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02 June 2021 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo UFS Photo Archive
Prof Melanie Walker, an A1-rated researcher, is one of the foremost academics in human development and education studies.
Prof Melanie Walker, Distinguished Professor in the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State (UFS), has been elected as President of the Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA). This is the first time that the HDCA president is from the Global South. 

The HDCA is an international association for academics and practitioners who, according to Prof Walker, “seek to create an intellectual community around the ideas of human development and the capability approach and relate these ideas to development practices and the policy arena”. 

Prof Walker holds the SARChi Chair in Higher Education and Human Development, and is one of three A-rated National Research Foundation (NRF) researchers at the UFS. She follows in the illustrious footsteps of previous HDCA presidents, including esteemed academics such as Prof Martha Nussbaum, who received an honorary doctorate from the UFS in 2012, and Nobel prize winner, Amartya Sen. 

An established UFS presence 

Since its inception in 2004, Prof Walker has been involved with the HDCA through various positions and roles, thus establishing a strong UFS presence within the organisation. “We already have a strong research presence in the HDCA through the group I have established at the UFS, which is now well-known and highly respected,” Prof Walker says. She is also hopeful that more researchers from the UFS may consider joining the HDCA and developing human development-focused research partnerships with others in the HDCA.

Highlighting Global South issues 

Through her new position as president-elect of the HDCA from September 2021, she wants to expand the reach and responsiveness of the HDCA in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). “In Southern Africa we have a growing community, but we need to be stronger elsewhere.  This would provide the platform to take forward public debates about inequalities as obstacles to sustainable human development,” Prof Walker says.  However, these problems and challenges occur everywhere in a world of “growing inequalities and exclusions”. 

In these COVID-19 times, a focus on human development seems more needed than ever - Prof Melanie Walker 

Apart from expanding the presence of the HDCA in SSA together with its executive, Prof Walker hopes to “further strengthen the organisation and its research, practice and policy ‘voice’, and its capacity-building activities. I would also like to put ideas from decoloniality and the North-South knowledge inequalities on the table, as well as our knowledge-producing practices.” 

The global presence of the HDCA 

The international footprint of the HDCA is extensive, with members in more than 70 countries. The organisation hosts an annual international conference, bringing together various thematic groups, regional networks, and holds regular webinars and workshops. It also publishes the peer-reviewed Journal of Human Development and Capabilities.  The HDCA promotes research within a vast array of disciplines, ranging from economics to philosophy, development studies, health, education, law, government, and sociology.  “The HDCA takes forward significant capabilitarian scholarship with shared purposes to advance knowledge, development practices, and policy in and for human development,” Prof Walker says. 

The organisation aims to challenge the narrow understanding of economic growth as the end of development, and of human capital production as the prime purpose of education. “In these COVID-19 times, a focus on human development seems more needed than ever,” Prof Walker says. 

News Archive

UFS Council votes on top appointments
2003-11-24

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) today voted on the filling of four senior vacancies, including three posts at Vice-Rector level and one at the level of Dean.

The Council voted as follows:
- Prof Magda Fourie will be offered the post of Vice-Rector: Academic Planning
- Dr Ezekiel Moraka will be offered the post of Vice-Rector: Student Affairs
- Prof Teuns Verschoor will be offered the post of Vice-Rector: Academic Operations
- Prof Letticia Moja will be offered the post of Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences

Two of the candidates, Prof Teuns Verschoor and Prof Magda Fourie, are currently acting Vice-Rectors at the UFS. Prof Verschoor is acting Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Prof Fourie is acting Vice-Rector for Academic Planning. Dr Moraka is currently Dean of Student Affairs at the University of Pretoria (UP). Prof Moja is currently the acting Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UFS.

According to the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, Prof Frederick Fourie, the filling of these senior vacancies comes after one of the most thorough search and selection processes ever at the UFS.

“It is wonderful that we are able to celebrate the outcome of this process that has brought forward such excellent candidates who reflect our country’s diversity. It shows that we can achieve the goals of quality and diversity at the same time,” Prof Fourie said.

Prof Magda Fourie (49) received her Ph D on Institutional governance of higher education in transition: a South African perspective from the UFS in 1996. She joined the UFS in 1998, later becoming Director of the Centre for Higher Education Studies and Development and Professor in Higher Education Studies. She said in her declaration of intent her aspiration is to contribute to making the UFS the excellent university it foresees in its vision and mission. Academic planning should position the UFS with regard to its core activities strategically as an institution of excellence that will meet the future from a strong basis of academic integrity and credibility.

Dr Moraka (45) received his Ph D in Education Management on Management of change and conflict resolution by student affairs officers at historically white universities in South Africa from the UP in 2002. He is Dean of Students at the UP since 2001. Before that he was Head of Student Support and Student Social Services at the UP for six years. He was also, among others, a lecturer at a college of education and a pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa. He said in his declaration of intent that diversity can become so greatly emphasised that people can be driven further apart. Focus should be on moulding a student community where everyone can feel at home, a community which lives together and works together without destroying what is unique to each individual.

Prof Verschoor (53) received his LL D in 1980 at the University of Pretoria on The criminal responsibility of psychopaths and similar figures. He was professor in and Head of the Department of Criminal Law and Medical Law at the UFS for 17 years before becoming Dean of Students in 1994. He said in his declaration of intent that he dreams of the realisation of projects that are awaiting the enthusiastic support, bringing together and empowering of persons involved by a Vice-Rector that wants to see the UFS prosper in an era of continuing dynamic development. In this he would like to make a substantial contribution.

Prof Moja (46) received her MB ChB in 1982 from the University of Natal and her M.Med in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1990 from the Medical University of South Africa (Medunsa). She became a full professor in 2003 at the UFS and has been acting as Dean of the UFS’s Faculty of Health Sciences since February 2003. She said in her declaration of intent that the challenge for her is to manage change with the ultimate aim of both achieving the vision of the UFS and satisfying the needs of the community. Some of the academic challenges include the training of more people from designated groups and rural areas. Careful planning and integration of the curriculum should be done to ensure that all students perform to their best.

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