Makerere University (Mak) together with University of Bergen (UiB) will on 7th November 2019, celebrate thirty (30) years of Mak-Uib historic collaboration. The colourful ceremony will be held at Makerere University Central Teaching Facility (CTF) 2 Auditorium, College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS).

In 1988 Makerere University entered into a partnership with University of Bergen to enhance academic operations through joint research, teaching, staff and students exchange programs, knowledge and information sharing.  

Over the years, the collaboration has successfully registered tremendous achievements in capacity building, knowledge and information generation and technological developments.

On 4th November 2019, the Coordinator of the Mak-UiB programme at Makerere University Dr. Ronald Semyalo revealed to the Public Relations team that a number of Makerere University students and staff have undertaken their degrees at the University of Bergen, Norway.

“Majority of our senior academic staff and a significant number of Social Anthropologists have obtained their respective degrees from the University of Bergen. In addition, the Collaboration has supported Senior Administrative and Library staff from Makerere University to take specialized courses and best practices experiences at the University of Bergen. So far, we register over 100 PhDs and over 200 masters graduates,” Dr. Semyalo said.

Dr. Semyalo mentioned that there is an increasing number of Norwegian students that join Makerere University to pursue Bachelors, Masters programme and PhD research on the exchange programme.

The 30 years celebrations will kick off on 7th November 2019 at 8:00am with a plenary session on the Role of the Youth in Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: A Focus On SDG 4 “Ensure Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All”; organized by UGNAN in partnership with the Makerere University-University of Bergen  collaboration Office and Norway UiB alumni.

During the Plenary session, participants are expected to discuss the SDG4 status in Uganda and the actions put in place to achieve the goal by 2030. Participants will reminisce on how the SDGs are calling for the transformation of ideas and how the country’s education institutions need to be transformed in line with SDG 4 goal especially for the vulnerable groups (girls, PWDs).

The afternoon session will usher in a remarkable journey of Mak-UiB collaboration, experiences and achievements since 1988. It will be accompanied by a high-level panel discussion on the future prospects of the Mak-UiB Collaboration under the theme: “The role of inter institutional partnerships in attaining education for all and National Development”.

The Coordinator of the Mak-UiB programme at University of Bergen Prof. Thorkild Tylleskar, recognized Mak-UiB commitment towards capacity development and significant research productivity. He looked forward to more years of collaboration and called upon alumni, students and staff to join Makerere University and University of Bergen to celebrate the 30 years of collaboration.