The conference will open with a taped message from Jakaya Kikwete, president of the United Republic of Tanzania.  The Hon. Abdulrahman Kinana, former speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly and Tanzanian minister, will deliver a keynote address. Deepak Obhrai, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Foreign Affairs, will also speak at the opening with a message from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Other speakers include Patricia Marsden-Dole, former Canadian High Commissioner to Tanzania, Amos Mhina and Rose Shayo from the University of Dar es Salaam, Paul Bjerk of Texas Tech University, Manfred Bienefeld from Carleton and John Saul from York University.

The event is hosted by Carleton`s Institute of African Studies. More details can be found at Carleton.ca/africanstudies. The event is being live-streamed and will be available at: http://carleton.ca/africanstudies/the-legacies-of-nyerere-conference-live-video-stream/ . There will also be a direct video link to Dar es Salaam.

Dr. Shayo’s expertise is in the area of gender and development, an important area of research which continues to attract a growing level of interest from students and faculty across a number of disciplines. As Carleton will co-host the major international conference, Women’s Worlds, in July, Dr. Shayo’s visit couldn’t be more timely.

A native of Tanzania, Dr. Shayo completed her doctoral studies in Manchester, UK, and, in addition to teaching, has served as a coordinator for a faculty exchange program between the University of Dar es Salaam and the University of Florida, and has consulted on numerous government agency projects involving gender analysis, planning and mainstreaming.

“Rose has an incredibly rich experience of research, writing and teaching on, and consultancy work in Tanzania and other parts of Africa concerning gender and development that she will complement those in African Studies that work on similar issues, possibly explore areas of convergence and future research, and provide immense guidance to the growing number of students in African Studies and beyond in this important topic,” said Blair Rutherford, Director of Carleton’s Institute of African Studies.

The Institute is currently planning its own one-day international conference, “The Legacies of Nyerere: Economies, Policies and Solidarities in Tanzania and Beyond,” with scholars from the University of Dar es Salaam participating via video-link. Dr. Shayo will be presenting at this conference, as well as delivering a public presentation in April of her work in gender and development.

Dr. Shayo’s contributions extend to other projects as well. “Dr. Rose Shayo’s contributions to [the Institute] this year bolsters the growing work we are doing on gender in Africa, notably the workshop which we hosted and co-organized on Sexual Violence and Conflict in Africa,” said Rutherford. “ …This workshop is leading to a book publication and likely a follow-up workshop on this topic in Africa, which will particularly be focused on African researchers and practitioners. Dr. Shayo’s presence at Carleton this year will assist us in moving forward with this workshop while profiling the important work being done on gender and development in Africa.”