Population Council Research that makes a difference

Zukiswa Fipaza

Program Officer - Communication

Zukiswa Fipaza (Zuki) came to the Population Council in 2007 from the National Institute for Occupational Health. Prior to joining the Council she worked on various projects including assessing mortality rates in South Africa, researching ways to eliminate silicosis in the mining industry in South Africa, and South Africa’s Census 2001. Currently she is part of the Population Council, Johannesburg, team where she works across the Poverty, Gender, and Youth (PGY) and HIV and AIDS programs and works closely with the South Africa country director on communications, fundraising support, and officewide strategic efforts. Fipaza has a strong communications and administrative background and is responsible for communications with the Council's Office of Public Information in New York. Her research portfolio specifically focuses on most-at-risk populations (MARPS).

At the Council, Fipaza works on research and programming for men who have sex with men, male sex workers, migrants, and women and children; she also provided support to the orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) directory and mapping project. Fipaza has been instrumental in developing and completing a multisectoral research study aimed at assessing and investigating the needs of migrants living within the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Findings from this assessment led to a follow-on grant for the implementation of a program aimed at strengthening services for sexual and reproductive health and rights for Johannesburg’s inner-city migrants. Fipaza currently coordinates this project, which is part of the PGY program in South Africa. She has received a two-year (July 2009–June 2011) award from the Ford Foundation for work on this project.

Fipaza has a B.A. in psychology and sociology.