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HISTORY |
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GOVERNANCE |
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LOCATION MAP & CONTACT |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
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HISTORY
The Women’s Development Research Centre (KANITA) is
the first centre of its kind in Malaysia, pioneering
a field which was little known and marginalized in
the country’s academe. KANITA is also responsible
for charting the earliest history of feminism and
feminist advocacy in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
Beginning with the establishment of a UNICEF-funded
research cluster on women, children and poverty in
1978, through which it gained the acronym KANITA
(representing the combined Malay words for women and
children) and evolving into what is today a centre
of excellence within the university, the Centre
reflects thirty years of critical thinking in the
development of theoretical and methodological tools
and policy strategies that aim at equalising and
mainstreaming gender in education and
nation-building. Thirty years have provided a solid
foundation for the rise of a new kind of academic
culture where women and gender programmes are
enriched with multi- and interdisciplinary
interaction with generic disciplines of social
sciences, humanities, management, communication,
education and medical sciences, health sciences and
pharmaceutical sciences. Through applied and policy
research, innovations in training, publication and
networking both nationally and globally, KANITA has
brought new meaning to the process of engendering
knowledge, thus, bringing feminist and gender
perspectives to the forefront of academic thinking.
KANITA achieved its current status as an autonomous
research centre within the university on 17 April
2001. The endorsement by the University Senate of
KANITA’s position demonstrates USM’s commitment to
lead in the exploration of new thinking and
knowledge that considers gender as an important
analytical framework for theory and research. It
also reflects converging efforts and dedication of
academic members from various disciplines towards
championing gender equality, equity and justice in
the society, both theoretically and in practice.
Vision and Mission
KANITA envisions itself as the Centre of Excellence
in conducting and advancing research relevant to
women’s lives, in particular, using the gender
analytical framework. Its mission is to advance
gender equality and equity through research and
through collaboration with various stakeholders. It
aims to have impact on policy and strives to
institutionalise gender as a factor of inquiry and
approach.
Objectives
The specific
objectives of KANITA may be enumerated as follows:
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1. |
To intensify
the impact and significance of KANITA as the
reference centre on policy and programme
development concerning women/ gender issues. |
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2. |
To conduct
research using the gender framework, in
particular, with the view to translate the
research results into socially
transformative measures benefiting various
target groups |
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3. |
To generate
publication that contributes towards
intellectual discourse on women and gender
issues and towards informing policy and
legislative reforms |
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4. |
To develop a
graduate programme of international
standing in the field of women/ gender
studies |
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5.
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To initiate
and sustain intellectual and
advocacy-related activities such as
roundtable discussions, workshops, seminars,
training and short-term courses.
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6. |
To establish
and develop a data bank and a resource
centre on women and gender issues |
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