Association of African Universities 
Association des Universités Africaines

AAU Bandwidth Initiative

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution of the past decade and a half holds the promise of contributing to the rapid transformation of African society and economy by integrating the peoples of the continent more fully into the information and knowledge flows of the current global and networked society. The reality, however, is that Africa has been unable to take advantage of the full potential of the technology, leading not only to the creation of what has been called “the digital divide” separating Africa even further from the technology-rich parts of the world, but also to a widening of the development gap, as the technology has enabled those countries and regions able to harness it to pull even further ahead.

This notwithstanding, access to the global pool of information and knowledge made possible by the enormous power of modern ICT remains a key lever for the accelerated development of Africa. For this potential to be realised, however, the problem of effective access to the Internet has to be resolved. The factors limiting connectivity in Africa are many and reasonably well known. Apart from the overarching condition of poverty and limited resources, the specific challenges range from the absence of the required infrastructure, services and policy at the national, regional and international levels, resulting in inadequate connectivity and high cost; weak instit utional and individual capacity to design and manage effective systems, leading to sub-optimal use of available bandwidth and other facilities; and the absence of content and structures that place a premium on collaboration and networking as key means of information sharing and knowledge generation. In the recognition of all these issues affecting knowledge generation and application, ICT and development in Africa, and in the spirit of finding and applying African solutions to Africa’s problems, the 11th General Conference of the Association of African Universities, held in Cape Town, South Africa in February 2005, mandated the Secretariat of the Association to assume a focal point role in initiatives aimed at enhancing access to and effective utilisation of ICT and the Internet by its members, starting with access to higher bandwidth at lower cost.

The AAU has taken the mandate granted by its members seriously and, despite a lack of dedicated human resources, has made progress since March this year. It has undertaken intensive discussion and consultations with key players in the ICT development field.

As a truly neutral representative of African universities and other higher education institutions, whose sole raison d’etre is to serve and advance the interests of its members, the AAU is establishing an ICT Unit to constitute a clearing house for information on relevant ICT initiatives, trends and opportunities; facilitate networking, collective action and the sharing of good practice and expertise; and undertake informed advocacy and lobbying on ICT issues affecting Africa’s knowledge centres.

Staff Exchange 2005/06

Calls for nomination of participants for the 2005/2006 academic year were sent out on 22^nd September 2005 with a deadline of 30^th November 2005 for submission of nominations.  Currently, applications are being received, to be followed by a preliminary selection meeting. A list of short-listed nominees would then be forwarded to DAAD for confirmation for award of the fellowships for the academic year.  The fellowships will be tenable for missions to be undertaken from January to June 2006. All AAU member universities South of the Sahara in good financial standing on the payment of AAU subscriptions are eligible to apply.  Although the AAU advises universities to give preference to the nomination of women, the responding universities control the gender, as well as the language and regional distribution of the nominees.

For the 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 academic years, the Programme was supported by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) (German Academic Exchange Service), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and AAU.

Currently, the Programme is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

For more information, please visit the AAU website http://www.aau.org/programs/daadstaffex0506.htm  

AAU/WGHE Sponsors 12 Delegates to 14^th International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa, Abuja, 4^th -9^th December 2005

African Universities made a historic and collective appearance at the 14th International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa (ICASA), Abuja, 4th-9th December 2005, with 12 AAU-sponsored delegates from Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zimbabwe. In October this year, AAU advertised a “call for sponsorships” and received an overwhelming response from applicants whose abstracts were accepted by the Scientific Committee of the conference. Highlights of the delegation’s participation will include skills training workshops on: Needs Assessment of PLWHA: implications for the Control of HIV/AIDS and the contribution of persons living with AIDS (PLWHA) to Society and a Toolkit for Higher Education Institutions Responding to HIV/AIDS, which AAU developed with funding from the Working Group on Higher Education (WGHE) of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa. The Toolkit is now available in English and French, with plans to translate it into Portuguese and Arabic. At the ICASA, the WGHE Coordinator, and leader of the delegation, made a presentation on African Higher Education and the HIV/AIDS Pandemic at a social science satellite workshop organized by CODESRIA. The Coordinator also attended a reception by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) Regional HIV/AIDS Team, which jointly with the ADEA-WGHE and AAU sponsored the 12 participants. 

For more information, please contact the AAU WGHE Coordinator: alamptey@aau.org

Board Subcommittee Meeting, Midrand, South Africa 28^th – 29^th October 2005

AAU organized an Executive Board Sub-Committee Meeting to review current projects and plans for the following year.  The Secretary General gave an update of the Quarterly Report for the period May to July 2005, which had been circulated in advance.  The report highlighted the following activities of the Secretariat:

Study Program

Two research methodology-training workshops were successfully organized by the African Gender Institute (AGI) based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa and the United Nations Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP) based in Dakar, Senegal.

Fellowships

A new scholarships programme funded by the First Data Western Union through the Africa-America Institute (AAI) has been introduced. Twelve grantees from Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco, Cameroon and Congo DR, Ghana, Kenya, Ivory Cost, and Mali are expected to start their academic programs in 2005.  Two applications received from Tunisia are yet to be reviewed.

HIV/AIDS

Following the three-year grant from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) Zambia, a Senior Project Officer has been appointed.

DATAD

Funding for the Database of African Theses and Dissertations (DATAD) was not renewed by the Partnership for Higher Education for Africa (PHEA), but the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has shown interest.

Staff Exchange Programme

The Programme continues to receive interest, with 68 applications received, and 32 awards made for the 2004/2005 academic year.

Working Group on Higher Education (WGHE)

The Steering Committee of the WGHE established an Internal Task Team in 2004 to review the work of the WGHE and propose a new directions. Among the recommendations made by the Team are: WGHE to be fully integrated into the organizational structure of the AAU.

As an introduction to the brainstorming session on new directions for the Association in the next twelve months, the President referred to the table of tasks agreed at the June leadership workshop and Executive Board meeting held in Accra. These related to visibility, relevance to members, funding and the Secretariat. He informed members about an invitation he had received from the Vice Chancellors of Nigeria, and invited members to suggest key issues that should inform his agenda and engagement with the Nigerian government.

The President further gave details of the just-ended African Union (AU) higher education experts’ meeting, which had agreed a framework of programs of action to revitalize higher education in Africa, to be presented by the African Union Commission to African Education Ministers for consideration and onward transmission to an African Union Summit meeting of Heads of State in January 2006. An important aspect was the proposal of a technical coordination role for the AAU Secretariat.Reminding members of the context of these meetings, the Secretary General traced the AU initiative back to a meeting held in Algiers in 2005 to review the “Africa Decade of Education” and to develop the next Decade of Education Action Plan; the G8 meeting at Gleneagles in June 2005 and the pledge to support African higher education; and the Abertay Conversation organized in preparation for the Gleneagles Summit, by the AAU in conjunction with the ACU, in which AAU members had played active and leading roles.  Following Abertay and Gleneagles, the AAU approached the AU for collaboration on the revitalization initiative.  This led to the designation of the AU desk officer to liaise with AAU on follow-up action and the convening of the Experts’ Meeting.

For more information, please contact the AAU Secretariat: info@aau.org

Interviews for vacant positions

In order to fill vacant positions in the AAU Secretariat and to fill new positions that were created, advertisements were put up at the AAU website and in the AAU e-courier for the following positions:     Director of Research and Programmes,

•     Project Officer (Research & Programmes), and
•     Project Officer (HIV/AIDS).

Several applications were received from member countries of the AAU for the various positions. After careful analysis, 4 people were short-listed for the position of Director of Research and Programmes, 4 for Project Officer (HIV/AIDS) and 3 for Project Officer (Research & Programmes). Interviews were successfully conducted from 27th  to 29th  September 2005 in Accra, Ghana.

The Director of Research and Programmes, Prof. Pancras John Mukasa SSEBUWUFU, former Vice-Chancellor, Makerere University, Uganda assumed duty in November 2005. Project Officer, Research and Programmes, Prof. O.B. OYEWOLE who was Director of Research, Research and Development Centre at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria, and Project Officer, HIV/AIDS Prof. Justine WANE, who was also Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Rwanda will both take up positions in January 2006.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation invited the WGHE-AAU to an international seminar on the Role of Universities in Conflict Reconstruction and Peace Building in Africa held at the University of Western Cape, South Africa, and attended by over 30 representatives from Universities, NGOs and other civil society organisations from 13 countries in Africa, the United States, Europe and Latin America. The United Nations University of Peace in Costa Rica and the Institute for Democracy, South Africa were present and contributed financially and technically to the seminar. The University of Peace, in addition to training, supports academics to develop curricula and review them. Guest presenters and dignitaries present at the opening and closing sessions included Professor Kader Asmal, a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Foundation and former Minister of Education of South Africa, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Chair of the Global Commission on International Migration and former Director of the World Bank, Ibrahim Rasool, Premier of the Western Cape, Mr Cameron Dugmore, Western Cape Education MEC. and Professor Brian O’Connel, Rector, University of the Western Cape.  Participants, in the two days, brainstormed strategies to promote peace as a discipline in its own right in African Universities, research into African and international models and best practices and how to strengthen links with NGOs through practicum, field work and research. Regional corporation through the establishment of networks of Universities for graduate training and research as well as collaboration with the international academic community through students and staff exchanges were seen as essential to reinforcing peace studies. In this regard, AAU’s experience in successfully establishing seven regional networks, one of which is a network for Master of Arts (MA) in humanitarian and refugee studies based at the University of Ibadan was acknowledged. So also its academic staff exchange program. Example after example was cited of collaborative efforts and link programs between American and European Universities and African Universities and ways to ensure mutual benefits.

Participants, generally and Mr Cameron Dugmore specifically, urged the AAU to intensify its role in this initiative by creating and maintaining a database of  African experts, documenting good practices by Universities, building a network of the participating institutions and partners for information sharing, and sustaining advocacy with institutional leaders through the Association’s structures and with African governments through the African Union and NEPAD.

He recalled President Tabo Mbeki’s question to the Association at its 11thwhat then is the role of African intellectuals in not merely analysing the problems and challenges facing us, but in offering practical solutions and engaging processes that seek to address these various important developments….”. General Conference held in Cape Town….

The gathering recognizes:

• Conflict is not only a negative feature but can also serve as the catalyst for dynamic change
• Knowledge is not neutral and remains contestable and conflictual as it engages and provides insights for change
• the growing need to provide and deepen the intellectual and academic discourse and understanding on conflict resolution in Africa and other developing countries.
• the need to expand this discourse into interactive learning that serves as a double entry to inform practice and practitioners and to provide academics the space to draw lessons from experience and practice.
• the many successes in resolving conflict on the continent of Africa over the past number of years including Burundi, Rwanda, Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan to mention but a few. Clear lessons can be drawn from these experiences as well as models that were developed within local communities to wrestle with their conflicts.
• that while cross border conflicts are diminishing, intra-state conflict is still rampant and in some places on the increase.
• that these conflicts straddle across material related causes of conflict such as access to resources and economic factors but also non material causes of conflict including, racism, culture, ethnicity, tradition, religion, gender and differences in value systems.

For more information, please contact the AAU/WGHE Coordinator: alamptey@aau.org

CERN Meeting, Geneva, Swizerland, 23^rd -  27^th September 2005

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) organized   an International Workshop on African Research and Education Networking to promote scientific cooperation with and within Africa, through the development of networking infrastructure.

During the three-day meeting, groups of experts from various sectors reviewed and prioritized the decisions about the bandwidth initiative.

The workshop is jointly organized by CERN, the United Nations System (ITU) and the United Nations University (UNU). The  main objective is to enhance the capabilities of African academic and scientific institutions to take advantage of the opportunities associated with the emergence of the global information society. The workshop was also subsidiary to determine African university and scientific institute needs, to improve collaboration between these institutions and other partners, to report on case studies and to agree on the commercial principles of the future AFUNET.

The workshop worked out an implementation strategic plan that it intends to send to the Organising Committee of the WSIS. It aims at producing tangible results, in the form of concrete recommendations.

An overview was provided at the beginning of the conference. Indeed, access to a faster, more reliable and less costly Internet is one of the main requirements to facilitate research and teaching activities at African universities and scientific institutes, targeted by this workshop. The workshop was pleased to have gathered all the major stakeholders: African universities and scientific institutes, international coordinators, donors, people ensuring on-site implementation, and industry in order to share the experiences, create synergies and to establish a common platform of co-operation in order to find an informed and sustainable solution to bridge the digital gap.

Within the framework of their work, participants reviewed the main initiatives undertaken in Africa in the field of networks as well the results achieved, exchanged their experiences, successes and failures, in order to draw lessons which will make it possible to promote and to improve current and future projects on the continent.

For more information, please visit CERN website: http://event-africa-networking.web.cern.ch/event-africa-network.default.html or phoba@aau.org

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Internet2 Meeting, Philadelphia, USA , 18^th -21^st September, 2005
 
Led by more than 200 U.S. universities, working with industry and government, Internet2 (Internet second Generation) develops and deploys advanced network applications and technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet. This was the first invitation of the AAU to this meeting.

The participation of the AAU in this event stemmed from the fact that, nowadays, the technological environment enables knowledge producers to share information and ideas more easily; but this requires the technology is available to them. Education and research institutions in Africa are grappling with the challenge of access, from the institutional through to the continental levels.  How do we determine better ways and means that would enable African universities face these challenges? The AAU has, therefore, a critical role to play.

This question is included in the AAU current Strategic Plan. In fact it begun at the AAU conference in Cape Town with continued development in Arlington and Maputo, in support of the establishment and strengthening of national research and education networks in Africa, including exploring ways to coordinate existing initiatives and to identify productive roles for interested individuals and agencies that can provide technical, human, or financial resources.

The first session of the meeting was a general review of many African university initiatives. It was a high quality session.

The second day session, dubbed International Partnership, was meant to provide possible concrete answers through successful examples illustration. This session provided the latest information on developments in performance measurement and monitoring tools and infrastructure efforts, including efforts to make deployments compatible in support of cross-domain race-domain performance analysis.

The following presentations were made:- South America: Building optical networks in Brasil: experiences of CLARA:  

    * North America: RONs in the US and National Infrastructure
    * Europe Perspectives: Cross Border Fiber - towards the revolution in NREN international-connectivity;
    * Czech Republic and cross border connections Cross border fibre and national use of European fibre.

Many other questions were tackled, specifically: interconnecting dark fiber-based networks (National Research and Education Networks) across borders and the relationship of these to national and/or continental-wide infrastructure.

Internet2 offered a great opportunity to African research and education networking professionals to share experiences with peers from other continents and broaden their network of contacts.

For more information, please visit internet2 website:  http://www.internet2.edu/  or  phoba@aau.org

Education for Sustainable Development, Nairobi, Kenya 11^th - 14^th October 2005

The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) organised a 4-day workshop (11^th - 14^th October) on the theme “Education for Sustainable Development” in Nairobi, Kenya to complement the successful launch of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), spanning 2005 – 2014, and work on the modalities to achieve its implementation.

The workshop was in two parts: a two-day Steering Committee Meeting at the UNEAP Headquarters in Nairobi (11^th - 12^th October 2005) to fashion out an African Regional Implementation Scheme, and a Course Planning Workshop on “Mainstreaming of Environment and Sustainability into University Education in Africa (13^th - 14^th October 2005).

The 4-day deliberations were attended by representatives of African regional and sub-regional organisations, as well as donor and partner agencies working in the area of environment and development.

The key outcomes of the meeting were as follows:

1. Development of outlines for the following:

• Introductory course to mainstream environment and sustainability thinking into African Universities for lecturers (with accompanying strategy to interact with higher education managers and regulators)
• A framework for a resource kit for lecturers and HEIs to support mainstreaming of environment and sustainability thinking into African Universities

2. Concrete partnership

• Association of African Universities (AAU) – support, structure, collaboration, communication and advocacy
• Global Virtual University (GVU) – online course translation, collaboration
• Leadership in Environment and Development (LEAD) – facilitation, collaboration
• Southern African Development Community (SADC) – technical backup, funding, collaboration
• Environic Foundation International (EFI) – funding, collaboration
• Global Higher Education for Sustainability Partnerships (GHESP) – technical backup, collaboration, resource kit.

A follow-up UNEP meeting slated for November 2005 at a specific date and venue to be announced later is being arranged and would need a Management representative from the AAU as a commitment to its acceptance to spearhead the drive towards achieving the DESD.

For more information, please contact the AAU Secretariat: info@aau.org or  ransford@aau.org

African Union Higher Education Experts’ Group meeting, Midrand, South Africa, 27^th -  28^th October 2005

The AAU President and its Secretary General participated in an African Union “Higher Education Experts’ Group Meeting” held at the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

The meeting was called to review a synthesis document on the revitalization of higher education and to agree a framework of program of action to revitalize higher education in Africa, which the AU will present to two separate meetings of African Education Ministers and African Heads of State in January 2006.

Participants defined higher education broadly to include university and non-university institutions and recognized science and technology as critical to the revitalization effort and the continent’s overall development. In this regard, the NEPAD Science and Technology Group was  invited to present its framework and model of action to the meeting. This was very well received.

Participants agreed the key elements of a programme, a structure and a process that will ensure effective continuation and coordination of the AU higher education revitalization initiative.   In this structure, a technical coordination role is envisaged for AAU, with thematic panels of experts and interventions at the level Heads of State; coordination of regional efforts and support for institutional strategies for renewal. The meeting stressed the need to ensure regional, linguistic and gender representation and balance, whilst prioritising institutional and individual expertise in the selection of experts’ panels.  In view of the under-representation of Francophone areas, the meeting took note of a list of the key higher education institutions and actors and proposed that a follow-up meeting be held with the Francophones.

The AU higher education initiative dates back to a meeting held in Algiers in 2005 to review the outcomes of the Africa Decade of Education, and a process, which  has begun to develop the next Decade of Education Action Plan. In addition, there was a meeting and pledge of the G8 to support higher education in Africa which was preceded by the Abertay Conversation which the AAU and Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) jointly organized in July, 2005 in Scotland.

The AU has since designated a desk officer to liaise with the AAU on its own initiatives and on the G8 follow-up actions.

In response to a request for clarification of the relationship between the AU and NEPAD, it was explained that NEPAD is a programme of the AU, and that neither has an implementation role but policy, resource mobilization and coordination.

For more information, please contact the AAU Secretariat: info@aau.org

Experts’ Meeting on the Rationalisation of the RECS, Accra, Ghana, 27^th  - 28^th October 2005

The AAU participated in an important meeting organised by the African Economic Commission in Accra, Ghana from 27^th to 28^th October 2005. The goal of this meeting was to rationalize West and Central Africa sub-regional economic organizations. Another meeting will be held in Kenya for East and Southern African countries.

Delegates from all West and Central Africa, representatives from sub-regional organisations such as ECOWAS, CEMAC, UEMOA, African Union, the NEPAD, African Economic organizations such as BAD (Bank for African Development), Association of African Central Banks, NGOs and other African associations participated in the Accra meeting. The AUA represented African universities.

Indeed, it is noted that African countries are members of several sub-regional organizations, which often have the same goals. This redundancy has become a hindrance to the effectiveness of the African sub-regional economic organizations. The Economic Commission for Africa, therefore, has been mandated to rationalize them.

The Accra meeting was an expert meeting with the objective to reach an agreement as to which approach, criteria and methodology to adopt in the rationalization process. The ultimate goal was to set up a series of relevant and consensual regulations so that for each African State, taking into account its economic, geographical, political and cultural situation, it is possible to determine which economic organization can be its best match and which could be its priority.

To achieve this result a working group was formed to review the documents already prepared by experts and to present the outcome at a plenary session. We have played an active role in the working group. Besides, AAU has been assigned to carry out the review of the summary document. Indeed, it had been tasked to comment, to critically review the main document of the working group. Below are the main outlines of the presentation.

For more information, please visit the AAU website: http://www.aau.org  or phoba@aau.org

Prior to the Association of African Universities’ (AAU) “Conference on African Research and Education Networking Infrastructure” which was held in Tunis, Tunisia, 14^th - 15^th November, AAU organized a press briefing for Ghanaian Journalists.  Below is the report that appeared in the Ghanaian Chronicle following the briefing.

Bandwidth limitations: Bane of Africa’s ICT development  (The Ghanaian Chronicle, 2^nd November 2005, page 7)

Africa and especially Ghana, has been described as severely handicapped in terms of Information Communication Technology (ICT) development because of bandwidth limitations facing the continent. “The promise of ICT revolution is only a promise, if we cannot download things easily: the General Secretary of Association of African Universities (AAU) Prof. Akilagpa Sawyerr has said. Our participation in the global information society is affected. He said a bandwidth access to a family in the United States is greater than a whole university in Africa. “We pay 500 times higher to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) than in America”. Prof Sawyerr said it was because of this that the AAU would host stakeholders in the ICT sector in Accra to discuss a common position for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) conference in Tunis in November.

“The outcome of the workshop would be the road map that would align all concerns into a common purpose for the conference”. He said it was only the development of competition through the implementation of good communication policies that would bring down prices in the telecommunication industry. He called on Universities in the country to negotiate for cheaper bandwidth.

ICT In Africa: AAU Takes Up Challenge (The Daily Guide, 2^nd November 2005, page 13)

The Association of African Universities (AAU) has sent a clarion call to African leaders to support it with pro-active policies in its efforts to integrate ICT fully, into the African system. The secretary general of the association, Professor Akilagpa Sawyer made the appeal yesterday, during a press briefing in Accra. The brief was to inform the press of the impending session which the association will be organising in Tunis, on November 14 and 15. The resolve to hold such a session became relevant after persistent ails by the AAU members to the leadership, to champion their cause in the integration of ICT into teaching, learning, research, information, dissemination and management activities in Africa.

The Tunis event, aims to bring together over 100, key African and international players, to examine critical bandwidth constraints to African education and research networking at four levels, namely, the campus, the national, the regional and the continental. Prof. Sawyer noted that, for African universities to operate in a higher role in the development of the con¬tinent and fulfil their expectation they must be fitted into the global communication system, where access to information from other parts of the world, is available. He lamented that though it is, obvious that Africa cannot develop outside the prevalent electronic explosion, this has not been acknowledged. "It is obvious that no institution can operate without being fitted into the global technological network. These days, the most effective way of collaboration, is through the ICT, and our institutions needed to be fully deployed in the full range of the electronic capacity, because access to information from other parts of the world, is important for development", he stressed. He pointed out that Africa is severely handicapped in bandwidth expertise, a range of frequencies used for a particular telecommunication signals, radio transmissions and or computer network.

Prof. Sawyerr also stressed that downloading of information on the internet is facilitated by the knowledge of the bandwidth, which Africa do not have now, resulting in a severe limitation to the continent's participation" in the global network. He expressed his concern, about the high cost of using the bandwidth in Africa explaining that it was so, because it is being received from providers outside the continent He said, in order to rectify this the association is encouraging the stakeholders to form consortia to negotiate for a cheaper rate and for the past 12 months they have been in discussion with them on the issue. According to him, AAU has also taken some initiatives to push the ICT agenda forward, by establishing computer institutions, across the continent.  “The next will be to have access to information, through adequate bandwidth and bring all the stakeholders together, to form networks to improve the effective use of what is "available, and we have proposed to them to outline roadmaps to bring their works into alignment, for more collective and effective approach". The programme is being sponsored by the International Development Research Centre (lDRC), The Partnership For Higher Education in Africa, the World Bank, and OSISA. The Association of African Universities (AAU) is a non-profit international organisation, formed by 34 African universities at a founding conference held in Rabat, Morocco, in 1967, to promote co-operation among themselves and between them and the international academic community. This followed earlier consultations among executive heads of African universities at a UNESCO Conference on higher education in Africa in Antananarivo, Madagascar in 1962, and at a conference of heads of African universities in Khartoum, Sudan.

AAU Recent Publications

1. Association of African Universities(AAU). The Implications of WTO/GATS for Higher Education in Africa. Proceedings of Accra Workshop on GATS. 2004. AAU Home Page [Online] http://www.aau.org/wto-gats/papers.htm   (English and French)

2. Association of African Universities. AAU Strategic Plan 2003 – 2010. 2003. AAU Home Page [Online](English and French)  http://www.aau.org/english/documents/strategic_plan_e.pdf   or  http://www.aau.org/english/documents/strategic_plan_f.pdf  

Other Higher Education Publications

3.  UNESCO. La fuite des compétences en Afrique francophone (Brain drain phenomenon in French-speaking Africa). 2005. Home Page of UNESCO  [online] (download 32 pages) File: braindrainfr.pdf  210026 bytes.

4.  Increasing Teacher Effectiveness
By Lorin W. Anderson, Fundamentals of Educational Planning series, number 79 Book, 172 pages, 2nd edition 2004, 92-803-1258-8, UNESCO-IIEP http://publishing.unesco.org/details.aspx?Code

5. The Role of Trans-national, Private and For-Profit Provision in Meeting Global Demand for Tertiary Education: Mapping, Regulation and Impact.  Final Summary Report to UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning by Professor Robin Middlehurst and Steve Woodfield, Centre for Policy and Change in Tertiary Education, University of Surrey, UK, Publication Year 2004-05-05 http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php

7.  Education Trends in Perspective Analysis of the World Education Indicators – 2005 Edition, UNESCO Reference Works series Book, 232 pages, figures, boxes, annexes 2005, 92-3-104014-6, UNESCO-UIS/OECD http://publishing.unesco.org/details.aspx?Code_Livre=4415   

8.  Du Multilinguisme à la société du savoir : quelles stratégies ?     Par Marc-Laurent Hazoumê, Collection Études de l’IUE, Ce titre est disponible.    2005, 92-820-2087-8   http://publishing.unesco.org/details.aspx

International Conference: Call for Papers

Youth and the Global South: Religion, Politics and the Making of Youth in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, Dakar, Senegal, 13^th  - 15^th  October 2006.

Convened by African Studies Centre (ASC) Council for the Development of Social Science in Africa (CODESRIA), Institute for the Study of Islam and the Middle East (ISIM), International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS)

Those interested in participating are requested to send a CV and an abstract of 250 words (describing the main points of their paper, notably its central argument, the site of research, and the methodology employed) to Dr. M. Osseweijer (Coordinator of Academic Affairs) at  IIAS, Leiden. The deadline for the receipt of abstracts and a CV is 1^st February 2006. The Scientific Committee will decide on submissions by 1^st April 2006 and will notify applicants after this date. Papers are due by 1^st  July 2006 and the pre-circulation of papers will commence by 1^st August 2006. For further information please contact: Ms. Dr Manon Osseweijer Coordinator of Academic Affairs International Institute for Asian Studies Postal address:

P.O. Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands Visiting address: Nonnensteeg 1-3, 2311 VJ Leiden T +31-71-527 2231/ F +31-71-527 4162 /

Website: www.iias.nl

 E-Mail: M.Osseweijer@let.leidenuniv.nl

Upcoming Events around High Education

AAU Higher Education Events

• AAU Staff Retreat, Accra, February 2006
• Meeting of the Working Group on Higher Education (WGHE) Gabon, March 2006
• AAU Executive Board, Zimbabwe, June 2006
  

Other Higher Education Events

• 4^th Regional Scientific Committee Meeting for Asia and the Pacific UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge in Jakarta, Indonesia from 19^th - 20^th January 2006,
• 3^rd Regional Scientific Committee Meeting for Europe & North America,
• UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge in Paris, France from 23^rd-24^th February 2006,
• 4^th Regional Scientific Committee Meeting for Africa: UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge in  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 9^th- 10^th March 2006,
• Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) Biennial, Gabon, March 2006

Vision of AAU
The Vision of the Association of African Universities (AAU) is to maintain the AAU as the representative voice of the African higher education community both within and outside Africa.

Mission of AAU
The Mission of the Association of African Universities (AAU) is to raise the quality of higher education in Africa and strengthen its contribution to African development by fostering collaboration among its member institutions.

Greetings
The Association of African Universities wishes all its member institutions and partners and the African Higher Education Community Best Regards for the Season.
Secretary-General.

Direct line: + 233- 21 761609; E-mail: phoba@aau.org   Web site: www.aau.org