizations which include UNESCO, UNICEF, OAU and AU. Dr Chung has several publications to her name which include the popular Re-Living the Second Chimurenga: Memories form Zimbabwe’s Liberation Struggle and The Nordic Africa Institute amongst others.
She was educated at the University of Zimbabwe, where she received her first degree (1962), her postgraduate Certificate in Education (1965) and her Doctorate (1999).
She also studied at Leeds University, where she obtained her M. Phil. In English Literature (1971) and has undertaken research at St Antony’s College, Oxford (1995). She diversified into economics and completed a distance-education degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London in 2002. Following retirement she enrolled in an honours degree program in Economic at the University of Zimbabwe.
Dr Chung’s career has been almost exclusively in education. As an undergraduate she was involved in organising students to teach house servants and workers in the vicinity of the campus. One of the tasks was to eradicate illiteracy. She has always had a vision to provide leadership in Africa through access to relevant quality tertiary education.
From 1963 to 1968 Dr Chung taught at high schools levels at Ascot and Harare High Schools in Zimbabwe. While studying for her M. Phil. Degree at Leeds University, she taught as a part-time lecturer at Leeds Polytechnic and at the Kitson College of Engineering from October 1968 to June 1970. She was a lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Zambia from 1971 to 1975. From 1975 to 1980 she worked fulltime for the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), in charge of teacher education and curriculum development for Zimbabwean refugees schools in Mozambique.
After Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, Dr Chung worked in various capacities in the Ministry of Education, including as the first acting director for the Zimbabwe Integrated National Teacher Education Course (ZINTEC), which was initiated at independence to train 9,000 primary teachers through a combination of face-to-face teaching and distance education; as head of educational planning in the ministry, with responsibility for planning the expansion for the primary, secondary and teacher training programs; as head of the curriculum development unit, tasked with transforming the curricula for primary and secondary schools; as deputy secretary in charge of school administration; and finally as minister of Education and Culture. She spent a total of 14 years in the government of Zimbabwe.
Dr Chung has been involved in a number of non-governmental organisations. She took part in the formation of the Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production (ZIMFEP), set up to provide education for war veterans and returning refugee children from Mozambique and Zambia. School leavers were assisted through placement in further training and in jobs, or through the establishment of cooperatives.
She has been a board member of the Zimbabwe Institute of Development Studies (ZIDS). She is a founder member of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAEW), a network of education ministers, women university vice-chancellors and other women educational leaders in Africa, focused on strengthening the education of girls and women in Africa. Dr Chung is the founder member of the Association for Strengthening Higher Education for Women in Africa (ASHEWA).
Dr Chung’s work has an international dimension. She was a member of the Delors Commission Education and worked as the chief of the education cluster at UNICEF, New York (1993-98), then as the first director of the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) in Addis Ababa (1998-2003). Between 1998 and 2003 she served as an honorary special advisor to the Organisation of African Union (OAU) and later to the African Union (AU).
Dr Chung is a member of the Zimbabwe National Education Advisory Board as of 18 March 2009.
Publications
Chung Fay, ‘Re-Living the Second Chimurenga: Memories from Zimbabwe’s Liberation Struggle,’ The Nordic Africa Institute, Weaver Press 2006
