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Biography

I have 20 years of research, teaching, policy analysis and advocacy experience on gender and development issues.  I joined IDS in 2016. I am a Senior Fellow in the Governance Cluster, leading the thematic area gender and politics. I completed my PhD in Development Studies from IDS on the gendered nature of NGO accountability relations. My research largely focuses on gender and governance, women's economic empowerment, feminist movements in South Asia and sub Saharan Africa.  Before joining IDS, I worked in Bangladesh, with the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) and taught at the University of Dhaka. I also designed development interventions, conducted evaluations, and policy advisory work for FAO, UNDP, UNWomen, SDC, the MacArthur Foundation, DFAT and other agencies. 

Currently, I lead IDS' strategic area on countering backlash against social justice. I  am the political economy lead for a large ESRC funded project on women's struggles against backlash in South Asia (Sustaining Power); and a Sida funded project that explore stragies used by social justice defenders against backlash in four regions: Countering Backlash and Reclaiming Gender Justice. I also lead the policy research programme on social and political impact of Covid 19 in Bangladesh. My other recent projects focused on sexual harssment in the informal economy in Bangladesh and Uganda (British Academy funded); Women's leadership in conflict settings in Nigeria, Pakistan and Mozambique (Action for Empowerment and Accountability research programme consortium); community action agiainst SGBV in DRC (AHRC-DFID). Research Center. I am the co-editor of Negotiating Gender Equity in the Global South: Domestic Violence Policy Making (Routledge: 2019) and of ‘Voicing Demands: Feminist Activism in Transitional Contexts’ (Zed Books: London, 2014). I have published in World Development, Development Policy Review, Contemporary South Asia, Women's Studies International Forum, Studies in Family Planning, and other journals on various issues.

Role

I am a Senior Fellow based at the Governance at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). I lead the work on gender and politics theme and also IDS's strategic area- backlash against social justice. My work focuses on gender and governance, women's empowerment, violence against women and social and feminist movements in South Asia and sub Saharan Africa. I have co- convene the MA gender and development programme lats forub years, also also teach in the MA governance and development program, and supervise 6 PhD students. I have carried out consutancy work commissioned by various bilaterals agencies and INGOS.

https://www.ids.ac.uk/people/sohela-nazneen/