The Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE) and the Association of Caribbean Universities and Research Institutes (UNICA) recently deepened ties by signing a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This act formalizes the mutual interest of the two bodies and discussion during the University 2016 Conference, held in Havana, Cuba, in February.
UNICA also joined the Conference of the Americas on International Education (CAIE) to become the 29th member of this innovative space, whose Executive Secretariat is located in the IOHE. CAIE is currently making preparations for its Fifth Edition, to be held next year in Montreal, Canada, as part of the celebrations of the 375th anniversary of the metropolis and the 150th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation.
Founded in 1967, UNICA with a current membership of 24 institutions, supports the regionalization of higher education in the Caribbean. In this context, it facilitates academic contacts and collaborative projects, meeting the needs of a multi-national, multi-linguistic and multi-cultural region, responding to the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Meanwhile, the IOHE, with more than 36 years of experience, is internationally recognized for its contribution to the creation of common higher education spaces at the continental level, in order to stimulate the implementation of innovative strategies promoting the quality and the relevance of its institutional work.
Thus, both entities undertake to encourage the participation of their respective memberships to join this common space that supports the debate, reflection and present and future actions in the field of higher education of the Americas. Dr. David Julien, Secretary General of the IOHE Executive said: “We are proud to strengthen our partnership with UNICA and so have greater presence in the Caribbean, in particular with Anglophone countries where we have been less present. I hope we can engage in concrete actions with UNICA member universities and hopefully see them at our Caribbean Regional Assembly scheduled for June 22 in Santo Domingo.”
According to the UNICA Secretary General and Coordinator of the Latin America and Caribbean Centre of the University of the West Indies, Annette Insanally : “The synergies created by this consolidation of the collaboration between UNICA and the IOHE and CAIE will impact positively on the participation of our higher education sector on the development agenda for the Caribbean and the Americas”.