On 23 September 2022, UNESCO-ICHEI and UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States (UNESCO-Beirut) held an official online meeting to jointly discuss future collaboration plans in the Arab region, with the focus on the initiative to carry out joint research, and reach consensus on the launch of IIOE online training courses and the promotion of digital capacity building for teachers, which creates a great opportunity for deepening cooperation between the two sides.

Next, the two sides had an in-depth discussion on the future collaboration to carry out the joint research on the digital transformation of higher education in the Arab region. Prof. LI Ming said that the joint research will focus on representative HEIs in Arab countries, summarize the current situation and development of digital transformation of higher education through specific cases, so as to propose viable approaches for future digital teaching in different countries. At the same time, he suggested that the two sides jointly form a professional team to carry out the research to ensure the authority and influence of the research results, so that the research report can bring value to UNESCO, the Arab region and education disciplines in a wider range.

Ms. Costanza Farina, Director of UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States (UNESCO-Beirut), expressed her appreciation and welcome to the joint research initiative, and pointed out that she was very much looking forward to collaborating with UNESCO-ICHEI on this project, referring to the common ground for cooperation between the two sides. Meanwhile, she suggested the two sides have a more in-depth discussion to detail the cooperation framework, clarify the roles and division of labor of the two sides, and jointly formulate the selection criteria of the research target countries to promote the specific implementation of the initiative.

Dr. Anasse Bouhlal, higher education programme specialist at UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States (UNESCO-Beirut), extended his full support to the joint research initiative, and mentioned that some Arab countries have already carried out digital capacity building trainings, paving the way for joint research between the two sides. In addition, he proposed the two sides jointly identify experts and educators to be invited, outline the content and focus of research report, and take quality assurance into the scope of the cooperation framework.

The two sides also discussed the provision of IIOE higher education teacher training program ( Arabic language) for the Arab region to promote further implementation of IIOE training programs in the region. The IIOE training program provides high-quality ICT online courses to help improve the online blended teaching capabilities of higher education workers. Since its launch in 2020, the program has witnessed the active participation of many HEIs in Arab States and has achieved enthusiastic responses. The IIOE training programme in Arabic language is now available to provide valuable opportunities for more teachers in Arab States to improve their teaching competency, share knowledge and high-quality educational resources. Ms. Costanza Farina highly supported the programme, and believed that the two sides could have more detailed discussions on the release and publicity of the program in the future.