Haramaya University Conducts Staff Mobility Under the Framework of the UNITAFRICA Project
Haramaya University (HU) conducts staff mobility under the framework of the UNITAFRICA project in the period 2-6 June 2025 by hosting Prof. Maria Sassi from the University of Pavia, Italy. Empowering the Academic Cooperation between Italy and Africa for Fostering the Quality and Effectiveness of the Higher Education Systems in a Mutual Learning Environment (UNITAFRICA) is an initiative involving 21 Italian Universities and 78 African universities located in SSA.
Prof. Maria’s visit to HU follows the successful physical meeting of the UNITAFRICA consortium held at the Italian Cultural Institute in Addis Ababa on 15-16 May 2025. More on the meeting can be found here. Prof. Maria’s visit to Haramaya University is aimed at enhancing teaching, research and capacity-building of the university through a joint training of staff, scientific seminar series, graduate students’ research skills development, project proposal development, as well as strategic research on food and nutrition security.
Prof. Maria was warmly welcomed by Dr. Jemal Y. Hassen, President of Haramaya University and member of the UNITAFRICA project, upon arrival.
On the first day of her mission at HU, Prof. Maria delivered a seminar on the essence of the UNITAFRICA project, including the main objectives, work packages, training opportunities, and thematic courses. She also made a visit to the Africa Center of Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation and discussed with Dr. Bobe Bedadi, the Deputy Center Leader, and Dr. Mulugeta Damie, the Project Manager.
Prof. Maria also participated in a joint grant proposal development and management training co-organized by the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. Dr. Kedir Jemal, Dean of CAES, made an introductory remark emphasizing the need to train the College’s staff in this area and contribute towards the university’s move to autonomy.
In that event, Prof. Maria provided capacity-building training for 45 academic staff of the CAES together with other experts from the university. She specifically highlighted the European Union Erasmus+ opportunities in relation to capacity building in higher education, and discussed with participants of the training on how to prepare a grant-winning project proposal.
Drs. Mulugeta, Eric and Muluken also contributed to the various components of proposal development by sharing their experiences, encouraging young faculty staff and motivating them.
Dr. Jemal Y. Hassen concluded the three days training by awarding certificate and gifts to Prof. Maria, as well as certificates to all the trainees. In his closing remark, he reiterated the university’s commitment to investing in staff capacity-building activities and continued support to research endeavours.
Prof. Maria also delivered a seminar on advanced research methods and data analytics for postgraduate students in the Africa Center of Excellence for Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation.
The UNITAFRICA project at HU is coordinated by Dr. Muluken G. Wordofa. According to him, the project will undertake mobility of three staff members to the University of Pavia and one staff to Kenyatta University in the near future.