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School for Cross-faculty Studies Global Sustainable Development

Manila Khisa

Contact details

Email: Manila dot Khisa at warwick dot ac dot uk
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Current PhD student

Biography

I am a PhD student in the Department of Global Sustainable Development at The University of Warwick. I have been awarded a UK Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue my research on the postcolonial implications of class-ethnicity-gender intersectionality within the tourism sub-sector workforces in developing countries’ context. My wider research interest lies in the multi-dimensional aspects of sustainable development. I have conducted and published several research works on women, gender and development, indigenous models of sustainability and environmental management.

I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Development Studies at Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP). Before joining the academia in 2017, I worked as a development professional in organizations such as Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Australian Red Cross.

Academic background

  • PhD in Global Sustainable Development, The University of Warwick, UK (2022- Present)
  • Master of Public Management (Global Public Policy), University of Potsdam, Germany
  • Bachelor of Development Studies with Honour’s in Geography, Environment and Population, The University of Adelaide, Australia

Supervisor(s)

Research Overview

My doctoral research aims to explore the post-colonial implications of class-ethnicity-gender intersectionality within the tourism sub-sector workforces while fore-fronting uneven development and socio-economic exclusion in Bangladesh.

Research Interests

  • Gender and third world feminism
  • Socio-economic, political, and cultural exclusion
  • Borderland minorities
  • Indigenous models of sustainable development
  • Environmental policy and management in the developing world

Public Engagement

  • Organized capacity-building training and workshops in all 64 districts of Bangladesh under the Participatory Rural Development Project (PRDP) run by Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives, Bangladesh from 2013 to 2014.
  • Provided technical and humanitarian support to people under immigration detention and helped them access services like education, housing, medical, well-being and community services through the "Immigration detention monitoring program” conducted by Australian Red Cross in Adelaide, Australia in 2011.

Publications and conference papers

  • Sifat, RI, Ahmed, F, Miah, MRA & Khisa, M (2022). Effects of COVID-19 on Livelihood, Health, and Psychology of Hijra Population: Insights from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Journal of Homosexuality. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2022.2048162
  • Jannat, S, Sifat, RI & Khisa, M (2022). Sexual and Reproductive Health Conditions of Women: Insights from Rohingya Refugee Women in Bangladesh. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00758-z
  • Khisa, M, Rahman, L, Miah, MRA, Ahmed, F, Orin, JA & Swarna, SH (2020). Impact of Covid-19 on Dowry Induced Violence against Women─ A comparative study in the context of Bangladesh. World Vision, 13(1), pp. 74-84.
  • Khisa, M (2019). Decentralization of Public Services and the Role of Local Government in Rural Development: Findings from Bangladesh. International Journal of Social Science, 8(4), 87-95.
  • Khisa, M (2019). Gender Mainstreaming in Health Governance: Exploring the Inadequacies in Addressing Women’s Health Issues. BUP Journal, vol. 7, issue. 1, pp. 45- 56.
  • Khisa, M (2018). Community Based Ecotourism: A Driver to Achieve Sustainable Livelihoods in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh. Conference Paper, International Conference of Sustainable Development, Dhaka, Bangladesh, pp. 77- 78.

Funding and awards

  • Commonwealth PhD Scholarship funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK (2022-Present)
  • DAAD Scholarship (Public Policy and Good Governance Program) for Master’s Degree funded by the Federal Government of Germany and the European Union (2015-16)
  • Australia Awards Scholarship for Bachelor’s Degree funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia (2008-11)