EPHAM Annual and Stakeholder Meetings 2025

The 4th EPHAM Project’s Annual- and Stakeholder- meeting was hosted by Ambo University  from 20-23rd  November 2025, bringing together key partners to review achievements and discuss strategies for future potential collaborations.

Ambo University hosted the EPHAM Project’s Annual Meeting on November 20, 2025, followed by the Stakeholder Dialogue on November 22. The events brought together key partners from Ambo University (AU), Jimma University (JU), and VID Specialized University (VID), along with representatives from four other Ethiopian higher education institutions including Adama Science And Technology University (https://www.astu.edu.et); Salale University (https://slu.edu.et); St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College (https://sphmmc.edu.et); and Wollega University (https://wollegauniversity.edu.et)

The annual- and stakeholder meetings were opened with welcoming remarks by Dr. Tesfaye Leta, EPHAM Project Coordinator and VID team leader, and Ambo University President Dr. Bayissa Leta, followed by EPHAM project partner institutions presented their contributions to the project.

The annual meeting focused on the goal, expected results, and report on the status of EPHAM project. Whereas the stakeholder meeting featured three keynote addresses. The first explored the impact of North–South collaboration projects on South–South partnerships, presented by Mulu Kitaba (AU- EPHAM team leader). The second focused on joint course development, supervision and teaching, and EPHAM experience from supervisors’ perspective, delivered by Dr. Nima Wesseltoft-Rao (VID), Dr. Åshild Gjellestad (VID), Dr. Tesfaye Leta (VID) and Dr. Mitsiwat Abebe (AU).

The third addressed the role of international offices and administrative project support in collaborative projects, sharing experiences from Jimma, Ambo and VID, presented by senior advisor Maria Tendenes (VID) and Dr. Mengistu Tulu (AU). Following these presentations, the keynote speakers participated in panel discussions on joint supervision and teaching, and also on strategies for future cooperation.

During the stakeholders meeting key project results (2022 -2025) were also reported by Dr. Tesfaye Leta. Following the report, the Stakeholder Dialogue focused on achievements and strategies for sustaining partnerships beyond the EPHAM project period (2022-2026).

The 4th EPHAM project annual meeting was concluded after evaluating the  project and setting milestone for the final project period (2026) including the 5th and final EPHAM annual- and stakeholder meetings are planned to be hosted by JU in fall 2026.

In addition to the formal and structured these meetings, AU has given wonderful hospitality to the EPHAM project team by arranging different sightseeing trips including Wonchi-Dandi creater lakes tour; Wanchi-Dandi Eco Tourism Village.