This year Danida Fellowship Centre awarded Dr.
Highlights from the Danida Alumni Prize 2020 Ceremony
Peter Okwoko and the Danish Embassador Nicolaj A. Hejberg Petersen in front of the Embassy. Photo: Courtesy of Ben kerry Mawejje
December 07, 2020
The award ceremony where MSc and co-founder of the social enterprise Takataka Plastics, Peter Okwoko, received the Danida Alumni Prize was streamed online online from Kampala.
Nicolaj A. Hejberg Petersen, the Danish ambassador to Uganda, presented the prize on behalf of Danida Fellowship Centre and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit Uganda in March 2020, 30-year old Peter Okwoko acted promptly. Together with his business partner, Paige Balcom, a Berkley University PhD student, he started making face shields from plastic waste. So far, their social enterprise, Takataka Plastics, has produced and distributed 10,000 face shields to health facilities across the country.
Danida funded Peter Okwoko’s Master’s in “Innovative Communication Technologies and Entrepreneurship” under the Building Stronger Universities programme. Peter Okwoko has amply demonstrated how he has applied the knowledge and skills he gained on the course at Aalborg University.
Watch the award ceremony streamed online and read the introductory speech given by Nikolaj A. Hejberg Petersen, the Danish Ambassador to Uganda, and Peter Okwoko’s inspiring acceptance speech here.