Mozambique (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane) UEM and Italy celebrate 45 years of cooperation

The UEM and the Republic of Italy held today (25/11), in Maputo, the solemn ceremony celebrating 45 years of bilateral cooperation, of which 70 cooperation instruments were signed with various institutions in the north, center and south of that country for the implementation and funding of various initiatives at UEM, with emphasis on the areas of Agronomy and Forestry Engineering, Architecture and Physical Planning, Medicine, Sciences, Economics, Literature and Social Sciences, Biotechnology, Informatics and Communication Technologies, Gender Affairs, Museums, Documentation and Archives and Culture and Art.
Through the cooperation between UEM and Italy, it was possible to guarantee specialized Italian technical assistance in the fields of teaching, research, extension and innovation in UEM, and also allowed the consolidation of the place and role of the university in the national, regional and international context.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Prof. Doctor Daniel Nivagara, recognized the support that the Italian Government has provided to respond to the challenges of national development and the contribution to the training of human resources, the most important asset for promoting growth and national socioeconomic development.
The minister also stressed that the past and present of this cooperation is healthy, stating that several Programs and Actions are in progress that operationalize cooperation between Mozambique and Italy in the field of Science, Technology and Higher Education, such as the RINO Program – “Resources, Innovation and Development for conservation areas” and “Preservation of Ecosystems for Sustainable Development”, which is being implemented by UEM.
“We are aware that throughout these 45 years of cooperation between the UEM and the Italian Republic, represented by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and by various Italian public and private institutions of teaching, research and extension, as well as by donor and Italian funding, it was possible for the UEM to sign cooperation instruments with various Italian entities, platforms that have certainly contributed to the institutional strengthening of the UEM and to the achievement of its strategic goal of becoming an institution of higher education of excellence and research,” he said.
Afterwards, the Rector of UEM, Prof. Doctor Manuel Guilherme Júnior, expressed the desire to continue to count on the support of Italian institutions, particularly the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in identifying new cooperation synergies and in the search for funding for the implementation of the Strategic Plan (2018-2028 ).
“This support was based on the creation, equipping and operation of academic units; in the training of UEM staff, in the implementation of new undergraduate, masters and doctoral courses; in carrying out studies and projects or research programs; equipping laboratories, libraries and acquiring equipment; in the rehabilitation of infrastructures with different purposes, acquisition of rolling stock, among other immeasurable cooperation actions,” he said.
The Ambassador of Italy in Mozambique, Dr. Gianni Bardini gave a historical perspective of the cooperation relations between the two institutions, recalling Italy’s first mission to Mozambique, in March 1976, having identified three sectors considered priorities for cooperation, namely, health, university education and production agricultural. This was followed by an UEM mission to Rome at the time led by Professor Ganhão (first Rector of UEM), in July 1976, which created the basis for university cooperation with UEM and identified areas of health, nutrition, engineering and geology .