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10 July 2019 | Story Zamuxolo Feni | Photo Johan Roux
Photo-MedicalStudents
Head of the University of the Free State School of Clinical Medicine Prof Nathaniel Mofolo (left) standing with the medical students who were about to board one of the newly-introduced vehicles that will ferry students to and from their work stations for their practical training.
In an effort to ensure the safety and convenience of undergraduate students doing their practical training at clinical platforms in Bloemfontein, the University of the Free State (UFS) – in collaboration with the Free State Department of Health (DoH) – has initiated a programme to transport undergraduate students to and from the respective clinical platforms.

UFS and Free State Department of Health joining forces for student safety

The Department of Health is providing a fleet of six minibuses and Kombis, as well as drivers for the vehicles. The transport is available to the students at no cost, from 06:00 to 23:00 every day as well as on weekends and public holidays.

Prof Nathaniel Mofolo, Head of the School of Clinical Medicine at the UFS, said, “This is the first initiative of its kind that the university has had with the provincial Department of Health. We are thankful for this initiative, as it will greatly assist in securing the safety of our students.”

More students from Health Sciences set to benefit

The initiative started on the morning of 8 July 2019, when groups of medical students boarded mini-buses and Kombis to the Pelonomi Hospital, National Hospital, Free State Psychiatric Complex, and the Mangaung University Community Partnership Programme (MUCPP).

Prof Mofolo said there was a firm intention from both parties to extend the programme to undergraduate students in the School of Nursing, as well as to students in the School of Allied Health Professions during August 2019.

According to Prof Mofolo, the decision to implement the transport programme was taken after student safety and wellness concerns were taken into consideration. “Although students can make use of the service on a voluntary basis, we have already received feedback that the service is being put to good use,” said Prof Mofolo.

The safety of undergraduate students doing their practical training at Pelonomi Hospital has been in the spotlight last month after the attempted rape of a medical intern, as well as the robbery of a medical officer in the parking area of the hospital. “We are hopeful that the transport programme will prevent the occurrence of similar incidents,” said Prof Mofolo.

Over the past month, the UFS, the DoH, and the executive management of Pelonomi Hospital have been working tirelessly to ensure the implementation of an agreed Safety and Security Plan, hence placing the safety of students, staff, and patients first.

 

News Archive

UFS awards honorary doctorate to global peace ambassador Dr Lakhdar Brahimi
2015-07-07

Professor Heidi Hudson, Director of the Centre for Africa Studies at the UFS and Dr Lakhdar Brahimi.
Photo: Mike Rose from Mike Rose Photography

The Faculty of the Humanities and Centre for Africa Studies rewarded the contributions of Dr Lakhdar Brahimi, a prominent global peace leader, with an honorary doctorate on Thursday 2 July 2015.

The conferment formed one of the highlights of the 2015 Winter Graduations. Dr Brahimi’s work as a United Nations’ (UN) envoy, and African peace leader of note, was deeply respected by the university. Professor Heidi Hudson, Director of the Centre for Africa Studies at the UFS, accepted the PhD on his behalf.

In his acceptance speech, read by Prof Hudson at the Chancellor’s Dinner the same evening, Dr Brahimi expressed his gratitude to the university. “I deeply appreciate your generous recognition, and even now, in the twilight years of my life, I shall try to be worthy of your confidence in everything I say or do.”

“My generation did its share: its successes and its failures are things of the past. We must accept to be judged by you, the graduates. You, the young graduates here at the University of the Free State, and your fellow members of the African intellectual elite, have an exciting opportunity to take on the challenges and fulfil the dreams you have. We must accept to be judged by you.”

Algerian-born Dr Brahimi was first involved with the UN in 1992 as rapporteur to the Earth Summit. Distinctively, he is the most-frequently appointed special envoy of the UN. Amongst many other countries, he has worked as a mediator for South Africa, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Burundi, Angola, Liberia, Nigeria, Sudan, and Côte d’Ivoire on behalf of the UN.

Significant peacekeeping efforts in South Africa (1993- 1994)

The ambassador– in his capacity as special representative to South Africa from December 1993 to June 1994 –played a direct role in South Africa’s democratic transition.

Prof Hudson expressed appreciation for the ambassador’s role in facilitating a peaceful transition from South Africa’s Nationalist government into the current democratic dispensation.

“One of the reasons we selected him as recipient of the honorary doctorate, is because of what he did for the African continent,” she said.

In addition, she commented Dr Brahimi for being a living testament of Ubuntu. “He has displayed an ethic of humanism in everything that he has done, in the way that he has mediated in certain conflicts - his main contribution is as a mediator.

According to Hudson, his humility, modesty, and generosity are the epitome of Ubuntu which states that “I am because we are.”

Dr Brahimi as a global peace practitioner

Dr Brahimi served as Undersecretary-General of the Arab League, Arab League Special Envoy for Lebanon, and Foreign Minister of Algeria.

The UN Peace-building Commission was established as a result of recommendations in his2000 Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations (Brahimi Report).

Since 2007, Dr Brahimi has been a member in The Elders - an alliance chaired by Kofi Annan -of peace and human rights advocates including Desmond Tutu, Graça Machel, Mary Robinson, and Jimmy Carter. His passion for justice led to his membership in the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor.

In 2010, he was Laureate of the Special Jury Prize for Conflict Prevention, awarded by the Chirac Foundation (France), which promotes international peace and security.

Dr Brahimi’s influence in Peace Education

The Brahimi Report has had an indelible impact on scholars specialising in the broad field of peace operations. Dr Brahimi’s writings have also contributed to knowledge on post-conflict reconstruction and development (PCRD), a signification part of the African Union’s narrative.

He is a distinguished senior fellow at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics. He has taught a postgraduate course on Conflict Resolution at Sciences Po, Paris (2011); is Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University; and is affiliated to the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton, where he was a visiting professor from 2006 to 2008.

In addition, Dr Brahimi is a founding member of the French-language Journal of Palestine Studies, and a board member of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.


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