The Norwegian Ambassador to Tanzania, the Comoros, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, H.E. Tone Tinnes visited Makerere University on 25^th March 2025 and met with University Management as well as researchers under the NORHED II projects. Amb. Tinnes visit begun with a courtesy call, where he was received upon arrival by Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi before interacting with the delegation from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and NORHED II researchers.

The Norad team included: Tor-Øyvind Rand, Senior Adviser, Education and Research; Solbjørg Sjøveian, Policy Director – Higher Education and Research; Thomas Poulsen, Assistant Director and Chief of Education, Higher Education and Research; Tone Margrethe Utvik, Senior Advisor, Grant Management Systems; and Karstein Haarberg, Senior Advisor, Internal Audit and Investigation Unit. Also present were staff from the Norwegian Embassy in Dar es Salaam.

NORHED is Mutually Beneficial

H.E. Tone Tinnes thanked the leadership and staff of Makerere University for a warm welcome and reiterated her Government’s commitment to continue supporting energy for development and gender equality for development programmes in partnership with the relevant Ugandan Ministries.

Amb. Tinnes added that NORHED is a very important programme in the collaboration between Uganda and Norway, not only because Uganda is the largest participant but also because of the programme’s longstanding nature and mutual benefit.

“It is not only beneficial to Uganda and Makerere University but it is also beneficial to Norway and Universities that take part from the Norwegian side” underlined Amb. Tinnes, who also lauded NORHED II’s South-South collaborations as very important.

Norway’s Impact at Mak

Prof. Buyinza in his welcome address thanked Amb. Tinnes for visiting Makerere to appraise the collaboration with Norwegian institutions which dates back to the 1960s.

“Makerere has benefited enormously from the generosity of the Government and people of Norway. You find a footprint of the Government of Norway in Makerere in many respects; in terms infrastructure, professional skills development, and technical assistance,” narrated Prof. Buyinza.

He also acknowledged gains of the specific Norwegian Programme for Capacity Building in Higher Education and Research for Development – NORHED I (2013-2019) and its successor NORHED II (2021-2026) upon which the visit was based. Uganda is the biggest partner in the NORHED II programme with twenty-one (21) out of the sixty (60) total projects, of which nineteen (19) are being implemented at Makerere University.

“Your Excellency, Makerere is old in age but we are a learning institution. We want to expand our collaboration network and consolidate our huge gains with institutions in Norway, and some of them like the University of Bergen have got a cooperation desk here” Prof. Buyinza committed.

On the future outlook, Prof. Buyinza explained Makerere’s working model of mentoring other universities in Uganda, “we are the oldest university in the region and therefore we have a duty to support upcoming public universities to build their research infrastructure.”

The Role of HEIs

Speaking on behalf of Norad, Thomas Poulsen reiterated that Norway’s support to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is based on the acknowledgement that they are essential partners of sustainable development and societal change. He nevertheless outlined significant disparities that still exist between the North and sub-Saharan Africa such as gross national enrolment ratios (75% vs. 8%) and women’s participation.

“In Norway, women were the majority in Higher Education Institutions in 1988. So Norway’s wealth is not built on oil and gas and fish and energy but it’s built on very early inclusion of females into Higher Education” shared Poulsen.

In this regard, he said that efforts to foster inclusive higher education should focus on underrepresented groups, diverse curricula, academic freedom, and equitable government sub-structures.

“Uganda is Norway’s largest Higher Education partner, with Makerere University boasting nineteen out of twenty-one projects. Makerere is a key partner, demonstrating strong institutional commitment to education and research. As Uganda’s oldest and largest University, and I am proud to say that I am an alumni myself, Makerere plays a vital role in mentoring institutions across the region” added Thomas Poulsen.

NORHED II Projects

Following the remarks, Amb. Tinnes and Norad officials received presentations from some the nineteen (19) projects the University is taking part in. Makerere was listed most in Sub-programme: 3. Climate Change and Natural Resources (6 projects), followed by Sub-programme: 5. Humanities and Social Sciences (5 projects), Sub-programme: 1. Education and Teacher Training (4 projects) as well as Sub-programme 2. Health and Sub-programme: 6. Energy with two projects apiece. Please click the link below to view the detailed list of projects.

https://news.mak.ac.ug/2021/09/mak-listed-in-19-of-60-projects-to-be-funded-under-norhed-ii/