A week long annual review meeting is convened at the University of Rwanda headquarters. The meeting is organized in the framework of Sweden Programme for Research, Higher Education and Institutional Advancement support to University of Rwanda and seeks to evaluate the implementation approaches with a view to improve on prospective planned activities.

A section of participants in the meeting.

In his welcoming remarks Prof. Philip Cotton the University of Rwanda Vice Chancellor hailed the Sweden Program for its significant support to UR especially in the improvement of ICT, research and staff capacity development. He added that the collaboration has taken Rwandan education system to a new level while promoting research culture among the University academics. .

Prof Cotton's welcoming remarks during the Annual Review Meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Mikael Boström the Head of Development Cooperation at Sweden Embassy informed that the Programme support is aligned with the ambitions of the Government of Rwanda to be a knowledge based economy as imbedded in the Country’s EDPRS and Vision 2020. He added that the support is not limited to education but it also creates conditions for UR to become a research based University.

Mr. Boström from Sweden Embassy addressing participants.

“The mandate of the University is not only to educate a new generation of experts but also represent forums for critical analysis, knowledge production and innovation,” he said.

Boström went on noting the importance of annual review meeting which is to discuss opportunities and challenges encountered in the course of implementation. He concluded that there is a possibility to extend another 5 years on the current Programme Support which is ending in 2018. According to him, the Embassy is looking forward to engaging dialogue with the University of Rwanda on ways of supporting research capacity building on Research and postgraduate training needs and the country’s prioritized areas.

Participants in the meeting.

Mr. Raymond Ndikumana is the Overall Coordinator of the UR-Sweden programme in Rwanda. In his remarks, he reminded the participants about the objective of the programme being the use and production of scientific knowledge of international quality for development of Rwanda. He took participants through the activities that the Programme has supported at UR on top of its main mission including UR Strategic Plan, validation of various policies like consultancy, recovery, gender policies and unit cost survey to mention but a few

Mr Ndikumana talking about objective & activities of the program.

With regard to instructional technology, Ndikumana said that the program is working on some aspects of anti-plagiarism and tools are in place while modules are already uploaded through e-learning platform in the quest to uphold online learning and teaching.

In the course of the meeting participants were able to witness some of the Programme supported activities through the projection of a documentary film. The week long meeting will mainly feature presentations from clusters grouped into various sub-programmes which include but not limited to Postgraduate, Training, ICT, Agriculture, Science and Technology.

Dr Emilia Molnar made a presentation on how UR Sweden Program works with anti-corruption.

Dr Charles Murigande Deputy Vice Chancellor Institutional Advancement commending the program support to UR.

Mr Pudence Rubingisa the Deputy Vice Chancellor Finance & Admin during the meeting.

Prof. Nelson Ijumba the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics & Research moderating sessions.

Participants pose for a group photo.

Story written by:
Mr. Darius Murangwa
Public Relations & Communication Officer