DAAD/ UNESCO Conference on Regional Cooperation in Quality Assurance

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) within the frame of its DIES Programme (Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Dakar Office and the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) of the UNESCO are jointly organising two conferences between November 14th and 17th 2012.
The DAAD/ UNESCO Conference on Regional Cooperation in Quality Assurance aims at discussing among national and regional decision makers and actors in the field of higher education and quality assurance (QA) how a shared vision for QA can be developed for the whole Central and West African region. The event provides a platform to exchange experiences with high level experts and QA practitioners from other African regions as well as from Europe. The presentation of best practice examples and joint Europe-African initiatives should pave the way for joint actions to strengthen harmonisation and improve quality in higher education in Central and West Africa.
Furthermore, the DAAD/ UNESCO Conference identifies specific demands for capacity development in QA and intends to develop a shared vision for future steps. The conference is targeted at regional and international QA-experts and QA-relevant stakeholders and decision-makers (ministries, QA-Agencies, universities, students, employers) from Central and Western Africa. A total of 100 participants are expected. The conference language will be English – simultaneous translation to French will be available.
On 14th November 2012 there will be a Pre-Conference organised by IIEP-UNESCO in cooperation with UNESCO-BREDA, the DAAD and the Ministry of Higher Education, Senegal.  The results of a recent research study on governance reforms in higher education carried out in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Morocco and Senegal will be presented and discussed. Participants will also examine available options in governance reform, the most appropriate reform process and the results to be expected.