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Happy Kayuni is a Professor of Political Science in the Politics & Government Department at the University of Malawi, holding a PhD in Political Science from the University of the Western Cape. Presently, he serves as the Executive Dean of the School of Law, Economics, and Government at the University of Malawi. His primary expertise lies in Political Governance, Public Administration and Management, and Gender and International Development Policy. Previously, he worked as a Programme Manager for Women’s World Banking-Malawi Affiliate. In addition to his doctoral qualification, he earned a Master of Public Administration degree (MPA) with Distinction from the University of Stellenbosch in 2004. Throughout his academic journey, he garnered several accolades, including the South African Embassy Study Bursary Award, Stellenbosch’s Postgraduate Merit Bursary Award, School of Public Planning and Management’s Student of the Year Award (DUK-Student 2005), and the esteemed PricewaterhouseCooper Award for being the best MPA student. Happy Kayuni has co-edited books, authored or co-authored over sixty peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and produced over a hundred research/consultancy reports and conference papers. In the realm of training programmes, he has facilitated numerous Team Building initiatives for various local governments and ministries in Malawi. Happy played a key role in co-facilitating and co-drafting the 'Malawi Community Development Policy.' He was also involved in drafting the current 'Malawi NGO Policy' and the 'Malawi Democratic Governance Sector Policy.' In addition to his tenure at the University of Malawi, Happy Kayuni has shared his expertise as a part-time lecturer at several tertiary institutions in South Africa, including the University of the Western Cape and Cape Peninsula University of Technology. As a mentor, he has successfully supervised over 45 postgraduate students as the main supervisor. Currently, he holds the position of Faculty Affiliate in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Initiative Programme at the Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo, Norway. He served as an Advisory Board member (2022-2023) for Durban University of Technology’s Centre for African Governance and Development in South Africa. Happy Kayuni's academic influence extends globally, as he has externally examined postgraduate programs (PhD & masters) for various universities, including Mzuzu University, University of Fort Hare, University of Johannesburg, University of Witwatersrand, University of the Free State, Africa University (Zimbabwe), University of Pretoria, and University of Kwazulu-Natal. He has also served as an external academic staff promotion committee member for the University of Dodoma (Tanzania) and Lagos State University (Nigeria). Beyond these roles, Happy Kayuni is actively engaged in the scholarly community, serving as a member of editorial boards for several journals and acting as an external reviewer for South Africa’s National Research Foundation. Presently, he holds the prestigious position of Visiting Professor at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, from 2024 to 2026.