UDS, INSTITUTE OF LINGUISTICS TO UNDERTAKE JOINT RESEARCH (DG, SEPT 21, 2011, PAGE 11)

THE University for Development Studies (UDS) and the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT) have entered into a partnership to undertake joint research, advocacy and teaching. The two institutions would team up to facilitate the implementation of development projects in the Savannah area by using indigenous languages as a tool for effective communication. Whiles the UDS boasts of a rich experience in community outreach and research, GILLBT through its cooperative agreement with the University of Ghana’s Institute of African Studies has developed most indigenous languages in the Northern and Savannah ecological areas of Ghana. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two institutions on Monday at the premises of the UDS. The Vice-Chancellor of the UDS, Prof Haruna Yakubu and the Executive Director of GILLBT, Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah appended their signatures to the agreement on behalf of their respective institutions. As part of the partnership, GILLBT would collaborate with the UDS to translate and disseminate training materials as well as other policy documents in the Northern indigenous languages. The initial step in that direction would be to translate and disseminate the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) strategy and other related literature into the local languages of the SADA areas. The two institutions would also jointly organise next year’s Harmattan School, which is an annual intellectual platform organised by the Centre for Continuing Education and Interdisciplinary Research (CCEIR) of the UDS for various scholars to brainstorm on development issues as they pertain to Northern Ghana. Prof Yakubu described the partnership as very vital and timely, stressing that academic institutions could only make progress when they work together to complement each other’s efforts and achieve higher results. He said the UDS would keep its doors open to all institutions and organisations that are interested in partnering the university to advance the development of the Savannah. On his part, Dr Opoku-Mensah noted that the partnership marked a watershed in the history and operation of GILLBT. He said although GILLBT had been operating in the north for several years, it had never taken a giant step to play active roles in the development of the area. “Through this partnership, GILLBT would now make its presence relevant to the development of the north by using literacy as a catalyst for development,” he stated. Dr Opoku-Mensah again mentioned that GILLBT found the UDS as the right partner because both institutions had shared values that seek to relate academic work to community development. He said GILLBT had over the years developed its capacity to tap the potential of indigenous languages as a tool for national development.