This November 12th 2009, KHI joins the Association of African Universities (AAU) to celebrate African University day. The AAU is an international non-governmental organization set up in November 1967 by Universities in Africa to promote cooperation among themselves and between them and the international academic community. With a current membership of 212 higher education and research institutions, drawn from all regions and language groups within the continent, the AAU aspires to be the voice of the African higher education community. The mission of the AAU is to raise the quality of higher education in Africa and strengthen its contribution to African development by fostering cooperation and collaboration among its member institutions; providing support to their core functions of teaching, learning, research and community engagement; and facilitating critical reflection on consensus-building, and finding solutions to issues affecting higher education achievements and the development of Africa.  KHI, as member of this association is proud to join the AAU so as to reflect on the past and find solutions to the problems affecting higher education sector, especially in the health care fields, and find solutions to them. Together with the AAU, KHI meditates on this year‘s theme, which is “African Universities: Linkages with the Productive Sector.”
It has been noted that many universities in Africa have lagged behind because of the neglect of the long years in their administrative academic services. This has rendered them incapable of making a significant contribution to technology development, industry and other productive sectors of the economy. Also this has abated the production of the productive sectors because of lack of innovation. Unlike the developed world where a strong partnership between industry and universities and institutions of higher learning exists, in Africa, there is very little linkage between universities and industries. Consequently, a mismatch between skills acquired by graduates from universities and those required by the productive sector persists and has caused graduate unemployment in many parts of Africa.

Having noticed the seriousness of the problem of the quality of the given skills, the AAU have chosen the mentioned theme in order to encourage African Universities to play an active role in the industrial development of Africa by developing a strong strategic partnership that will certainly boost education for sustainable development intended to improve the welfare of Africans, mobilizing people and involving them in the socio-economic activities that build their capacity to work hard for their development. African Universities also need to encourage strong collaboration between themselves and business industry ,which not only ensures that graduates coming out of the universities are more readily employable, are up to date with the rapidly changing world of work ,and have the basic skills required by modern industry, but in time can be entrepreneurs in their own right. Once this partnership is in place, the industry will in return provide a vital practical training environment from which students will gain experience from before leaving university. In addition, industry can give financial support to academic staff and graduate students to enable them to undertake commissioned applied research on its behalf.
In order to implement the partnership between Universities and the industry and business sector so as realize the potential from it, African Universities should stimulate innovation, excellence and research oriented education. They should provide up to date equipment, promote linkages in research and education, and at last provide career opportunities for promising young scientists.

KHI WORKS FOR THE WELFARE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RWANDANS

Dr. NDUSHABANDI Desire
Rector,
Kigali Health Institute

Kigali Health Institute strives to develop the population’s welfare through health care, environment and sustainable development of Rwandans through the training of health workers capable to deal with a number of challenges at the global arena with an emphasis on our country. Rwanda cannot achieve the goals and objectives of 2020 vision, Millennium Development goals and EDPRS goals unless the health sector is strengthened. Therefore KHI, in order to contribute to the government mission of building an independent and developed Rwanda free from diseases and illnesses, has the mission of training and develop human resource for Rwanda’s health sector, proficient in most modern knowledge and skills, and committed to serving Rwandans of all walks of life. With this humane heart of improving the quality of health for individuals, families and communities by qualified health personnel at the operational and managerial levels, the institute set the objectives which must be achieved by students, the institute’s administration and teaching staff. These include:

• Training a sufficient number of qualified nurses and paramedical personnel capable of providing quality medical services
• Training qualified environmental and other community based health personnel who will provide disease preventive and health promotion services
• Improving the  performance of health personnel through continuing education
• Offering continued training to the personnel that teaches professional health subjects in schools
• Promoting technology in the health sector
• Promoting research and advocacy for the purpose of improving health care
• Teaching strategies relating to safeguarding public health

To fully achieve objectives that reflect our vision of being a center of excellence in the training and development of health professionals, we develop activities of teaching and learning that equip graduates with the capacity to serve the community in health services delivery, either working for public and private health institutions or even initiating work themselves. We carry out research and involve ourselves in programs of development and give service to the community. KHI curriculum in all its departments provides answers to health and environmental related issues facing Rwanda. The response and the production KHI graduates are giving in different health and environmental institutions are to be hailed. In the same perspective of giving service to the community, KHI has put in place a dental clinic that operates in the institute to offer dental care services to the community. KHI will soon open other clinics in various departments to keep on delivering health services to the community. KHI has also set up values which are part and parcel of their corporate integrity and credibility while dealing with the public, collaborators, partners and stakeholders. These include health lifestyle, equity and respect, creativity and research, professionalism, accountability, transparency, good governance, quality assurance and standardization.

STRATEGIES TAKEN TO FULLY REALIZE OUR MISSION
No institution of higher learning can fully realize its mission if it does not develop strong policies that empower people to assume responsibilities that preserve their sustainable developmental activities leading to a better future. We have achieved this through the quality; efficiency and the worth of curriculum packages we deliver to the students, with the purpose of keeping on strengthening the productive sector of our country. Hence; in delivering health related courses to our beneficiaries, we do not limit ourselves to the theoretical knowledge from books. We give a clinical practice at the end of every theoretical course. We also encourage students and lecturers as well as staff members to participate actively in health research oriented activities which help to improve the quality of the services KHI gives to the community. We need to keep on working with the community in order to give them access to our services and benefit feedback on our services delivery. Through health awareness communication programs, we hope to strongly change the community’s old attitudes and mentalities that prevent some people from not accessing health services offered to them. We plan to mobilize the population to benefit our services wholly so as to retain a healthy lifestyle all along their lives.

As the theme of African University day incites us, we need to develop scientific research that will link us with industry and other private sector institutions here in Rwanda and abroad.  Such partnership will play an important role in setting conducive environment that will ensure social, economic, environmental and overall inter-generational equity within the frameworks of the Millennium Development Goals, EDPRS papers and Rwanda’s Vision 2020.
To make this dream a reality, Kigali Health Institute puts an emphasis on investing in the concept of sustainability leading to  the full range of social, economic and environmental sustainability issues. We seek to engage with Rwandan communities about addressing the health and environmental problems Rwanda still faces.

So far, KHI has linked itself with health training institutions and NGOs within and outside Rwanda. This partnership helps the Institute in improving the quality of delivered subjects, staff exchange programs, capacity building, research and training health professionals. The Institute wants also to strengthen an e-learning program that will help in introducing ICT in medicine as well as technological health services delivery. However, the program is still in its infancy; hence we need to collaborate with industry sectors and other actors such as communication companies so that they offer their contribution in strengthening this technology step in Rwanda’s hospitals and dispensaries supporting KHI health capacity building.  
On this celebration of African University Day, KIGALI HEALTH INSTITUTE pledges to keep on offering an excellent and efficient education that will always run health services in and outside Rwanda qualitatively bearing in mind the ethical values KHI embraces. We promise to engage ourselves in changing the lives of Rwandans and make them the manpower that is free from illnesses and diseases through our educational programs, research, health and environment awareness services, which we hope will shape and meet  Rwandans’ sustainable development policies appropriately. We call upon industries and other services other than health services institutions to join KHI, and together we care for the health and environmental resources of our country. We also aspire to equip students with innovative and entrepreneurial skills that will boost economic sectors of production in Rwanda.

Vice Rector in charge of Academics and Research
Dr. Kabagabo Chantal
UHAWENIMANA Thierry Claudien
Public Relations Officer
Kigali Health Institute