May 2015 NUI Galway MA student invited to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon

NUI Galway Global Women’s Studies student, Faith Amanya, was one of small group invited to meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the United National Training School Ireland in the Curragh on Monday. Faith Amanya is currently undertaking a Masters in Gender, Globalisation and Rights with the Centre for Global Women’s Studies in School of Political Science and Sociology at NUI Galway. Ms Amanya who is a local government development officer in western Uganda is one of two Irish Aid scholars in the Global Women’s Studies Masters programme this year.

As part of her Masters studies, Faith recently completed a six-week professional placement with the Irish Consortium on Gender Based Violence, which brings together Ireland’s leading development and humanitarian organisations, relevant Government departments and the Irish Defence Forces to work in partnership to tackle gender based violence. In this context, Faith had contributed to training sessions at the United National Training School Ireland (UNTSI) for members of the Irish Defence Forces getting ready to go on UN peace support operations.  

On learning that the Irish Defence Forces had invited Faith to return to the Curragh to meet with Mr Ban Ki-Moon, Ms Amanya, said: “I am grateful and honoured. I am passionate about stopping gender based violence and engaging men in this work. Sharing my experience with future Irish peace keepers at UNTSI and being invited to meet the UN Secretary General during his visit to Ireland are very special experiences for me.”

The Masters in Gender Globalisation and Rights is the flagship programme of the Centre for Global Women’s Studies. Course director, Dr Niamh Reilly, said: “Faith’s experience is a wonderful illustration of the strengths of our Masters programme, which brings together recent graduates and mature students from Ireland and overseas to gain the knowledge and hands-on experience necessary to advance gender equality and human rights in responses to global issues.”

The Centre for Global Women’s Studies was recently awarded a major research contract with Department for International Development (UK) to examine the social and economic costs of violence against women and girls in Ghana, Pakistan and South Sudan.

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