A USA-based Social Science Research Council (SSRC) has honoured a University of Botswana member of the academic staff with the award of a Fellowship on HIV/AIDS and Public Health Policy Research in Africa.
Dr Tirelo Modie-Moroka, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Work, was selected among a pool of more than 140 applicants alongside eight other researchers from Eastern and Southern Africa.
This fellowship will enable her to undertake research on Intimate partner violence, substance abuse and HIV transmission risk behaviours in Botswana: Implications for Public Policy and Service Delivery. The SSRC program supports African researchers, policy makers and practitioners carrying out research on the health and social policy context in Africa relating to (1) the gender and political economy of care-giving and HIV/AIDS; or (2) sexual violence and HIV/AIDS.
Generous support for this program has been made available by the Open Society Institute’s Network Public Health Program based in New York.
The Social Science Research Council has congratulated Dr Modie-Moroka for having been selected “from a highly competitive field of candidates.”
The goals of the programme are:
ÔÇó Increase knowledge and understanding about the implications of HIV/AIDS in Eastern and Southern Africa as it relates to care-giving and sexual violence
ÔÇó Improve public health policy responses to the pandemic and increase understanding about the interaction Between local and global health systems
ÔÇó Foster collaboration among African institutions, researchers, policy analysis, program planners and practitioners both within and outside of the continent
Applications were reviewed on the basis of academic quality and rigor; policy relevance; feasibility; potential contribution to the field; and the applicant’s professional and research background and achievements.
The study is conducted under the umbrella of the Kagisano Society Women’s Shelter Project, thereby referred to as the host agency.
