The Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) at Makerere University has announced a temporary shutdown due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
On Monday night, the Health ministry confirmed eight new coronavirus cases of Ugandan nationals who had returned from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE); between March 20 and March 22, 2020 aboard the Emirates and Ethiopian Airline flights.
In a statement posted on its website on Tuesday, EPRC says normal business operations will resume on April 14, 2020.
"Due to the increasing threat of the CORONA virus in Uganda, effective Wednesday March 25th 2020 to April 9th 2020, the Economic Policy Research Centre staff members will continue working online from their homes," said EPRC management.
Jossy Muhangi, the EPRC communications officer said over 30 staff will starting Wednesday this week work from home.
"Researchers are facilitated with airtime and bundles so that they can link up with colleagues and work. In case of anything we can reopen, but if things don't improve we shall see how to continue working without having people come to office," Muhangi said in a phone interview.
According to Muhangi, several activities have been affected including field studies, dissemination workshops, events and public dialogues. He says all these have been temporarily closed.
"All pending reports from our partners can be worked on from home and submitted," he added.
Established in 1993, EPRC is an autonomous not-for-profit organization limited by guarantee and fills fundamental voids in economics research, policy analysis, and capacity building for effective in-country contributions to Uganda's policy processes.
It provides research-based evidence and policy analysis to support the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of government policies.
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