Debra Sithole

Ruth First Scholar (2019-20)

Debra Gugulethu Sithole is from Zimbabwe.

She graduated from Solusi University in Bulawayo in 2017 with a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies. During her studies, she was a researcher for the Solusi University Peace Association and established herself as a scholar-activist carrying out investigations and advocacy in relation to post-conflict rehabilitation and transitional justice in Zimbabwe. She has published three academic articles on these issues.

Debra has also done voluntary community work with the Youth for Innovation Trust and Young Women’s Alliance. In 2018-19, she worked for the Contemporary Affairs Foundation as an intern, then a programmes officer, responsible for youth development and conflict transformation in the community, focusing on the development of young people’s public speaking skills as a means of inculcating democratic values.

At Durham, Debra took an MSc in Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding. She was a member of St Chad’s College, which supports the Scholarship by providing subsidized accommodation for all Ruth First Scholars. She successfully completed her MSc in September 2020 and took up an internship with the St Giles Trust in Coventry (a charity providing support to young people). From January to June 2022 she worked as a Project Support Officer for Voluntary Action Coventry, a charity supporting voluntary and community groups.

Debra then moved into academic research in the UK, working as Project Researcher and Coordinator at Aston University, Research Project Manager at the University of Warwick, and (since March 2024) Project and Research Officer in the Department of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Birmingham. She participates in research on global public health, focusing on South Africa, Zimbabwe and other African countries.