General
Prof. Nawangwe reiterates Mak’s Commitment towards Achieving Gender Parity
By Ritah Namisango
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe has re-echoed Makerere University‘s commitment towards achieving gender parity.
“The increase of enrollment of female students in University’s undergraduate programs from less than 10 percent 20 years ago to 52% currently is a reflection of the commitment to achieving gender parity. Noting that women constitute 52% of Uganda’s population, we are doing the right thing. We are involved in engagements to improve the number of women in the academia, research and leadership,” he said.
Prof. Nawangwe made these remarks during the Opening ceremony of the 5th edition of the Kampala Geopolitics Conference at the Yusuf Lule Central Teaching Facility Auditorium on Tuesday 15th November 2022. Makerere University is hosting the two-day conference (15-16th November 2022) aimed at discussing current geopolitical questions and trends.
“We are making our humble contribution to the promotion of Human Rights and making the world a better place. We will promote the generation of knowledge through research,” he stated.
Acknowledging the fact that the 5th edition of Kampala Geopolitics Conference brings on board 15 panels with over 80 speakers to discuss contemporary issues on health, security, climate change, human rights, gender and environment, the Vice Chancellor said Makerere University is proud to be a pioneer and partner in the Kampala Geopolitics Conference.
“We value this conference as a major avenue to disseminate our research on major national and global issues. We believe it is our responsibility as a premier African university to avail the space for intellectual discourse on issues that affect the well-being of our country, continent, and humanity,” he remarked.
Speaking at the conference, Paulina Chiwangu, the UN Women Country Representative in Uganda decried the increasing violence that is inflicted on women and girls. She pointed out the burden of teenage pregnancies. According to Paulina Chiwangu, Africa has stalled far for too long in advancing and protecting the rights of women and girls. “We know violence against women is too high, teenage pregnancies are too high, and economically, the gaps between men and women are so wide and we are all losing because women are losing economically.”
“We need to be creative, innovative and to boldly think of our approaches to accelerate inclusive development and this is where we need more young people to engage.We really need young minds; we need you (young people) to be engaged to make Africa a better continent. As UN Women we support the implementation of sustainable development goals,” she stated.
H.E. Xavier Sticker, the Ambassador-Designate of France to Uganda said that the idea of the Kampala Geopolitics Conference came five years ago from one of his predecessors, and the idea was to partner with different stakeholders to debate on issues affecting humanity in general.
“We are here to build a common ground to identify what kind of action we can take together. We are here to listen to you and pass on your conclusions onwards in order to have that global discussion for global solutions to be found,” he said.
Nils Wörmer, the Director of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Regional Program Security Dailogue for East Africa said that although the debate is of high quality on different topics, there is need to reach as many interested people as possible and discuss a spectrum of solutions.
“We are confident that together we shall make this year’s event a complete success like the previous events,” he said.
#KampalaGeopolitics
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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