The ARUA Board at its virtual meeting held on January 12, 2021, elected Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, Vice Chancellor of Makerere University as its Chair. It also elected as Co-Chair Professor Sizwe Mabizela, Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University.
The news that an effective vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 will be introduced imminently was welcomed with great enthusiasm worldwide. The consensus is that access to vaccines for low-income countries is a global responsibility.
The ARUA 2021 Biennial Conference will bring together experts from universities, research institutions, government, industry, civil society, international organizations, etc., to discuss the different steps that African economies need to take in order to face global public health challenges squarely. In reflecting on the prominent lessons from the handling of previous and current pandemics, the medium to long term implications of measures and steps taken to contain the spread of the virus in Africa will be the focus of the conference. This will be done in recognition of the interconnectedness of the various issues involved in dealing with a pandemic.
The consultancy is being commissioned by the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, to engage two consultants to review and advise on how best to achieve ARUA goals and objectives with globally competitive collaborative PhD programs. One consultant will be engaged for the (1) Natural Sciences, and the other for the (2) Humanities and Social Science disciplines.
Ernest Aryeetey, Eivind Engebretsen, Åse Gornitzka, Peter Maassen and Svein Stølen
The gigantic global scientific efforts to develop a vaccine to mitigate the devastating impact of COVID-19 on societies have reached a point where the mass production and use of effective vaccines are a reality.
ARUA’s African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR) (hosted by University of Cape Town) has launched an Inequalities Diagnostics Report for Ghana. The launch event took place on 27th November 2020. The report, which is the second to be published on inequality trends by AECEIR, was the result of a partnership between the ACEIR Ghana node, (based at ISSER, University of Ghana) and Agence Francaise de Développement (AFD).
The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) has held a virtual launch of its Vaccine Development Research Hubs. This took place on Tuesday, December 1, 2020.
The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) (www.arua.org.za) has a vacancy at its Accra Office for Office Manager/Personal Assistant to the Secretary-General.
The ARUA Centre of Excellence in Climate & Development (ARUA-CD) and the African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR) are hosting a webinar as part of their joint project on Transforming Social Inequalities through Inclusive Climate Action (TSITICA).
The Executive Committee of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) has approved the establishment of three vaccine development research hubs for western, eastern and southern Africa.