January is normally the month when many organisations either plan or review their plans for the New Year. BSU is no exception. The academic year at Gulu University started on January 8. We have since been focussing our attention on how best BSU can deliver on its fundamental and long-held objective of making Gulu a stronger university.
At the end of last year Danida Fellowship Centre (DFC) ably articulated our achievements through the article “Twelve Years of Transformation: Building Stronger Universities Programme Leaves a Lasting Mark on Gulu University”.We are very grateful to DFC for that article and the related video clips which accompany it.
We officially entered the fourth phase of BSU in June 2023 following its launch in Zanzibar. Our key themes under BSU IV are Transforming Education, and Rights, Resources and Gender.
Some members of the BSU managing team discuss BSU IV activities in January 2024. On the left are Robert Ringtho Javuru (first), Dr. Agatha Alidri (m) and Dr. Francis Atube. On the right are Prof. Susan Whyte (first), Dr. Geofrrey Tabo (m) and Assoc. Prof. Charles Nelson Okumu
BSU IV topical areas
These themes are unpacked in four topical areas: i) Lifelong Education and New ways of learning: Problem-based learning, hybrid and eLearning; ii) Sustainable Development and Climate Change Mitigation: Innovation, education and community engagement; iii) Post-conflict Policies and Practices: Hosts and Refugees, Transitional Justice; and iv), Health and Technologies: Health Rights and Changing Gender Relationships. All our activities for the next four years will be in and around those areas.
New Staff
As the BSU secretariat at Gulu, we are happy to welcome two new members to the core team that administers the programme. Dr. Francis Atube takes over from Judith Awacorach (who is now concentrating on her PhD programme) as the Deputy Coordinator in Charge of Administration and Mr. Robert Ringtho Javuru as the Academic Assistant.
Our operations in 2023
While BSU III closed in November 2022, we remained operational throughout 2023 first of all to fulfil the commitments whose delivery had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and, secondly, to effect the transition from BSU III to BSU IV. This transition has been smoothly done and we can confidently say we are now implementing the BSUIV project.
What made BSU most active last year, however, are the new projects that it gave birth to at the end of 2021, all of which are funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark through DANIDA. These are Unlocking the Potential of Green Charcoal Innovations to Mitigate Climate Change in Northern Uganda (UPCHAIN), Transforming Education: PBL Hybrid Learning - Beyond Covid-19, and Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Youth Reproductive Health in Northern Uganda (CONSCOV).
UPCHAIN
UPCHAIN, which is promoting the production and use of briquettes (green charcoal) from agricultural residues as an alternative to firewood and black charcoal, is running well and there is a lot reported through its website.
Members of the UPCHAIN team pose for a photo with leaders of Amuru District beside a piece of land that was donated by the district to Gulu University for the construction of a green charcoal facility
Transforming Education: PBL Hybrid Learning - Beyond Covid-19
Transforming Education: PBL Hybrid Learning - Beyond COVID-19 effectively started in March 2023. Six lecturers from the Faculty of Business and Development Studies were enrolled to employ ICT tools and PBL principles in the different MA programmes they deliver. The lecturers and the students are having more engagement time using these tools in teaching, learning and research and we are continuing to assess the impact of this.
CONSCOV
CONSCOV, on the other hand, has delivered a new and very fresh dimension to the meaning of Gulu University’s motto, “For Community Transformation.” This project is arguably the largest research and community outreach engagement Gulu University has had with adolescents and the youth in its two decades of existence.
Members of the CONSCOV team facilitate a research and education session at Gulu Army Senior Secondary School on the consequences of COVID-19 on the sexual and reproductive health of the youth and adolescents in northern Uganda
The CONSCOV consortium, which includes Gulu University, Gulu Regional Referral Hospital (GRRH) and Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), with support from the University of Copenhagen, has in less than two years directly reached more than three thousand youth and adolescents in Gulu City and the districts of Adjumani and Obongi.
While this is primarily a research project on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sexual and reproductive health of the youth and adolescents, Gulu University’s partnership with RHU and GRRH has enabled it to extend free testing, counselling, and treatment of some infections to the young people both in schools and outside the schools.
CONSCOV has gone as far as serving special interest groups and socially excluded youth and adolescents on the streets of Gulu and Adjumani as well as the children in the Gulu Juvenile Remand Home.
CONSCOV has become so popular to the extent that it is now demand-driven. Young people are asking for more, the teachers are asking for more, and the Government of Uganda institutions (Office of the Prime Minister in Adjumani, the Uganda Police Force and the Juvenile Remand home in Gulu) that have interacted with the project too, are asking for more.
There are so many good things that happened last year that I cannot mention all of them. But I can highlight some of the events that BSU hosted or participated in, which made us proud.
Some events that caught our attention
Under CONSCOV, in December, we hosted the Police from Aswa West Division to discuss the impact of COVID-19 and its consequences for young people as well as the safety and security of young people and the general community in northern Uganda in the aftermath of the pandemic. The meeting attracted more than 50 participants. This was a groundbreaking meeting. CONSCOV and the police are happy to work together in research and to address issues affecting young people, especially those related to sexual and reproductive health. These include rape, defilement, child marriages, incest, and increased drug abuse which is fueling other crimes by or against young people.
Former Deputy Regional Police Commander Aswa West Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Fred Kidima (l) shares a light moment with the Community Liason Officer Supretendant of Police (SP) John Bosco Nyankol during the meeting
Our dialogue with the police came a few days after an outreach activity at the Gulu children’s remand home. This visit enabled CONSCOV researchers to interact with young people detained there and understand their sexual and reproductive health experiences. We made a follow-up visit on January 22 and we provided them with reproductive health care and services. Reaching out to and serving this group felt as special as the first time we served the socially excluded youth on the streets of Gulu.
Notably, CONSCOV reached out to the greater communities through radio talk shows on Radio Favour in Gulu and Radio Aulogo in Adjumani. We involved the socially excluded youth in some of the shows and they spoke about issues that affect them, including lack of access to sexual and reproductive health care and services.
Earlier in December, BSU hosted a team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark led by Ole D. Rasmussen which was on a projects monitoring mission. Our discussion with the team, among others, focused on Private Sector Engagement, Dissemination and Linkages, and Dissemination of research findings.
At the end of November, BSU hosted a team from the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College to continue networking and benchmarking for future networks and collaboration. Also in November, we were excited to add Obongi district to the list of the communities CONSCOV reaches and serves especially to cater for the refugee children who are in that district. This followed a request from the Office of the Prime Minister.
In October we participated in the BSU concluding seminar in Tanzania where we discussed the outcomes of BSU3.
In September, our CONSCOV team participated in the African Philosophy Conference, hosted by Gulu University, and we made three presentations on our research findings so far.
In June, we were excited to join in Zanzibar our colleagues from Africa and Denmark to launch BSU IV.
In May, BSU published a policy brief which outlines nine key steps which should be followed if compensation of war victims of Northern Uganda is to be meaningful. It is titled Meaningful Reparation for Northern Uganda.
In April, CONSCOV hosted a team from HoGent University, Belgium, and we discussed potential areas of partnership on issues affecting youth and adolescents. Discussions are ongoing to affect the exchange of students between Gulu and HoGent.
In March 2023, we participated in the DFC Science Engagement seminar under the theme: Equitable Partnerships in Development Research. The seminar, held at the MS TCDC Training Centre in Arusha, Tanzania, was attended by 50 researchers from research institutions in Africa, Denmark and Australia.
In February, the BSU team met the archbishop of Gulu Archdiocese, Dr. John Baptist Odama to discuss issues that are now destabilising northern Uganda. Issues discussed included land grabbing, gender violence, defilement, trauma, and a violent floating population (locally known as Aguu), especially in Gulu City.
Update on BSU III continuing activities
Dr. Sister Rosalba Aciro (m) is congratulated by colleagues after successfully defending her PhD thesis at the end of January 2024. Courtesy photo
Concerning the BSU activities which continued into 2023, we congratulate Dr. Charles Nelson Okumu, Dr. Helen Amongin, Dr. Michael Jackson Wakwabubi, Dr. Godfrey Moses Owot, Dr. Sister Rosalba Aciro, and our pioneer study-stay beneficiary Dr. Stella Laloyo Apecu, upon completion of their PhD programmes during 2023. This brings to 17 the total number of BSU-supported PHDs which have been completed.
Additionally, the pioneers of Masters academic programmes whose development was supported by BSU are graduating this February. These are in the Faculty of Education and Humanities and the Faculty of Business and Development Studies.
The year 2023 was very productive and we are proud of what we were able to achieve in making Gulu a stronger university. We are looking forward to more achievements in 2024.
The writer, Dr. Agatha Alidri, is the BSU Coordinator.
Photos: William Odinga
