Dungu (N/R), Feb. 2, GNA - The University for Development Studies (UDS) and the University of Winnipeg (UW), Canada, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on academic, research collaboration and exchange program.

Professor Haruna Yakubu, Vice Chancellor of UDS and Mr Wayne Dunn, Special Envoy of the President of the University of Winnipeg signed for their respective Universities.

Briefing the media at the signing ceremony on Thursday, in Tamale, Professor Gordana Kranjac, the Director of International Relations of UDS, said the MOU sought to encourage and facilitate professional and academic development of lecturers and professors.

The MOU would explore opportunities for partnerships between UW’s Master in Development Practice (MDP) programme and UDS’s current and future programming, including exploring requirements for establishing a satellite campus at UDS with the guidelines agreed on by the MDP Global Network.

Prof Kranjac said the scope of the MOU would also search for prospects to facilitate programme partnership between UW’s Masters in Environmental Resource Development Economics (ERDE), and a Masters level program in Business, Environment and Community currently being developed by UDS.

“The collaboration will help to design and develop a project to better utilize the outputs of the UDS’s Third Trimester Field Practice Programme (TTFPP) to enhance community development in the host communities,” she said.

Prof Kranjac said UW would help design and develop a database to make the TTFPP report electronically available to communities, researchers, development stakeholders and others, in a manner that would support local community development.

She said as part of the MOU, there would be a support component for the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) in the development and implementation of the Millennium Village Project (MVP) in Northern Ghana.

Mr Dunn said UW perceived UDS as one of the promising universities poised to train students to help address the nation’s developmental challenges, especially in the three northern regions.

He said the UW and UDS would work together to establish their joint capacity to manage and implement development projects in northern Ghana, adding that, the pact would connect theory with practice.