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Ubuntu; The Answer to Ending GBV – Prof. Sylvia Tamale

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Makerere University Academician and Ugandan human rights activist Prof. Sylvia Tamale has called upon Ugandans to embrace the values of Ubuntu in order to end Gender Based Violence and sexual harassment among communities.

“Growing up, my mother used to drum it into us to have obuntu bulamu… I want to therefore appeal to those values of humaneness, solidarity, interdependence, compassion, respect and dignity associated with Ubuntu. I want to appeal to your human goodness and sense of justice. I want to implore you to reject hierarchy and dominion based on gender, race, ethnicity, disability, age and so on,” she said

In a keynote address entitled Ubuntu: ending Gender based violence in institutions of higher learning and work places, Prof. Syliva Tamale, one of the leading African feminist lawyers and scholars in Africa said that there is need to instigate a spirit of togetherness and cooperation in communities in order to have free gender based societies.

L-R, Dr. Euzobia Baine, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi, Prof Sylvia Tamale among other invited guests at the dialogue on ending Gender Based Violence in institutions of learning and work places.

The dialogue held on 30th November 2018 was one of the activities organised by the Makerere University Gender Mainstreaming Directorate in partnership with Communication for Development Foundation Uganda (CDFU); with financial support from UN Women during the international campaign of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV).

Other activities included; an exhibition that ran from 29th – 30th November 2018, in the Makerere University Freedom Square, a session for students on Gender Based Violence conducted by Medical Doctors, Lawyers, and counsellors and signing up as HeForShe champions.  

According to Prof. Tamale, Ubuntu is humaneness. it reflects the African understanding of diversity, solidarity, compassion, respect, dignity and the belief in a universal bond and sharing. She said that African traditional culture was not attuned to individual competition but to cooperating within community. The interests of the community were always placed above of those of the individual.

Reflecting on the theme of the day: Gender Based Violence prevention and responses, Prof. Tamale said that Gender Based violence is grounded in the hierarchy or social order that supports men’s dominance and superiority over women. It is based on a system of power called patriarchy and is driven by sexiest prejudices.

It was  exciting to  listen to the constructiv ideas from young men and women on gender based violece.

She mentioned that while men can and certainly do experience violence, the greatest majority of victims and survivors of gender based violence are women and girls.

“In other words our mothers, sisters, daughters, nieces, aunts and grandmothers are more likely to experience gender based violence in their lifetimes than will our fathers, brothers, sons, nephews, uncles, and grandfathers,” she stated.

She urged societies to adopt the values of Ubuntu to protect the weakest and most vulnerable person from undue arm.

Prof. Sylvia Tamale also proposed 10 key points on how to end gender based violence and these included;

  • We all need to raise our consciousness and awareness to the different systems of intolerance of fellow human beings.
  • We all need to educate ourselves on the root structural causes of gender based violence in order to nip the bud.
  • Men, you need to rid yourselves of the false sense of superiority and entitlement over women.
  • Women, we need to rid ourselves of the false sense of inferiority and deprivation.
  • All of us need to stop objectifying women’s bodies.
  • Women, we need to empower ourselves by speaking out and participating in decision making.
  • Men, you need to empower yourselves by engaging with social justice and gender equity.
  • Women, we need to liberate our minds from patriarchal thoughts that always put men first.
  • We all need to tap into our essential goodness as human beings and treat others as we would have them treat us.
  • We all need to return our African Spirituality of Ubuntu.

The program Specialist of UN Women-Uganda Ms. Susan Oregede acknowledged the tremendous role played by the young men to ensure that institutions of learning such as Makerere University are safe for women. She applauded Makerere University leadership for the bold action to fight against sexual harassment and called upon young women and men to participate and support the HeforShe campaign movement and the implementation of the sexual harassment policies in their respective institutions.  

Representing the Makerere University Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, the Director, Directorate of Research and Graduate Training Prof. Mukadasi Buyinza said that Makerere University has demonstrated strong commitment to end Gender Based Violence and its related practices.

Mr. Eric Tumwesigye posng for a photos with some of the participants

“We have put in place a well-established Gender and Mainstreaming Directorate to mainstream gender in the University functions and propel the struggle for gender justice at Makerere University and beyond. Through the School of Women and Gender Studies, we have been able to address gender and development issues from an African perspective” he explained.

The Director of Makerere University Gender Mainstreaming Directorate Dr. Euzobia Mugisha Baine emphasised Makerere University’s zero tolerance to sexual harassment.

Mr. Oketcho Emanuel and Mr. Ocheng Ocheng, students from Makerere University and Kyambogo University respectively appealed to their fellow students to stand firm and fight against sexual harassment and gender based violence at universities.

“The actions start with us. While elders are talking and professors are writing books, let the youth and students act. That way we shall curb Gender Based Violence at Institutions of learning and workplaces,” said Mr. Ocheng.

Article by Mak Public Relations Office

 

Proscovia Nabatte

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Special Exam Results -Diploma in Performing Arts 2025/26

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The results for the 2025/2026 special entry examination for the Diploma in Performing Arts held on Saturday 17th May, 2025. Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the Examination and have been recommended to the university’s Admissions Committee for consideration.

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Mature Age Scheme Exam Results for 2025/2026

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The Office of Academic Registrar, Makerere University has released full results for the Mature Age Entry Scheme Examinations for the Academic Year 2025/2026 held on Saturday 14th December, 2024.

The Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the examination and have been recommended by the Pre-Entry & Mature Age Committee to the University’s Admissions Board for Consideration.

The Aptitude Exam  Results for 2025/2026 Academic Year released in February 2025 can be found here.

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Call for Application: 2025 SNRM session 4 Summer School

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Participants in focused group discussions. Leiden-Delft-Erasmus East Africa Research Network (LEARN) in collaboration with the Urban Action Lab at Makerere University a workshop to deliberate strategies for mitigating the impacts of climate change in urban centres in the East African Region, Theme: “Resilient Urban Futures: Adapting Livelihoods to Climate Change”, 4th-5th September 2024, School of Public Health Auditorium, Kampala Uganda.

Context:
Natural resources in Africa are being depleted at an alarming rate due to several factors, including unsustainable human activities, climate change, and population growth. A primary condition of sustainable development is to ensure that the pressures do not exceed the environmental limits, and that demand for the resources does not exceed levels that can be sustainably provided by nature. Therefore, there is a pressing need for transformative, systems-thinking approaches and tools that can tackle the diverse challenges facing these systems. In Africa, this need is compounded by a lack of data and monitoring, which significantly hinders sustainable decision-making.

Investing in young scientists who are committed to take lead in sustainable management of Africa’s natural resources is very important. Capacity building of young scientists will enhance their knowledge and skill on sustainable natural resources and their involvement for implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) in Africa. To this effect, SNRM summer schools have been implemented in three sessions in 2019, 2020, and 2022 with support from Volkswagen Foundation; to build a critical mass of skilled and competent young natural resource scientists in Africa through training, capacity building and mentorship. Session 4 (2025) will target competent young scientists (MSc and PhD students) in Africa and Germany to further develop their knowledge and skills in systems thinking, advanced data collection and analysis, and application of emerging digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), internet of things (IoT), and embracing transdisciplinary approaches. In addition, we include an ideation workshop where students can work on real problems to come up with solutions for sustainable transformations in natural resource use.

Organizers: Leibniz Universität – Hannover (Germany), University of Antananarivo, University of Abomey Calavi (Benin), Makerere University (Uganda), University of Ghana (Ghana), University of Parakou (Benin), The Technical University of Kenya, with financial support from the Volkswagen Foundation (Germany).

Venue and dates: Nairobi, Kenya, 16-28 November 2025

Target: MSc and PhD students, early in the program of less than 35 years of age from any university/research institution in either sub-Saharan Africa or Germany with an interest in natural resources management.

Participants and Scholarships: The course is fully funded and open to 20 MSc and PhD students from Africa, and 5 from Germany. Funding will cover the costs of air ticket, accommodation, meals, visa, and transportation. However, participants will cover the cost of their travel health insurance.

Topics

SNRM Summer School Session 4: Transformative pathways in biodiversity management and conservation.
This summer school is designed to deliver four modules over a two-week period. The modules are designed to enable the students to acquire new ways of designing data collection protocols and analysis for transformative sustainable natural resources management.

Module 4.1: Data collection I
Skills in data collection for a transformative and sustainable management of natural resources (water, wildlife, forest, land, livestock, crops) monitoring and data collection techniques; remote monitoring tools, earth observation system data, e.g. satellite data sources, LIDAR, and UAV aerial images. Collect and analyse In-situ data on biotic and abiotic parameters, map and analyse data using R or Google Earth Engine, field data collection and retrieving data from online databases.

Module 4.2 Data management and processing
Introduction to tools and methods of managing large and diverse data sets of natural resources such as time series, spatial, directional, and multivariate data. Practicals will include data storage, organization and conversion into various formats using databases such as PostgreSQL and statistical programming software such as R and Python; scripts.

Module 4.3 Ecological monitoring, modelling and management
This module aims to teach participants how to anticipate and validate trends that can be observed in various ecosystems. Lectures include ecological monitoring and its design; population monitoring studies; metrics in population monitoring; methods for monitoring and assessing marine ecosystems; human ecology to socio-ecological systems; climate change impact of ecosystems; suitability assessments; overview of the principles underlying wildlife monitoring and prediction systems for climate change adaptation. Practicals will include field data collection (individual and group); ecological data analysis using R or PAST; modelling and experiencing the behaviour of complex systems using Vensim.

Module 4.4 Natural habitat restoration ideation lab
This module is designed to spur students’ innovation and creativity, and to help students comprehensively identify interdependencies across the 17 SDG goals. Participants will be trained on ideation processes for solutions and intervention for transformative natural resource management. They will work collaboratively in small groups on case studies and develop pathways of transformative sustainable natural resource management. Examples of projects include forest (mangrove) ecosystem and habitat restoration, improved technologies for agricultural production, nature-based solutions for improving water quality, and reversing land degradation.

Language: The course will be delivered in English. Participants are expected to be fluent in writing and speaking the English language.

How to apply

Applicants are kindly requested to fill in the application form available from https://snrmafrica.com/ and submit the following documents in English through the system.

  • a curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages)
  • a letter of motivation (maximum 1 page)
  • a confirmation of university enrolment
  • a reference letter from the academic supervisor
  • project summary of MSc/ PhD project (1 page including objectives, methodology
    and key findings or expected outcomes).

Important dates
Application deadline: 30th June 2025.
Announcement of accepted applicants: 15th August 2025.
Confirmation of attendance by selected participants: 12th Sept 2025.
Summer school held: 16 – 28 Nov 2025.

Further information is available from

The secretariat info@snrmafrica.com
Dr Lydia Olaka lydiaolaka@tukenya.ac.ke
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Stuetzel stuetzel@gem.uni-hannover.de

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