News
U.S. Embassy, KNUST strengthen educational ties with two new projects
The U.S. Embassy in Accra and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Kumasi, has launched the U.S. State Department Bureau of African Affairs’ University Partnerships Initiative (UPI).
According to a statement following the launch, the initiative sought to “strengthen existing ties and foster new collaboration between U.S. and African universities through faculty and student exchanges, joint research, administrative capacity-building and public-private partnerships.”
The virtual launch held at the KNUST campus, last Wednesday, was presided by Professor Prof. (Mrs) Rita Akosua Dickson, Vice-Chancellor of KNUST.
Ambassador Tibor Nagy, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, also delivered remarks from Washington, DC while representatives from the Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC) and Iowa State University (ISU) provided an overview of the projects they were undertaking at KNUST.
“In response to the urgent need for virtual education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TIEC staff have assembled higher education professionals from several universities in Texas to train 30 administrators and faculty to produce quality online and flexible learning.
“Participants will go on to train other faculty and administrators within KNUST and throughout Ghana. TIEC, in collaboration with the KNUST Business School, is implementing “Flexible Learning: Responding and Reimagining Education in Ghana,” the statement noted.
ISU, according to officials, was partnering with the KNUST College of Engineering to implement “Institutional Capacity Building through Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Collaboration.
ISU and KNUST faculty and students will partner with the Ullo Traditional Area in the Upper West Region to collaborate on small-scale community development.
The projects are expected to promote research-driven solutions to address food security, potable water security, sustainable agriculture, and improved economic opportunity.
It would also bolster the students’ real-world problem-solving abilities and globalise the undergraduate engineering curriculum at both universities.
Professor Dickson endorsed the ISU-KNUST project, saying it would “strengthen our institutional capacity towards achieving our mission and position KNUST in an era where academia-community engagement for the socio-economic development of our less privileged communities is paramount.”
“The TIEC-KNUST project propel us in our pursuit of building the needed capacity for the establishment of a more resilient and robust e-learning system that ensures seamless academic work all year round and also offer us the opportunity to transfer knowledge to individuals less privileged to access in-person learning experience from our University,” she added.
“Assistant Secretary Nagy applauded the inaugural UPI collaborations in Ghana, stating that the projects exemplify core principles in American higher education.”
He noted that leadership, excellence, and innovation in delivery of online education had become paramount as schools relied largely on virtual learning.
Officials said through UPI, the U.S. Embassy would continue to “expand existing links and promote new partnerships at the university level that will strengthen Ghana’s educational institutions as instruments of national development while enhancing the United States and Ghana’s shared goals of regional prosperity, security, and stability.”
News
Ghana-Colombia strengthens ties through diplomatic engagement
In an important diplomatic engagement, the Colombian Ambassador to Ghana H.E. Daniel Garces Carabali paid a courtesy call on the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, at his office in Accra to discuss some key areas of collaboration.
The meeting focused on pressing issues, including security, decongestion of Ghana’s prisons, prison reform programmes, training programmes, improving the welfare of prisoners and enhancing disaster management in the country.
The courtesy call underscores the growing bilateral ties between Ghana and Colombia, building on previous engagements, such as the visit of the Colombian Vice President to Ghana in 2023.
The meeting demonstrates the commitment of both nations to fostering cooperation and addressing shared challenges.
News
Ghana to host African Catholic Journalists from August 10
The Union Catholique Africaine de la Presse (UCAP), also known as the African Catholic Union of the Press, in collaboration with the Catholic Association of Media Practitioners-Ghana (CAMP-G), is set to host its prestigious Triennial Congress from August 10 to 17 August, 2025.
The programme would be held at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Legon, Accra, Ghana.
This landmark event, the most significant gathering of Catholic journalists in Africa, will bring together media professionals, researchers, and experts in digital technology from across the continent and beyond.
The theme for the Congress is: “Balancing Technological Progress and the Preservation of Human Values in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
Congress Highlights
The UCAP Congress 2025 will feature discussions and deliberations on critical issues arising from or related to integral human development, particularly within the framework of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Some of the key sub-themes to be addressed include:Corporate Social Responsibility in Managing the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Values, Deploying AI in Eco-friendly Business Start-ups in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges, Technology and the Reprogramming of Social Reality, Distortion of Reality in Social and Digital Media, Ecological Education and Action Against Unsustainable Exploitation of Natural Resources, and Media and the Promotion of the Recommendations of the Synod on Synodality in Africa.
Participants will include media professionals from both ecclesiastical and lay organisations, media researchers and academics, representatives from the Vatican, government agencies, NGOs, civil society, and the digital technology sector.
Objectives of the Congress
The primary goal of this Congress is to strengthen the capacities of media professionals and educate the public on the necessity of preserving human values amid rapid technological progress. Specific objectives include; Training 100 media practitioners in Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies, with a focus on balancing innovation and human values.
This will include promoting ethics and bioethics in technical research and technological innovations through media.
Advocating for human values such as respect for life, human dignity, charity, solidarity, and human rights and assessing the impact of technological progress to better understand the challenges, risks, and opportunities presented by AI will be part of the objectives.
UCAP is a continental organisation dedicated to promoting communication within the Catholic Church and its partners in Africa. With a mission to foster spiritual growth, collaboration, and responsible journalism, UCAP works to spread the Gospel, uphold human values, and support developmental initiatives across Africa and beyond.
UCAP is an independent, autonomous, non-political, and non-profit organisation comprising African Catholic journalists, communicators, academics, researchers, and institutions in various media fields.
