Senior Scholars Research Dissemination Workshop
OSSREA, in collaboration with its National Chapters, organised senior scholars’ research dissemination workshops in Ethiopia, Kenya and Zimbabwe. The workshops were held in the countries where the winners of the 2001 Grant Competition are based. The aim of the workshops was to disseminate the research findings of the grantees and to allow researchers to obtain constructive comments to revise their research documents prior to submission to OSSREA. The topics of the 2001 grantees’ researches were:
1. “Financing Regional Integration Programs and Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of COMESA”, by Dr. Dejene Aredo (Ethiopia);
2. “Development of Social Capital in Micro and Small Enterprises As a Strategy for Poverty Alleviation in East Africa”, by Dr. Mary Njeri Kinyanjui and Dr. Meleckidzedeck Khayesi (Kenya);
3. “Female Imagination: A Biographical Dictionary of East African Women Literary Artists”, by Dr. Wangari Mwai and Prof. Oluoch Obura (Kenya); and
4. “Informal Cross-Border Trade and Regional Integration in the SADC Region: Zimbabwean Women’s Urban Survival Strategies”, by Dr. Victor Ngonidzashe Muzvidziwa (Zimbabwe).
In Ethiopia, the workshop was held on 1st April 2003 at the Ghion Hotel in Addis Ababa. Dr. Alfred G. Nhema, the Executive Secretary of OSSREA, opened the workshop. On the occasion, Dr. Nhema introduced the objectives and activities of OSSREA, briefed participants on OSSREA’s involvement in the promotion of social science research in the region through capacity building and retention programmes, and pointed out the priority themes that OSSREA has been emphasising. In his reference to the Senior Scholars Research Grant, the Executive Secretary briefed the participants on the research objectives, implementation process and the expected outputs. Representatives of governmental and non-governmental organisations, the diplomatic corps, scholars and journalists attended the workshop.
In his presentation, the Ethiopian grant winner, Dr. Dejene Aredo, discussed some salient points regarding the marginalisation of Africa due to unprecedented changes in technology and globalisation. According to him, one important way of counteracting this is enhancing regional integration. However, there are some constraints to this, such as lack of infrastructural development, high transportation cost, institutional problems, and financial problems. Thus, such measures as building human capital, sharing of authority by member states, and putting emphasis on production rather than trade are among the viable solutions forwarded to enhance regional integration in Africa. Dr. Dejene then responded to issues raised from the resource persons as well as from other participants of the workshop.
In Kenya, the workshop was held on 2nd May 2003. The workshop was attended by scholars from various universities in Kenya and representatives of governmental and non-governmental organisations.
The Zimbabwe Chapter organised the dissemination workshop on 25th April 2003 at the Holiday Inn in Harare. Dr. Chimanikire, the Director of the Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe, gave the keynote address.