The Executive Director of the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE), Dr. David Julien, participated as observer in the 9th Meeting of the Ministers of Education of the Americas, which was held in Nassau, Bahamas, on February 9 and 10, 2017.
With the intent to approve the Agenda for Sustainable Development (ASD), accordingly to the Agenda 2030 of Sustainable Development of the United Nations (UN) and under the theme “The Inter-American Education Agenda (IEA): Building Alliances and Advancing towards the Sustainable Development Goals”, the meeting offered the attendees a space to analyze and debate the most relevant education issues in the region, focusing on three priorities: Quality, Inclusive and Equitable Education, Teacher Training and Professional Development, and Comprehensive Early Childhood Care.
“During the meeting, a series of actions aiming at strengthening inter-American cooperation was defined, along with institutional coordination in order to ensure an inclusive and equitable quality education, and promote lifelong learning opportunities. We have discussed with the Organization of American States (OAS) and its members about how universities could collaborate to this important process”, Dr. Julien said.
Representatives of the 34 OAS members participated in the event, as well as other States and organizations that were invited to attend as guests or observers. Also were present delegates of the World Bank (WB), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Within the framework of the mission, the IOHE Executive Director established ties with the University of The Bahamas (UB), the country’s major tertiary education institution, which will be part of IOHE Membership as of 2017.
“The adhesion of UB concretes the efforts of the IOHE in the English-speaking Caribbean region and we are already discussing with our new partner about the possibility of setting up an IGLU Senior Management Seminar for its executives, addressing issues of leadership and higher education management. This model has already proven its relevance in the Spanish-speaking region and we believe it is very pertinent to reproduce it here”, the Executive Director added.
On the other hand, UB confirmed its interest in participating in the Fifth Edition of the Conference of the Americas on International Education (CAIE Canada-2017), which will take place in 11-13 October in Montreal and, thus, the ties of cooperation between higher education institutions in the Caribbean and Canada.