RESEARCH COLLABORATION AND GRANTS SEEKING MEETING INVOLVING RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS HELD AT UEAB
At the Baraton Community Training and Research Centre, July 1, 2026, marked the conclusion of a three-day in-person meeting between researchers from three universities – the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton (UEAB) University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and the University of Calgary and a Kenyan Non-governmental Organization, the Kisumu Medical and Education Trust (KMET). The purpose of the meeting was two-fold: First, to discuss the possibility of formalizing a research collaboration through institutional agreements to entrench research work that has been going on for more than a year so far, between researchers from UEAB, UKZN and U Calgary.
The second aim of the meeting was to participate in the development and writing of the Letter of Interest (LOI) for the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Call on Addressing Neglected Areas of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa (ANeSA), which opened on June 29, 2026. The ANeSA initiative, is co-funded by International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Global Affairs Canada (GAC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), to support up to six new Implementation Research Teams working to improve neglected sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for underserved populations across sub-Saharan Africa.
Prof. J. Msafiri, the Vice-Chancellor UEAB, welcomed the delegates and reaffirmed the University’s commitment to international research collaboration, interdisciplinary partnerships, and high-quality research addressing public health challenges in Africa.
Representatives from partnering institutions, Dr. Roz Zulla from the University of Calgary and Caroline Nyandat of Kisumu Medical and Education Trust (KMET) also expressed commitment to sustaining the collaboration.
Prof. E.N. Khalema of the University of KwaZulu-Natal used the analogy of marriage to say that the past one-year up to the present as courtship period which he hopes will materialize into marriage that not only focuses on research collaboration but also teaching areas and exchange programmes across disciplines, between and among the three universities.
In keeping with the funders’ requirement, the letter of interest will be submitted by a consortium comprising: the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Principal Applicant); the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton (Collaborator); University of Calgary (a Co-Applicant from a Canadian-based research institution/ University); Kisumu Medical and Education Trust (a Kenyan NGO) and Gugu Dlamini Foundation (a South African NGO). Both NGOs are implementing programmes/ projects/services in the thematic areas of the call). Prof. E.N. Khalema (UKZN), Samuel Ochuodho (UEAB) and Dr. Roz Zulla (University of Calgary) were nominated as the Principal Applicant, Collaborator and Co-applicant respectively.
