Scholarship / Commonwealth Scholarship- Using Gender Studies to address a development challenge [3]

"achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls."

Prompt: (a) How the proposed study relates to a particular devt challenge at the global, local or national level
(b)How you will use your proposed study to address at least one development problem in your home country or intentionally with reference to one or more UNDP's sustainable development goals. 300 Words

Goal 5 of the United Nations Social Development Goals seeks to "achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls." It hopes to end discrimination against the female sex and ensure women fully participate in the public space and access equal opportunities by 2030. A master's degree in Gender and Development will help me to make two immediate interventions for the success of this goal:

First, I believe it is impossible to fully understand women's experiences, achieve gender equality or equal representation if the impacts of gender vulgarities in our vernaculars on women's agency are not probed or challenged. As Muhingi (2016:p1) rightly notes, "language provides a general clue about people, influences impression formation, social evaluations and shapes perceptions of communicators as well as their audience." Unfortunately, as Atanga, et al. (2012:p4) and Mama (2007:p4) rightly acknowledged, the connection between gender particulars in our vernaculars and women's agency has been overlooked. My proposed study will help me with the competencies to contribute to the ongoing struggles for gender equality from this socio-linguistic perspective. I intend to focus my research on the link between gender vulgarities in African vernaculars and their impact on the identities and social participation of indigenous women speakers. My studies will include whether this aspect of everyday language influences mothers' child-rearing practices and the extent to which this has an impact on the ongoing campaign for gender equality among indigenous speakers. I will approach this study either through personal or collaborative research. Findings from my research focus will create more insights about the traditional dynamics of the gender problem. This will help shape policy approaches and other initiatives against the gender problem.

Second, the Gender course at Moi incorporates development, HIV/Aids studies and Information Technology. Apart from helping me to contribute invaluably to gender sensitive development policy formulation in Nigeria on a range of issues, it will help me to provide more pragmatic empowerment solutions to women using information technology. The course's inclusion of HIV/AIDs studies will help me to conduct sensitisation programmes for those in the rural areas who are the most vulnerable.

Thank you all for your time and assistance.