President of Burundi awarded title of Honorary Doctor of RUDN University

“Today will go down in the history of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba and in the chronicle of Russian–Burundian relations,” noted RUDN University Rector Oleg Yastrebov. “For our university, it is a great honour to present the regalia of Honorary Doctor of the University to the President of the Republic of Burundi. This is recognition of your contribution, Mr. President, to Russian education and international cooperation, as well as a sign of our university’s special connection with the African continent.”

Since its founding, RUDN University has trained 239 specialists for the Republic of Burundi, with the most popular majors being Veterinary Medicine, Bioengineering and Bioinformatics, and Law. Currently, 32 students from this country study at the university.

The President of Burundi noted that it was an honour for him to visit the university that bears the name of Patrice Lumumba.

“This name is in the heart of every African,” said Evariste Ndayishimiye. Addressing students from Burundi, he reminded them that each of them is an ambassador of their country and evidence of friendship between the peoples of Russia and Burundi. “Study hard, and then return to build Burundi and Africa!” he urged.

Evariste Ndayishimiye called young people the country’s greatest strategic asset and education - the foremost investment.

“May the friendship between Russia and Africa, which this university so successfully embodies, continue to serve our young people,” he said. “I believe in mutually beneficial partnership based not on dependence but on independence, where each side contributes. Universities provide an ideal foundation in this regard.”

Oleg Yastrebov stated that scientific cooperation between RUDN University and Burundi rests on strong academic ties that have united generations of scholars.

“It is especially gratifying that this partnership has also been embodied in family stories,” said the Rector. “Kezimana Parfait, a scholar at RUDN University’s Agrarian and Technological Institute, has achieved significant success in crop breeding, and his father, also a scholar, conducts research in agronomy at the University of Burundi.”

The Rector also spoke about the work of Jean-Baptiste Bukuru, a postgraduate student and graduate of RUDN University’s Law Institute: in 2021 he defended his PhD thesis in international law and today teaches at the Law Department at the University of Burundi.

Oleg Yastrebov noted that RUDN University and its African partners are linked by more than 120 cooperation agreements, which are filled with concrete programmes and involve diverse research.

“The results of RUDN University’s cooperation with African states testify to a sincere interest in working together,” emphasised the Rector. “Africa is a strategically important region both for our country and for our university.”

He expressed hope for expanding joint educational projects between RUDN University and Burundi, citing as examples the work with the Presidential Foundation of Tanzania, which since this year has been selecting and sending talented school leavers to RUDN University, as well as a project with the Free University of Kinshasa (DR Congo), where Russian has become a mandatory subject.

After the ceremony, the President of Burundi said that Russia “became his friend back in secondary school.”

“Back then I was already attending a Russian language club,” he said. “And now, having received the regalia of Honorary Doctor of RUDN University, I take upon myself the responsibility to continue all the work that is being done and serves to advance education in the struggle for ideals in this field and for successful interaction between universities and friendship between peoples.”