RUFORUM Secretariat Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 was first reported in December 2019 in the Wuhan Region of China. It was named COVID-19, a shortened form of “Coronavirus Disease 2019”. The Virus spread rapidly around the World and in March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it a global pandemic. Read More
The COVID-19 Crisis Response: Supporting tertiary education for continuity, adaptation, and innovation - by World Bank Group
Tertiary education is vital for producing the caliber and diversity of graduates needed both for the economy that exists today and for economy to which a nation aspires. It fuels competitiveness and growth by preparing professionals, like managers and engineers, medical personal and teachers. Universities are also centers of research and innovation and – working with small and medium size enterprises – support regional development. Read More
African Universities Response to COVID-19, Emerging and Re-emerging Global Epidemics and Pandemic
Global epidemics and pandemics are on the rise and so are natural environmental crises. Most assessments point to Africa’s vulnerability owing to a myriad constraints including limited internal and resident scientific capacity and advancement. Education, research, science, technology and innovation play a critical role in bolstering a region’s capacity to withstand emergencies, organise, rebuild and recover and be resilient. Africa amidst the current ongoing global COVID-19 crisis as well as projected trends and challenges is in urgent need of strengthening its capacity in education, research, science, technology and innovation. Read More
RUFORUM Survey on University leaders are responsing to COVID-19
We would like to solicit from Vice Chancellors and University Leaders the level of preparedness in response to COVID-19. Every Vice Chancellor and University leader of RUFORUM member institutions is requested to complete this short survey. (See Link) , which is expected to take Not more than 10 minutes of your time. Thank you in advance for your response
Call for participation in the seminar on MOOCS e-learning to be conducted by Mohammed VI Polytechnic University UM6P (Kingdom of Morocco) & Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL (Switzerland).
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University UM6P (Kingdom of Morocco) & Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL (Switzerland), partners in the "Excellence in Africa" initiative, have decided to join forces to help mitigate the effects of the current crisis. Very concretely, they propose to make available to the consortium of African Universities members of the RUFORUM, a serie of educational resources (MOOCs, and other e-learning resources) that can be freely used by the teachers and students.
In order to present in detail our initiative and the stakes of using e-Learning during this new reality of social distancing, UM6P and EPFL are organizing a first Webinar of 1 hour on Thursday, May 14th (time TBD). The objective is on the one hand to present the resources made available and how they can be used, and on the other hand to explain the implications for each institution with, in particular, the appointment of focal points for the implementation of the project. Read more
Meeting of African Ministers for Agriculture Declaration on Food Security and Nutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic
Ministers for Agriculture of the African Union Member States, convened virtually on 16 April 2020 with the support of the African Union Commission (AUC) Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO):
DEEPLY CONCERNED that the COVID-19 pandemic poses significant challenges to the already strained health, food and nutrition security and broad socio-economic conditions in Africa. The growing direct impact of the pandemic is affecting health, in terms of morbidity and mortality, quickly overburdening health care services with negative repercussions for non-COVID-19 related health problems. The decline in demand and production from the most economically developed countries where contagion had initially hit hardest is causing a global recession, with direct repercussions in Africa. With the spread of the virus in the continent, containment measures, including social distancing and lockdowns, closing of schools, the prohibition of public gatherings and the closure of non-essential businesses and economic activities, will have far-reaching consequences. Download the Ministerial Declaration
