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About

A priest, smiling, holds hands with two women in a crowd. The woman on the left wears a white sweater and glasses. The woman on the right wears a red and black shirt. Others in the crowd behind them clap and sing.
Rev. Robert A Dowd, C.S.C., with parishioners in Dandora, Kenya

Notre Dame has a long history in East Africa. Their presence started with an initiative called The Universities Partnership for Research, Outreach, and Development (UPFORD), in Nnindye, Central Uganda. The program was domiciled at Uganda Martyrs University and was aimed at illustrating human development in action by providing support to the residents of Nnindye in order to achieve sustainable social and economic development. This initiative ran from 2009 through to 2015 and was aimed at demonstrating the impact of the community interventions. Additional projects involving faculty from the Department of Economics include the evaluation of a network of Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) groups that were aimed at leveraging local knowledge amongst lenders to provide loans for agricultural activities.

Following Notre Dame’s engagement in East Africa since 2009, Notre Dame Nairobi was established in 2021, embodying the University's commitment to global engagement and impact.

To learn more about Notre Dame's engagement with Africa, visit the Sub-Saharan Africa Faculty Advisory Committee, History, and Contact pages.

Notre Dame Nairobi is part of the University of Notre Dame’s global network. Notre Dame Global oversees locations centered in Beijing, Dublin, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Kylemore, London, Mexico, Mumbai, Nairobi, Rome, Santiago, and São Paulo. These global locations create unique opportunities for Notre Dame to engage with the world and for the world to engage with Notre Dame through scholarly collaboration, undergraduate and graduate studies, as well as cooperative programs with governments, foundations, corporations, alumni, parents, and friends of the University.