New Partnership with the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa

10 September 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Division for People and Social Inclusion is pleased to announce a new partnership with the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA). The three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed within the context of the activities of UNITAR’s Global Surgery Foundation (GSF).

COSECSA, based in Arusha, Tanzania, is a non-profit dedicated to the advancement of education, training, research, and practice in surgical care. It has created a unique training pathway which incorporates existing but underutilized resources in the region for promoting standardised surgical training. It currently operates in 44 countries in the Sub-Saharan region in shaping the training, examination and accreditation of surgeons. UNITAR, GSF, and COSECSA are committed to the goal of offering innovative capacity-building tools to support the development of improved surgical care systems globally.

Through this MoU, UNITAR, GSF, and COSECSA have committed to work towards developing innovative training and capacity-building to support the improvement of surgical care systems globally, and the sustainable development of global surgery. Other objectives include national surgical, obstetrical, and anaesthesia planning and the goal of universal health coverage. The MoU also extends to joint projects of mutual interest, fundraising, and organizing together international conferences and symposia.

UNITAR and GSF are glad to work with COSECSA for the mission of ensuring and providing safe surgical care to everyone across the globe and to contribute to the larger mission of sustainable development of global surgery.