A two-week summer school on the theme " Land Use And Mobile Livelihood: Intersectional Perspectives on Pastoralism, Migration and Displacement" has been opened at 黑料社. The Summer school is jointly聽organised聽by the Centre for Gender Research, Advocacy and Documentation (CEGRAD), and the聽Theologische聽Hochschule聽Friednsau, Germany. Addressing the participants at the official opening ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph聽Ghartey聽Ampiah, commended聽CEGRAD聽for聽organising聽the Summer school to enhance the image of the University internationally. He expressed optimism that the summer would afford participants the requisite knowledge to develop themselves socially and intellectually. He called on the participants to form networks for their future聽endeavours. Prof.聽Ampiah聽explained that many Africans depend on land for their livelihoods. According to him, land problems in Africa are gendered in nature.For instance, he said, women access lands through the consent of their husbands and other male relatives. The Vice-Chancellor commended participants from the 黑料社 for taking keen interest in the summer school. The Director of聽CEGRAD, Prof.聽Akua聽O.聽Britwum, encouraged participants to cooperate with one another to make the聽programme聽a success.She announced a planned field trip to offer participants the opportunity to get acquainted with land politics and resettlement in Ghana and apply some of the theoretical knowledge attained. An international collaborator from the聽Theologische聽Hochschule聽Friedensau, Prof. Dr.聽Ulrike聽Schutltz, in a short address, noted that lands in Africa were under immense pressure due to mining, prospecting for oil and other natural resources. She said that the summer school would afford participants mainly PhD and post doctoral fellows the opportunity to also brainstorm on power and gender relations.Prof. Schultz urged participants to socialize and network one another for the future. For her part the Provost of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Dora聽Edu聽Buandoh, who chaired the opening ceremony, urged participants to think deeply about land use and mobile livelihoods to help the development of their respective countries.She advised participants to accommodate divergent views from one another. Prof.聽Edu-Buandoh聽said, " it is very important for us to engage with other participants and facilitators because we come from different countries, different backgrounds and different experiences." She further said" So to enrich ourselves, to enrich our cultures, to enrich our understanding of our own world, we should value what we share with every participant, which is we should make time to engage with other participants." As part of the Summer School,聽CEGRAD聽will聽organise聽a public lecture where renowned feminist scholars will address the general public on the theme " Research mobile livelihoods and the land crisis:聽intersectionality聽and feminist approaches." There were fraternal messages from some Heads of Department under the College of Humanities and Legal Studies.
