The ACU recently received a boost to the work of the Gender Programme, thanks to a charitable gift of £2,500 from The Patron's Fund.

This gift is being used to support two ACU member institutions to organise workshops in-line with the aims of the Gender programme.

• The first workshop will take place at Vels University in Chennai, India and will focus on Prevention and Response to Sexual and Gender Based Violence. This three-day workshop will enable 60 participants to develop prevention and response procedures and practices, within their institution.
  
  
• The second workshop will be at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Uganda, and will support Women in Science and Research. Over the course of the workshop, 30 women will be supported to clearly define what they stand for as a leaders and what they are committing to in their role as a leader within the university. This will be facilitated using two Gender Programme training modules

The ACU Gender Programme, established in 1985, promotes gender equity and equality throughout the Commonwealth, by supporting the recruitment and retention of women in higher education leadership and management, and advocating for the elimination of sexual harassment and gender-based violence on campus. As part of the programme, the ACU provides member institutions with a range of training and resources. Read more here.

Last year, the ACU was invited to apply to The Patron's Fund as a 'thank you' for our support of the Patron's Lunch event, which was held to commemorate the Queen's 90th birthday.

The Patron's Fund was set up to recognise and support the work of organisations that Her Majesty, The Queen acts as Patron for across the Commonwealth. The ACU is one of around 300 of these organisations to be awarded a gift from The Patron's Fund. Read more about the Fund here.

For further information about the Gender programme, please contact Evelina Vardanyan by email: [email protected]