UGA IPSO | Africa Initiative

UGA International Public Service and Outreach | Africa Initiative

	Africa Initiative Roundtable participants visiting a UGA cloning lab with Larry Benyshek of Animal and Dairy Sciences.

The University-wide Africa Initiative was established in July 2001 to stimulate public service and outreach-oriented projects with colleges and universities throughout Africa.

The Africa Initiative is a joint effort of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, the African Studies Institute, and the Office of International Public Service and Outreach. Participants, including faculty from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the College of Education and the College of Family and Consumer Sciences are working on a strategy that will maximize UGA's capabilities to provide multi-disciplinary, sustainable projects in Africa.

"There is a burgeoning interest in Africa among UGA faculty and staff," said Vice President for Public Service and Outreach Art Dunning. "We want to nurture that interest as well as foster unity and engagement in activities that benefit UGA as well as our partner institutions in Africa and in Georgia."

Several projects and events have been implemented under the auspices of the Africa Initiative. In Fall 2001, the Office of International Public Service and Outreach hosted a visit from Dr. D'Hamidou Boly, of Burkina Faso. In late January 2002, the Office of International Public Service and Outreach and the African Studies Institute supported a visit from 11 scholars and administrators from institutions in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire and Tunisia. In Spring 2002, the Africa Initiative, with support from the Honors Program, sponsored its first student service-learning project in Tanzania. The Africa Initiative Roundtable was hosted at UGA in April and May 2002.