PORTAL ON
HIGHER EDUCATION
RESEARCH AND EFA/MDGS
IAU-HEEFA Newsletter No. 1
HEEFA Newsletter, No. 1, 15 October 2009
The Portal on Higher Education/Research and Education For All (EFA) and related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), otherwise known as HEEFA, is pleased to publish its first Newsletter. It brings to you selected news, developments and upcoming events from the HEEFA Community and related key international stakeholders, such as UNESCO or the Global Campaign for Education.
I. News on the HEEFA Portal
Beta-version of HEEFA Portal available
The International Association of Universities (IAU) is proud to announce the launch of the beta-version of the HEEFA Portal. The HEEFA portal is one of the outcomes of the IAU project, "Strengthening linkages for improved education: Higher Education and Research working for EFA and MDGs", funded partly by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida/SAREC) and supported by the ADEA Working Group on Higher Education and the UNESCO Participation Fund. It aims to address the information gap on what higher education institutions are doing (Project Database) and who is doing what (Expert Database) in EFA and related MDGs and to create a community of practice (Newsletter, Fora).
What is available in the beta-version of the HEEFA Portal?
The portal is a collaborative tool. Consequently, before being able to search its databases, the databases must be fed. And this can only be done by you: the success of the portal is completely dependent on your input. We are confident that the higher education community will respond positively to this call for information.
Expert Database: open to all academics working in the fields covered by the portal.
Project Database: open to registered experts or data providers.
Subscription to the Newsletter: open to all interested persons.
Read tips on how to enter your name in the Expert Database or a project in the Project Database.
Entering data in the portal is still undergoing testing. We have tried to develop the most user-friendly process as possible but some problems may remain. Feel free to communicate with us (IAU3 at unesco.org) should this be the case or just to share your comments with us. Your feedback will be used to improve the Portal.
II. Latest entries on the HEEFA Portal
Even though the Portal relies on a grounds-up approach, we have entered 30 projects in the Project Database, first to test the Portal and second to provide an incentive for more input.
These projects range from access to basic education to quality education; outreach programmes to research consortiums; teacher training to innovative teaching methods.
Learn more about the 3-year BRIDGE Project which aims to improve girls' enrolment in basic education in the rural and densely populated counties of Yemen.
Have a look at the Master's in Education in Emergencies developed to deliver quality education in complex situations.
Read how local teacher training institutes in Indonesia are adopting innovative and participative teaching methods for student-teachers in mathematics.
Follow YOUNG LIVES: a 15-year international research project investigating the changing nature of childhood poverty and the policies that could reverse this trend.
III. Selected News - EFA and Related MDGs (July - September 2009)
Calls for Proposals:
The UK DfID programme, DelPHE, aims at strengthening capacity of HEIs. Projects must be linked to one of the MDGs and come from a South-South partnership. In this year's call, priority is given to: Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Yemen. Deadline: Beginning of 2010, exact dates depend on the country.
Conferences:
The final communiqué of the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education (WCHE+10) links higher education to EFA in several places.
Instruments:
The EFA-FTI has renewed and expanded its Board of Directors to be more representative of all its constituencies (partner countries; donor countries; multilateral agencies; civil society organizations; private sector foundations). The partner countries are represented by: Burkina Faso, Moldova, Guyana and Mozambique. The FTI is an international partnership that connects donors and low-income countries.
Under the UNESCO programme, University Twinning and Networking, (UNITWIN), this Chair aims to provide ICT training to professionals, set up distance and virtual learning programmes, and develop national education policies and strategies to increase access to education.
The 1Goal campaign was launched to galvanise support and raise awareness on EFA through the 2010 FIFA World Cup (which will take place in South Africa) and international footballers' participation.
Sources of Information:
UNICEF and UNESCO launched EFAInfo to assist policy-makers, practitioners and other stakeholders in Asia and Pacific to better identify populations who don't have access to education and why.
IV. Selected Upcoming Events - EFA and Related MDGs (15 October- 15 December)
15-17 November 2009, 13th UNESCO-APEID International Conference and World Bank- KERIS High Level Seminar on ICT in Education, Hangzhou, China - Theme: ICT Transforming Education;
23-27 November 2009, World Education Forum Brasilia, Brasil - Theme: Vocational and Technological Education;
1-4 December 2009, 6th International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA IV), Bélem, Brazil - Theme: Living and Learning for a Viable Future: The Power of Adult Learning
The HEEFA Team
Next issue: 15 December 2009
