MOU signed between Makerere University and University of Iceland
The GEST programme at the University of Iceland and Makerere University‘s School of Women and Gender Studies (SWGS) in Kampala, Uganda, have collaborated for many years. Several master‘s students from SWGS at Makerere have completed the GEST diploma programme, as part of their master‘s programme; a short course on Gender and Climate Change was developed and piloted in 2010-12 through a collaboration led by GEST and the School of Women and Gender Studies; and in January 2020, GEST announced a Ph.D. scholarship to be awarded to a Ugandan national, and involving cooperative administration and specialists both from Makerere and the University of Iceland. Looking to the future, both SWGS and GEST aim to further strengthen and widen their cooperation.
To celebrate and advance this relationship, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the University of Iceland and Makarere University was signed on 12 February 2020 at Makerere‘s beautiful campus in Kampala. The MOU between the two universities was signed by the Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Dr. Barnabas Nawangwe, with School of Women and Gender Studies Dean Dr. Sarah Ssali, and the honorable Unnur Orradóttir Ramette, Ambassador of Iceland to Uganda, on behalf of Dr. Jón Atli Benediktsson, rector of the University of Iceland and Dr. Irma Erlingsdóttir, director of GEST. The MoU covers activities such as exchange of students and faculty, research and publishing collaboration, the organizing of symposia, short courses, and conferences, and more.
The GEST programme wholeheartedly rejoices in this cementing of our already strong friendship and looks to the future with high expectations for the expanded opportunities this agreement will bring.