UoG hosts a delegation from Edna Adan University, Somaliland
On the January 9, 2023 the University of Gondar hosted a delegation from Edna Adan University, Somaliland which includes top ranking administrative heads and the President of the University Dr. Edna Adan. The two universities, being pioneer institutions of the medical sciences, met to discuss on common goals and forging a partnership to work with one another. Discussions were held in the university’s Senate Hall and representatives of various departments and offices from UoG’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences were present.
Edna Adan University is one of four medical universities in Somaliland and boasts a wonderful track record. As the top ranked school in neighboring Somaliland, the university hopes to train and grow into a world class, quality institution in the near future. The medical school was founded by Dr. Edna Adan who was the previous First Lady of Somaliland and who was later the Foreign Minister. She returned to her native country of Somaliland after a career with the World Health Organization, and committed her life’s work to health crisis endangering the lives of many women and children in her country.
Dr. Asrat Atsedeweyn, the President of the University of Gondar, welcomed the guests and shared his delight in hosting the representatives of a sisterly country. Subsequently, he went in detail on his vision of creating a more stable and prosperous Africa. He shared, “Throughout the decades an ever-changing world has created opportunities for African nations to play an increasing role in the global community” and the he alluded to creating more partnerships with not only European and Western institutions but also stressed the importance of working hand in hand with African universities.
Currently the University of Gondar has engaged positively with various institutions in the African continent including, but not limited to, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. On this matter the president shared, “I believe that Edna Adan University’s presence with us today can only create a more suitable situation for our region where Edna Adan University and other Universities in Somaliland will be working hand in hand with the University of Gondar to help build our region and continent.”
Moving forward both universities shared their commitment to work together to strengthen their common bonds. Possible areas of collaboration include joint program establishment, staff student exchange, joint research projects and capacity building initiatives. All representatives of the University of Gondar expressed their readiness to establish more ties with African based universities and pledged to make it a priority to further the cause of the continent.
