Dear NEMRA fraternity!

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the New Year 2025.

To our esteemed Board of Directors, welcome to the new year and thank you for supporting
the executive. Your trust, dedication and hard work are pivotal to our success.

NEMRA membership, we appreciate your support, ideas and fresh perspectives. We extend
an invitation for your continued and active participation in the various activities that
promote NEMRA’s agenda.

To our partners, both in-country and out of country, with whom we have forged impactful
partnerships and collaborations. We dearly thank you for the support.
Looking ahead into 2025, NEMRA remains steadfast and resilient in its commitment to
serve its core mandate to create impact. In this ever-changing research and business
environment, I would like to encourage all of us to actively harness the available
opportunities, and take on any challenges but with the aim to create impactful change to
the community. Put differently, let us all remember that “change brings opportunities.”
This year, by fully drawing on the strengths of diversity and collective capabilities, I
would like to see us step up our individual and collective efforts with a focus on
harnessing growth for NEMRA.

In the last 6 months of our administration, the ExCom has coordinated and delivered
impactful initiatives; monthly seminars, conducted two outreach programs/ dissemination
workshops for research and research products for Northern Uganda at Muni University,
and for Eastern Uganda at Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU). The exCom further
organized a ladies’ breakfast meeting, and an end of year NEMRA networking function.
We encourage you to always participate in NEMRA networking activities. Also, through
our coordination and support, a number of research proposals are under review and we
await positive feedback. Please, at least join a proposal writing group, ExCom is ready
to support you!

On an unpleasant note, our network level of compliance to subscription need a push.
Today, out of over 200 of our registered members, less than 100 are actively subscribed.
I would like to take this opportunity therefore to reiterate the importance of compliance
on this front. To encourage on this, ExCom is in the process of procuring an IT system
that gives real time updates and notifications to all members at the expiry of your
subscription.

In this quarter, January to March and beyond, ExCom has developed calendar and to-do
list merged into one dashboard view to be populated by all Departments to harmonize and
streamline operations. This will be shared on all NEMRA communication platforms for
membership interaction. Some of the activities for your interaction as planned include
write shop, mentorship and training sessions, winning grants and proposal writing
coaching among others. Important for us all as early as now, NEMRA will host the 2nd
annual conference on 1st and 2nd July, 2025 at Makerere University, FST conference
Hall. Prepare your abstracts and submit accordingly.

I would like to conclude my New Year’s message and greetings by wishing you all a healthy
and fulfilling year. Let us all come together to harness the opportunities as well as change,
and make this a year a fulfilling one for NEMRA.

On behalf of the NEMRA Executive and my behalf, I wish you all a happy 2025!

Karlmax Rutaro, PhD
NEMRA Managing Director