Uganda Management Institute (UMI) and Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) have signed a three-year collaborative deal, hoped to spur service delivery and human resource development
The event at UMI’s Main Institute in Kampala was witnessed by the institutions Director General (DG) Dr. James Nkata and URCS’ Secretary General (SG) Robert Kwesiga.
“Our part of the bargain is to create avenues for students and staff research, facilitate experiential learning through placements, contribute to capacity building for URCS including practical management support and short courses and contribute to joint application for grants to generate opportunities for intervention,” Nkata explained.
“As I speak I have information that URCS and our Institute Research and Innovation Centre are working to submit a response to a USAID call and I wish you good luck in that endeavor,” he hinted.
Nkata added that this move is timely given that financiers now prefer to support inter-organizational collaborations as opposed to solo undertakings.
“The interest of donors is the amalgamation of institutions, each with its unique strengths, to enable populations to benefit from the wide range of knowledge which would otherwise be limited to lecture rooms and in periodical reports shelved in offices. With this realization, donors feel that collaborative interventions especially those that are community based are very beneficial in terms of service delivery and national development.”
On his part, Kwesiga who happens to be an alumnus of UMI, praised the arrangement saying it’s a game changer in many aspects.
“Gone are the days when there was an emergency or a situation that needs support and what was needed was people who were physically able to go out. That time is long gone. So we must have people who have the skills to do research, think through issues and make critical analysis but also publish what we do,” he illustrated.
“One of the key weaknesses of the Red Cross not only here but globally, at times we don’t tell our story. And telling a story is not wolokoso (hearsay) as they say in street language but it has to be fact based and research based and in that respect without repeating what director general has said and other colleagues, this MOU addresses this concern,” Kwesiga expressed confidence.
Under the arrangement, URCS shall second staff to undertake management trainings and participate in Public Lectures and Public Policy dialogues offered by UMI.
The Humanitarian Body shall also recommend Guest Lecturers to support the development of UMI’s knowledge resources in the field of Humanities and Social Work and Disaster Risk Management.
Besides offering internship vacancies, it shall also be given a leeway to publish its research products in the Ugandan Journal of Management and Public policy studies hosted and managed by UMI.
UMI on the other hand commits to avail URCS any academic related research information that it deems necessary for programme and project planning in the field of Humanities, Social Sciences and Disaster Risk Management.
The Institute shall also nominate research associates to co-implement with URCS appropriate research, proposal development and Grants Management functions.
