Dr. Rajendran Govender

DR RAJENDRAN THANGAVELU GOVENDER

PhD (UKZN), MA (Cum Laude) (UDW), BA (Unisa), Dip.Edu (TCE), Dip. Journ. (UNION)

Social Anthropologist with vast experience in the Public and Private sector with a string of academic and professional qualifications including a PhD, Masters (Cum Laude) and a Ford Foundation Post Doctoral Research Fellowship, India, Brazil, South Africa Fellowship (IBSA ; Has a deep passion for social cohesion and nation building; Appointed by the President of South Africa as a Commissioner in the Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Commission; Board member of the Pan South African Language Board (PANSALB); Former Vice Chairperson of the Social Cohesion Advocate Programme of the National Department of Arts and Culture and member of the KZN Social Cohesion and Moral Regeneration Council. Co-ordinator of the Rapid Response Task Team responsible for addressing issues such as xenophobia, racism, GBV and other social ills. Advisory Board member of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (New York); Africa Co-ordinator of the Advocacy Unified Network (The Hague); Global Co-ordinator of the Global Repository of Ancient Cultural Endeavours (GRACE); Editorial Member of a number of international Journals and Publications; Serves as an accredited panel member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Network of South Africa specialising in Mediation including Court-Annexed Mediation and Personal Injury, Medical Negligence & Road Accident Mediation; Successfully mediated a number of community uprisings and facilitated a number of inter-generational and intercultural dialogues. Appointed as a facilitator and moderator for a number of in-person and virtual national and international panel discussions on a variety of contemporary issues. Received numerous awards for social activism and community development.