The GRÓ GEST fellows of 2023 have arrived in Iceland and completed their first week of the GEST programme. The team from the Gender Equality Studies and Training programme (GEST) is honored to welcome them to the University of Iceland and looks forward to working with them throughout the semester.
GEST at the Univeristy of Iceland promotes gender equality and social justice in low income countries, conflict and post-conflict societies through research, training, and education at postgraduate level. Its main target group is professionals working for government and civil society organisations in low income countries and post-conflict societies undergoing reconstruction.
The cohort this year consists of 23 gender equality professionals from 16 countries: India, Kosovo, Cameroon, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, and for the first time, Tanzania.
The director of the GEST programme, Dr. Irma Erlingsdóttir, kicked off the semester on Monday morning, welcoming the fellows to Iceland, the university, and GRÓ GEST. She talked about the history of the programme as well as what to expect, wishing the fellows a fruitful and happy semester here in Reykjavík. Thus began the three day orientation where the fellows were introduced to practical matters in relation to their studies and living in Iceland, as well as undertaking different icebreaker activities to get to know each other better. In addition to the regular GEST staff, visitors from the student housing office, the university counseling and career center, and from GRÓ Centre director general, Nína Björk Jónsdóttir, gave presentations during orientation. The first module of the academic programme Theories and Concepts of Gender, then started yesterday with classes on feminist epistemology.
The University of Iceland wishes the fellows all the best in their studies and is excited to follow their professional development throughout the semester.
About GRÓ-GEST
The GEST programme is part of GRÓ - Centre for Capacity Development, Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Societal Change - which comprises four thematic capacity and development programmes: The Geothermal Training Programme (GTP), the Fisheries Training Programme (FTP), the Land Restoration Training Programme (LRT) and the Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme (GEST).