The UNESCO-SFIT Africa Project Outcome Meeting was successfully held at the 2022 World Higher Education Conference (WHEC2022) in Barcelona, Spain.
Project Timeline
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The Signing of the Framework AgreementIn May 2015, the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government and UNESCO signed the "Framework Funds-in-Trust Agreement between UNESCO and the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, the People's Republic of China, Regarding Support to UNESCO's Activities in Favor of Higher Education Development in Asia and Africa". As a result, the UNESCO-Shenzhen Funds-in-Trust (SFIT) (hereinafter referred to as the "fund") was set up, with $2 million funding from the Shenzhen government and UNESCO. In addition, a UNESCO Category 2 Center International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI, Shenzhen, China) was also established to carry out work in international higher education.
UNESCO-SFIT in Asia focuses on ICT-driven higher education innovation and university capacity building. This part was implemented by UNESCO Bangkok Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education in Cambodia and Sri Lanka. UNESCO-SFIT in Africa focuses on quality assurance in higher education. This part was implemented by the Higher Education Office of UNESCO Headquarters at 10 African countries (Egypt, Gambia, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Mali, Niger, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia) to build quality assurance institutions and mechanisms in higher education. As a fund for promoting cooperation in international higher education for developing countries established by the Shenzhen Municipal Government in partnership with UNESCO, it has received extensive attention from the UNESCO system, Asian and African countries, and the international higher education community. In particular, it has been highly praised by the governments of the two Asian countries and ten African countries as well as pilot universities that have directly benefited from the fund. Such positive recognition means that the fund is a paradigm of international cooperation in higher education and is playing a leading and exemplary role in the region. The Asia part concluded in September 2019; and the Africa part of the project was concluded in 2022.UNESCO assessed that the project has played a unique and significant role in supporting UNESCO to fulfil its higher education duties, and has become a model of South-South cooperation.
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Objectives
During the project, a new self-assessment framework on blended learning for quality higher education was piloted in Cambodia and Sri Lanka (see Blended Learning for Quality Higher Education). A second component of the project focused on the role of MOOCs in Asia-Pacific.
UNESCO-Shenzhen Funds-in-Trust (SFIT)
