The ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) funded by USAID is a partnership of 20 African universities in 13 countries. It is led by Makerere University with the Initiative for Disaster Resilience and Humanitarian Affairs Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, Stanford University and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) as partners. RAN is one of eight development labs under the Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN) in the office of Science and Technology (OST), USAID. The RAN program is led by Prof. William Bazeyo (Makerere University, Uganda) the HESN Development Lab Director for RAN.

RAN will strengthen the resilience of communities by nurturing and scaling innovations from the different universities. It will apply science and technology to strengthen the resilience of African communities against natural and man-made stresses. Its objectives are to:

  1. Design and operationalize a scientific, data-driven and evidence-based resilience framework for Sub-Saharan Africa that builds on the resources already engaged through the RAN.
  2. Strengthen resilience at the individual, household and community levels through innovative technologies and approaches to development, which will be identified, incubated, tested and scaled through the RAN, in collaboration with its partners.
  3. Enhance resilience-related knowledge and share it globally, engaging students, faculty, staff, and development experts from around the world to collaborate on solving resilience related problems.

Development and humanitarian aid have been historically addressed on a project-by-project basis within different sectors including health, education, and agriculture among others. Although these efforts have saved lives and met immediate program objectives, they have not increased the capacity of affected populations to withstand future shocks and stresses.

RAN will hence adopt a resilience based approach to programming that provides a framework for analyzing resilience and enables people to discover how to be more resilient to shocks and stresses.

To achieve this, RAN will engage a wide network of students and faculty members in improving well-being though generating local innovative solutions to specific development challenges in African communities.

RAN Universities 

Eastern Africa Resilience Innovation Lab, Uganda

  • Makerere University
  • Gulu University
  • National University of Rwanda
  • University of Kinshasa
  • Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences
  • University of Nairobi
  • Makerere University Business School-(MUBS)
  • Mbarara University

Horn of Africa Resilience Innovation Lab, Ethiopia

  • Jimma University, Ethiopia
  • Addis Ababa University
  • Bule-Hora University
  • Benadir University

Southern Africa Resilience Innovation Lab, South Africa

  • University of Pretoria, South Africa
  • Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)
  • University of Limpopo
  • Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University
  • Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University

West Africa Resilience Innovation Lab, Ghana

  • University for Development Studies
  • University of Ghana
  • Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) University, Senegal
  • University of Bamako

USA Based Partners

  • Stanford University
  • George Washington University
  • Center for Strategic and International Studies

RAN Countries

  • Uganda
  • Rwanda
  • DRC
  • Tanzania
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • Zimbabwe
  • Malawi
  • Ethiopia
  • Kenya
  • Ghana
  • Senegal
  • Mali