Commonwealth Gender and Sexuality Fellowships for mid-career professionals to work in the UK (UK host organizations)
Commonwealth Gender and Sexuality Fellowships for mid-career professionals to work in the UK (UK host organizations)
In 2024/25, the CSC is running a Fellowship programme aimed at professionals whose work supports the rights, freedoms, dignity and inclusion of communities who are discriminated again because of gender identity or sexuality.
Commonwealth Gender and Sexuality Fellowships for mid-career professionals to work in the UK (UK host organizations)
Commonwealth Gender and Sexuality Fellowships are for mid-career professionals from low and middle income Commonwealth countries to spend a period of time at a UK host organisation working in their sector for a programme of professional development.
Purpose: To provide professionals with the opportunity to enhance knowledge and skills in their given sector, and to have catalytic effects on their workplaces.
Intended beneficiaries: Mid-career professionals (with five years’ relevant work experience) working in development-related organisations in low and middle income Commonwealth countries.
How to apply: Gender and Sexuality Fellowships in 2024
Fellowship applications are now open and will close at 16:00 BST on Wednesday 16 August 2023.
You can apply by completing our online application form. Please refer to the ‘Completing application form’ tab to access the application form.
In 2024/25, the CSC is running a Fellowship programme aimed at professionals whose work supports the rights, freedoms, dignity and inclusion of communities who are discriminated again because of gender identity or sexuality.
All Fellowships in this round will be tenable for three months from Wednesday 21 February 2024
Host organisation programmes
University of Kent
The Kent fellowship will provide a three-month programme of interdisciplinary investigation and professional development for three mid-career professionals working in equality, inclusivity, and diversity policy, with a particular focus on gender and sexuality.
During the programme, each Fellow will work with a University of Kent mentor and will be able to interact and explore different areas of the university’s response and policy associated with gender and sexuality, with the opportunity to give particular focus to their respective areas of interest and lived experience. Fellowship activities will be structured span issues which explore the realisation of EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) policy at Kent through the specific lens of gender and sexuality. The activities will involve identifying opportunities for local enhancement of policy implementation for community support at Kent. The Fellowship will also allow participants to consider good practice in gender and sexuality policy development and enactment which can be transferred to their own home working contexts.
www.kent.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusivity/commonwealth-scholarships-and-fellowships
Lifegate Outreach Centre
The Lifegate Outreach fellowship programme will be a continuous professional development programme for work. This will expose participating Fellows to various activities that enable best practices and opportunities to transfer knowledge, skills, and experience.
The programme will ensure Fellows’ project portfolios achieve the objective of promoting gender and sexuality ideation and practices. The approach for the transfer of knowledge, skills, and experience will encompass desk-based research, tailored training, practical hands-on training/workshop (where applicable), conference participation, presentation of work progress, mentoring, knowledge exchange project plan development and secondment (i.e., practitioner-to-practitioner shadowing at relevant organisations).
Through this programme, Fellows are expected to develop the capacity to promote gender and sexuality initiatives in their various spheres of influence through engagement with rural and urban communities, households, small/medium enterprises, regional/environmental-consciousness, non-governmental organisations, and local and national policymakers upon return to their home countries.
University College London (UCL)
The UCL fellowship programme will be based in the Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health and the Division of Psychiatry.
This programme will support healthcare professionals in eligible Commonwealth countries to augment the rights, freedoms, dignity, and inclusion within healthcare of communities who are discriminated against because of their gender identity or sexuality.
The programme offers bespoke training in ‘LGBT+ Health and Wellbeing’, and ‘Methodological Issues in Research with Populations Marginalised by Sexuality and/or Gender’. Fellows will receive supervision, mentorship, and knowledge exchange with experts in LGBT+ health and rights in the UK and internationally.
Fellows will develop detailed, evidence-based, context-sensitive plans for LGBT+ sensitive health service delivery and healthcare staff training to improve the mental and physical health of LGBT+ people in home countries. Fellows will also design evaluations to assess implementation. Professional networks will offer ongoing learning, support, and capacity building.
www.ucl.ac.uk/population-health-sciences/our-institutes-schools-and-centres
Fellow Eligibility
To be eligible for these Fellowships, prospective Fellows must:
- Be a citizen of, or have been granted refugee status by, an eligible Commonwealth country, or be a British Protected Person
- Be permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country
- Have at least five years’ full-time, or equivalent part-time, relevant work experience, in a profession related to the subject of the fellowship programme, by the proposed start of the fellowship – voluntary work experience will not be counted towards this minimum
- Be in employment at the time of application at an organisation that they will return to upon completion of the fellowship
- Provide at least two references, one of which must be from their current employer. Any applications for which references are not received by the reference closing date will be considered ineligible.
- Not have undertaken a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship within the last five years (at the time of taking up the award)
- Not be seeking to undertake an academic programme of research or study. Academics are eligible to apply for the scheme, but only to undertake programmes of academic management, not research or courses relevant to their research subject
- Be available to undertake their fellowship within the full duration of the prescribed dates
In addition to the above, prospective fellows must ensure they meet any eligibility criteria set out by each individual host organisation.
The CSC aims to identify talented individuals who have the potential to make change. We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity and non-discrimination and encourage applications from a diverse range of candidates. For further information on the support available to fellows with a disability, see the CSC disability support statement.
Please note: Your personal information will be used to conduct necessary due diligence checks to CSC’s satisfaction, before CSC proceeds with any type of formal agreement or contractual relationship. In most cases, the due diligence checks will be straightforward, however further information may be requested, so we ask for your full co-operation to speed up the process.
If you do not agree to your personal data being used for the purpose of conducting due diligence, unfortunately CSC will not be able to proceed further with the application process.
Financial assistance
Each Fellowship provides:
- Approved return airfare from the Fellow’s home country to the UK
- Reimbursement of the standard visa application fee
- Stipend (living allowance) payable monthly (or pro rata) for the duration of the award at the rate of £1,944 per month, or £2,397 per month for those at organisations in the London metropolitan area (rates quoted at 2021/22 levels)
- If a Fellow declares a disability, a full assessment of needs and eligibility for additional financial support will be offered by the CSC. See the CSC disability support statement for more information
- Arrival allowance of up to £1,061.10 (rates quoted at 2021/22 levels), including an element for warm clothing
- For the Gender and Sexuality programme a £1,000 travel allowance per fellow to facilitate attendance at events (administered by host organisations)
- A maximum of £3,000 per fellow can be agreed by host organisations for short courses/conferences as well as travel to visit other UK organisations where this forms an integral part of the programme. Host organisations should bear in mind the restrictions set out in our guidance on claimable costs.
DEADLINE: Wednesday 16 August 2023
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