Salah Hammad

Photo: Petra Berggren

From: Sudan
Working as: Head of the Human Rights Department at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Why did you apply for the FBA’s Gender Adviser Course?
– The African Union will go through a process of gender-mainstreaming. It is a new decision and I will be in charge of the process. For example, we will include gender issues in our training programme for persons that will be sent to our peace-keeping missions. The gender aspect is missing in the training at the moment, but now the gender issue is a priority for the organisation. I heard of this course and felt I needed to take it in order to do a good job.

Making the entire African Union more gender sensitive – isn’t that a huge task?
–Yes, but I feel very optimistic about it. I have to sensitize the staff at the Headquarters. And we have to go through all policy documents, instructions and training manuals. I have encountered some resistance because I am a man working with those issues. Some people have made fun of me. It used to stress and depress me. But now I feel so motivated and I am making progress.

How do you see the future?
– The future is bright. I am a single father, which is not common. I have three sons at home. They are 16, 14 and 12. I talk to them every day about human rights. They all call themselves feminists and human rights advocates.

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Read our publications

The Gender-Responsive Leader's Handbook

Gender equality is both a goal and a prerequisite for sustainable peace and development. FBA’s Gender-Responsive Leadership (GRL) Initiative is designed to support leaders and managers within organizations such as the EU, UN, ECOWAS, OSCE and the African Union to fulfill their central role in enabling gender equal peace, security and development work.

Documents

The Gender-responsive leader's handbook

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