mw. dr. E.A.J. (Esther) Miedema

Lecturer in the Governance and Inclusive Development research programme (GID) of the AISSR.

My teaching and research are in the field of education, gender, sexuality and international development. My research examines on a range of topics linked to young people, health and gender-based violence. I am interested a) in the genealogy of, and interactions between, global, national and local narratives about education, young people and health within SRHR-related education, and b) the ways in which young women and men contest and subvert gendered norms and violence, and inequalities more broadly.

I joined the UvA in May 2014, having received my doctorate from the Institute of Education, University College London in October 2013. Prior to this, I worked for the United Nations and in the NGO sector for almost 18 years. I worked for UNESCO in Indonesia, the Philippines and Mozambique, the International Bureau of Education (UNESCO/IBE) in Geneva and the International Institute for Educational Planning (UNESCO-IIEP) in Paris. In addition, I worked for various non-governmental organisations both within and outside the Netherlands with a focus on young people, human rights and health promotion.

My doctoral research engages with approaches to HIV- and AIDS-related education in Mozambique, addressing fundamental gaps in existing literature. The dissertation interrogates dominant concepts underpinning HIV-related education to more clearly articulate the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of this form of education, and support efforts to evaluate different initiatives. To ensure coherence of the curriculum, the dissertation engages with questions about what and how schools should teach about the epidemic within a broader philosophical discussion regarding the aims of education as a whole. Finally, the dissertation details rich narrative data gathered in Maputo, Mozambique to examine areas of tension and agreement between approaches to HIV- and AIDS-related education adopted by various actors involved in the design, delivery and uptake of such education in secondary schools.

At present, I am working on the following research projects:

• Co-principal investigator on the ‘HER CHOICE’ child marriage programme (2016-2020). HER CHOICE is an alliance of four Netherlands-based organisations: Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland, The Hunger Project (THP), International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI) and the AISSR/UvA funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The AISSR is tasked with conducting the impact evaluation of the 11-country programme and carrying out additional qualitative research, including 2 PhDs.
• Principal investigator on 12-month ‘Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)’ research project. The research includes a review of the academic and programmatic literatures, and a case study of teachers’ provision of CSE in Ethiopia. Funding (2016-2017) is provided by Share-net, the Netherlands SRHR-related knowledge platform.
• Co-investigator on the South Sudan Health Action and Research Project (SHARP) in collaboration with the Netherlands Royal Tropical Institute (2015-2017). The research is geared to developing greater understanding of young women and men’s sexual and reproductive health-related decisions in a fragile post-conflict context.
• ‘Opportunities and challenges for health promotion: a critical frame analysis of the Sustainable Development Goals’ in collaboration with the University of Sydney and Western Washington University.