Profile: Dr. Travor Murai

Contact Details:

• Email: travor.murai@gmail.com

Dr. Travor Murai is a lecturer at the Institute of Development Sciences (IDS), National University of Science and Technology (NUST), where he teaches part-time block-semester courses on civil society and human rights. Alongside his academic work, he actively collaborates with a range of community-based and humanitarian organizations. His engagements include coordinating a World Food Programme initiative, implemented jointly with NUST, on food security and resilience under the Three-Pronged Approach. He has also worked with Youth Edutainment Trust Zimbabwe (YES Trust) on projects that combine arts with gender advocacy, the Sexual Rights Centre on sexuality-related initiatives, and the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) on faith-based development programmes, among others.

Dr. Murai has extensive experience implementing education projects across primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions, notably through his previous work with Student Solidarity Trust and Grassroots Soccer Zimbabwe. His current research focuses on the language and practice of human rights, including their teaching, operationalization, and cultural dimensions. His other publications and research interests explore key themes including culture and development, gender and sexualities, civil society, and the resilience of vulnerable communities.

He began his academic journey at IDS as an MSc student and later joined the institute as part-time teaching staff for short and diploma courses. In 2018, he took a one-year academic leave to pursue an Advanced Master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies at KU Leuven, Belgium. Following the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he resumed his doctoral studies at the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, which he completed in November 2023, returning to full-time teaching at IDS in 2024. Between 2025 and mid-2026,

Dr. Murai undertook a sabbatical to conduct fieldwork and write a forthcoming book on the language of human rights and civil society advocacy in the Global South, to be published by Bloomsbury Publishing in February 2027. In collaboration with ZCA and YES Trust, he is currently engaged in a six-month ethnographic field research project (through December 2026) examining the intersections of faith, culture, arts, and tradition in strengthening youth education and raising awareness on climate change and environmental protection in Zimbabwe.

Academic Qualifications:

• PhD in Development Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2023
• Dissertation: "Operationalizing a Human Rights-Based Approach: Experiences of Civil Society Organizations in Zimbabwe"
• MA in Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium, 2018
• Dissertation: "CADES ruins lives: Situating the Panther Spirits in Search of Wakanda in Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies Programme"
• MSc in Development Studies, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe, 2013
• Dissertation: "Board Corporate Governance, Monitoring & Evaluation Role in Student and Youth Civil Society Organisations in Harare, Zimbabwe"
• Post Graduate Diploma in Governance, Democratization and Public Policy, Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands, 2009
• Dissertation: "The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Democratization in Zimbabwe"
• BSc Honors in Sociology, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, 2007

Courses Taught:

• Rights based programming; 
• Civil Society and Development.
• Civil Society and Development from 2016
• Rights-Based Programming from 2016
• Research Methods 2022 to 2023
• Emergency Information Management Systems (Post Graduate Diploma in Disaster and Development Management from 2013 to 2021)

Research Interests:

• Global Development and Social Justice
• Human Rights-Based Approaches
• Gender, Sexual Rights and Advocacy
• Civil Society Programming in Volatile and Fragile Contexts
• Social Movement Theories and Processes
• Intersectionality and Empowerment of Key Vulnerable Populations (KVPs)

Community Service Engagement:

• Facilitator of the Community-Based Participatory Planning (CBPP) under WFP-NUST collaboration.
• Member of the Climate Mobility Africa Research Network (CMARN)
• Member of the NUST STEMITIZED Unit on Gender Inclusion, Safeguarding, and SRHR.
• Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Sexual Rights Centre.
• Vice Chairperson of Grassroots Code (Bulawayo).
• IDS NUST Focal Person for the SAIH funded PRIDE project in partnership with SRC.
• Numerous roles in advocacy, support, and development initiatives within various civil society organizations and academic institutions.

Dr. Travor Murai's career is marked by his unwavering dedication to fostering inclusive and equitable societies. His academic rigor, coupled with his hands-on NGO experience in advocacy and development, positions him as a leading figure in the fight for the rights and empowerment of marginalized communities globally.

Publications    

2026

Dube, Z. L., Moyo, F., Mjimba, V., Murai, T., & Ndlovu, M. E. (2026). Bridging the readiness gap: Zimbabwe’s AI capacity for economic development. African Journal of Advances in Engineering and Technology, 1(2), 73–92. https://doi.org/10.14749/32189730  

Ndzozi, P., Murai, T., & Ndlovu, S. (2026). Criminalizing survival: The policy contradictions and lived realities of sex workers in Zimbabwe. Sexuality, Gender & Policy, 9(2), e70052. https://doi.org/10.1002/sgp2.70052

Murai, T., Tsiga, G., & Ndzozi, P. (2026). Affirming services and resilience: Civil society responses to intimate partner violence among transgender communities in Zimbabwe. Journal of Gender Studies. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2026.2655821

2025

Murai, T., & Sibanda, U. (2025). The historical role of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance in the ecumenical response to the governance crisis in Zimbabwe (2005–2020). In D. Kaulemu, D. Maxwell, & M. Ruzivo (Eds.), Ecumenical Christianity and politics in Zimbabwe, 1980–2023. The Catholic University of Zimbabwe.

Ncube, C., Murai, T., Maphosa, T., & Ncube, M. (2025). From patriarchy to sustainability: Rethinking masculinities in Zimbabwe’s environmental movements. NORMA: The International Journal for Masculinity Studies, 20(4), 288–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/18902138.2025.2575238  

Nyirenda, D., Murai, T., & Ncube, M. (2025). Exploring intimate partner violence among lesbian couples through case studies from the Sexual Rights Centre in Zimbabwe. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 61(3), 2258–2274. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096251338233  

Ndlovu, S., Ndlovu, N., Moyo, F., Dube, Z. L., Murai, T., Ndlovu, T., Ncube, M., Nkala, P., Ncube, V., Mathe, T., et al. (2025). Examining the nexus between migration and family planning access: A case study of Zimbabwean emigrants in South Africa. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 61(2), 1277–1298. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096251313541  

Mamba, S. F., Ncube, M., Ndlovu, S., Ndlovu, N., Moyo, F., Dube, Z. L., Nkala, P., Ncube, V., Mathe, T., Murai, T., et al. (2025). Climate-induced displacement and migration: Implications on poverty and household food security in Southern Africa. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 61(2), 1485–1497. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096251319226   

Moyo, F., Dube, Z. L., Nkala, P., Ncube, V., Mathe, T. T., Murai, T., Ndlovu, T., Mamba, S. F., Ncube, M., Ndlovu, S., et al. (2025). Climate-change resilience and women’s participation in food-security initiatives: A review of Amalima-Loko programmes in Nkayi, Zimbabwe. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 61(2), 1326–1349. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096251313536  

2023

Murai, T. (2023). Operationalizing human rights-based approaches: Experiences of civil society organizations advocating for the rights of men who have sex with men in Zimbabwe (Doctoral dissertation, Erasmus University Rotterdam). https://hdl.handle.net/[ISBN: 978-90-6490-170-6]