After more than a decade of international cooperation between the University of Hawassa in Ethiopia and NTNU and the University of Oslo in Norway, and in occasion of the conclusion of the NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation) funded joint programme in training and education in mathematical and statistical modelling, we are please to invite you to the international HAWASSA STAT&MATH CONFERENCE from 11 February to 15 February 2019 in Hawassa, Ethiopia For full information, registration, and abstract submission see: http://www.hu.edu.et/mathstatconf/ Contributed talks and posters are welcomed. Among the invited speakers, we are very pleased to list: Sylvia Richardson, Cambridge Laura Palagi, Rome Peter Diggle, Lancaster About half of the programme is dedicated to statistics, and the other half to operation research and applied mathematics. Hawassa city, located in the African Rift Valley on the shores of Lake Hawassa, offers a unique atmosphere. A thriving city – its identity not lost to metropole conformity – exposes the strengths, opportunities, charms and challenges of Africa – in a safe setting under the gentle Ethiopian sun. There are multiple grants for African participants, more information on the web-page. Welcome to Hawassa in February! Zeytu Gashaw, Henning Omre, Anne Kvaerno, Arnoldo Frigessi