Professor Hubert Gijzen, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, welcomed the UNESCO-ICHEI delegation. Professor LI Ming, Director of UNESCO-ICHEI, expressed his gratitude to the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa for its hospitality and his expectation for the future collaboration between the two parties, to jointly promote the digital transformation of higher education in the East African region. During the meeting, UNESCO-ICHEI gave a detailed presentation on the programmes of UNESCO-ICHEI, including IIOE, IIOE National Centre, Smart Classroom, etc. in the East Africa region, and introduced UNESCO-ICHEI's proposed programme "IIOE Micro-certifications for the Higher Education Workforce". UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa introduced its programmes in all sectors, such as Green Skills for Green Job and Campus Africa. The two parties also had an in-depth exchange on cooperation on digital transformation of higher education in the East Africa region.

Professor Hubert Gijzen, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, expressed his appreciation for the work of UNESCO-ICHEI in East Africa, and expressed his hope to strengthen the connection within the UNESCO family, enhance partnerships, joint programming, resource mutualisation and communication with UNESCO-ICHEI. He is also looking forward to future in-depth exchanges in various fields and strengthening cooperation in projects such as IIOE.

Professor LI Ming, Director of UNESCO-ICHEI, emphasised that UNESCO-ICHEI will continue to work closely with UNESCO Regional Offices in Africa and African higher education institutions under the guidance of UNESCO to promote the digital transformation of higher education in Africa.

The UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa (UNESCO Nairobi) was created in 1965 for the purpose of serving as a regional hub for science, technology and innovation (STI) in Sub-Sahara Africa. Following the UNESCO Africa Field Reform of 2011, UNESCO Regional Office has evolved from a Regional Office for Science and Technology to the even broader scope of a Multi-Sectoral Regional Office responsible for 13 Member States in Eastern Africa, covering Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda. In addition, the Regional Office for Eastern Africa hosts and coordinates the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), and The Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB).