General
Ending GBV: Let Mak be the Example that Uganda Looks Up To
Makerere in partnership with national and global stakeholders hosted a Stocktaking Dialogue on Sexual Harassment and Response at the University on Friday 10th December, 2021. The event marked the last of 16 days of activism against Gender-based Violence held from 25th November to 10th December 2021.
The dialogue, which coincided with International Human Rights Day served as an opportunity to call upon all actors to uphold the rights of all, especially by protecting the rights of women and girls. As such, the event was held under the global theme set by the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE campaign: “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!”
True to day’s theme participants, majority of who were students, painted the Food Science and Technology Conference Hall orange. Addressing the congregation, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe kicked off his remarks by stating, “It is up to us to take the lead and stamp Gender-based Violence especially sexual harassment out of Makerere for good.”
Prof. Nawangwe in a special way thanked UN Women for the support rendered to the University in the struggle to end sexual harassment. He applauded this support as strategic, noting that Makerere’s diverse composition makes it a good launch pad to reach the rest of the country.
“Makerere is a small Uganda in one place; these students come from every village in Uganda. Therefore, if they go back transformed, they can change the situation in our country. So it is very important that we work with our students to actually transform these practices in the country” explained the Vice Chancellor.
He thanked the Gender Mainstreaming Directorate (GMD) led by Dr. Euzobia Baine Mugisha for proactively reaching out to staff and students, noting that the campaigns ought to continue until the vice is completely stamped out of Makerere.
Turning to the Student Leadership, the Vice Chancellor noted that Management had worked with previous Guild Cabinets to place posters on all notice boards of the University with the stern warning ‘Sexual harassment is not tolerated’. “I want to urge the Students’ Guild, let us do that programme again. Makerere is Zero-tolerant to Sexual Harassment.”
The Vice Chancellor thanked the Champions against sexual harassment, the majority being male, for taking a stand against the vice. This male-majority, he opined, is an indicator that the institution is on the right course.
“Let Makerere be that example that the whole country looks up to. When we started this campaign, people were saying you are going to make the public think all is not well at Makerere but I am happy we were vindicated when Parliament said, ‘Let everybody emulate Makerere’” added Prof. Nawangwe.
He expressed happiness that the Director GMD, Dr. Baine Mugisha and her team were now taking the campaign against sexual harassment to other institutions such as Gulu University. He therefore vowed to help rally fellow Vice Chancellors to join in stamping out the vice.
Prof. Nawangwe concluded by challenging fellow men in the physical and virtual audience to take the stand against the vice. “Are you going to stand up and make sure that together we stamp out sexual harassment and any other form of gender based violence out of Makerere?”
Prior to delivering her remarks, the Acting Country Representative, UN Women Uganda Ms. Adekemi Ndieli picked up the challenge from where Prof. Nawangwe had left off, asking everyone in the room to rise up and solemnly vow to uphold the Makerere University Policy and Regulations Against Sexual Harassment 2018 by repeating after her;
“I …. commit and reaffirm my zero-tolerance to sexual harassment, and I commit to create an environment that respects and protects the rights of all members of the University Community so help me God.”
The gesture, she said, was a way of guaranteeing that whoever took part in the dialogue would leave the room energized and committed to ensuring that they would not be perpetrators of sexual harassment but would instead attack any form of it they witness.
Ms. Ndieli took note of the progress made by Makerere University in establishing and implementing the sexual harassment policy, saying the move would protect against potential abusers of power and conflict of interest.
“We also applaud the increased support and training of students, and strengthening mechanisms of investigation which provide for students and staff to anonymously report sexual misconduct” she complimented.
Turning to men and boys in the room, Ms. Ndieli said, “We want you to be a champion against sexual harassment and abuse. We want you to champion equal rights of women and girls on this campus. We want you to challenge gender stereotypes on this campus.”
She concluded by recommending the following as ways of changing the unacceptable behaviour that exists within our learning, working and living environment.
- Recognize that there is no silver bullet to preventing sexual violence and misconduct. We must examine the iniquities that are drivers of the unacceptable behaviour and challenge and dismantle sexisms.
- Make it clear that preventing sexual misconduct and harassment is not an option. We must all work together to stamp out the vice by ensuring safety, wellbeing and equity for our staff and students.
- Provide timely, compassionate and confidential response services to survivors including witnesses. Provision of mental health support and psychosocial support is equally important.
“I am really happy that the Vice Chancellor is here today, we respect you, we applaud you for leading this process and we know that it is going to work effectively” concluded Ms. Ndieli.
The remarks by the Vice Chancellor and UN Women Country Representative were preceded by a keynote address by the Principal, College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), Prof. Josephine Ahikire and a presentation by the Director GMD.
While Prof. Ahikire emphasized the need to understand and address the underlying drivers of Gender-based Violence, Dr. Baine Mugisha shared the steps taken by Makerere University to address sexual harassment. Steps included the formulation of the Vice Chancellor’s Roster of 100, which investigates reports of sexual harassment and the Two4One campaign, which taps into students’ talents as an agency for addressing the challenge of sexual harassment among others.
As a demonstration of this agency, Happy Sami, a finalist from the 2020 Two4One Concert to End Sexual Harassment put up a musical performance dubbed “No More Sexual Harassment”.
General
Makerere University and Xiangtan University Advance Strategic Partnership in Chemical Engineering
Makerere University and Xiangtan University are set to update their close to 20-year academic partnership, with a new focus on launching a joint Master’s degree program in Chemical Engineering and expanding student and staff exchange initiatives.
The commitment was reaffirmed during a recent visit by a delegation from Xiangtan University to Makerere University headed by Professor Dingyu Ou, in the company of Mr. Tang Fei and Professor Gilbert Gumshabe, the Chinese and Ugandan Directors of the Confucius Institute at Makerere University respectively.
While addressing the delegation, Professor Nawangwe highlighted that this initiative is part of a broader strategy to diversify academic offerings and contribute to national development through training in Chemical Engineering. Through this new initiative, the University will better prepare graduates for the petrochemical industry and support the country’s industrial growth.
The Vice Chancellor appreciated that the proposed collaboration aims to address Uganda’s growing need for industrial expertise, particularly as the country develops its petroleum sector. The two universities here are working toward a 1+2 training model, which will enable Makerere students to gain practical experience and access advanced laboratory facilities at Xiangtan University.
Professor Nawangwe further reiterated that “our relationship with the people of China, not just for Makerere but also for a big part of Uganda, has been opened wider by the establishment of the Confucius Institute, considering that many other collaborations like one being discussed now have come through this collaboration.”
The head of the Xiangtan delegation, Professor Dingyu Ou, expressed appreciation for the meeting, and acknowledged the history between the institutions. “As mentioned, we have a very long relationship and a very stable friendship between our two universities.”
Professor Ou extended appreciation for the support provided to the Confucius Institute at Makerere, the care shown to his colleagues, and looked forward to the successful start of the Chemical Engineering collaboration.
Assuring the delegation of Makerere’s readiness for the collaboration, Ms. Hawa Ndagire Kajumba the Lead, Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement, Makerere University Advancement Office, aligned with the Vice Chancellor’s emphasis of University goal to have both theory and practice imparted to the students.
She said “the curriculum of the university and Uganda as a whole is moving towards competence-based education training to ensure students are equipped to demonstrate those skills in the actual field, particularly regarding petroleum exploration.”
Ms. Ndagire Kajumba also emphasised a shift in strategy for the partnership office, saying, “we are moving away from just signing MOUs that collect dust, and moving towards those that are more collaborative to benefit our faculty and students, just like this one.”
Professor Gilbert Kumushabe aligned his remarks with those of the Vice Chancellor and Ms. Ndagire Kajumba, and described the method used at Xiangtan University as “actually competence-based teaching.”
Based on his recent visit, Prof. Gumoshabe shared that students in China are divided into groups with dedicated teachers to perform practical, hands-on work beyond the theoretical lecturers. He expressed gladness that the same was being adopted for the Ugandan context.
Both institutions are now working to finalise the specific agreements for the joint degree and exchange programs. Beyond academic training, the collaboration will advance cultural and professional exchange.
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