Between 13–16 October 2025, a multi-day symposium under the theme: Higher Education Partnership for the SDGs was organized by the DAAD to mark its 100th anniversary. The event took place at the beautiful Conference Centre of the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Participants from across continents and sectors—including academia, business, civil society, and government—came together to reaffirm their commitment to collectively achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Our delegation was represented by Prof. Matthias Siebeck from the Center for International Health at the LMU Klinikum, Munich, Germany and Prof. Ahmed Zeynudin from the Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.

The programme featured keynote lectures, thematic workshops and interactive panel discussions. These explored innovative partnership models, capacity building and the role of higher education in driving sustainable change. Networking sessions and informal gatherings offered opportunities for exchange and collaboration, as well as the development of new project ideas.

Our poster on “A Trilateral Alliance for Medical Education” - one of the newly launched SDG projects supported by DAAD - was selected for the poster gallery walk and presented by Prof. Ahmed and Prof. Siebeck. The presentation attracted great interest and sparked engaging discussions within the participants.

Having the opportunity to meet project leaders from African countries and Germany, as well as scholars from South Africa and representatives from funding organisations, was a real highlight. Combined with the inspiring atmosphere and hospitality, this made for an unforgettable event — one that would rarely be possible within the scope of regular project budgets. But after all, DAAD’s 100th anniversary can only be celebrated once.