The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide $1 million to fund 20 partnership-planning grants of $50,000 to plan long-term collaborations between African and U.S. institutions of higher education.
The grant was announced during the two-day Higher Education Summit for Global Development held April 29 and 30 at the U.S. Department of State. The conference drew nearly 300 university presidents, government officials, and corporate and foundation leaders to Washington, from around the globe. Rwandan President Paul Kagame presented “The Challenges of Creating a Relevant Higher Education Sector for Africa’s Development” at the opening dinner on April 29.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also awarded a $100,000 grant to NASULGC to build the grant-making framework for the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Collaboration Initiative. New funding would be used for university partnerships to build agriculture education and problem- solving capacity in African universities.
The Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative is led by NASULGC with the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, Higher Education for Development and the American Distance Education Consortium as key partners. More than a dozen other higher education organizations, African embassies and other organizations are also participating.
In July of 2007 the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Higher Education for Development (HED), and the American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC) came together to form an initiative to strengthen African higher education capacity in partnership with U.S. institutions of higher education. From the beginning, a number of other partners have been involved in shaping what is now called the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Collaboration Initiative and support for the Initiative continues to grow. During the short time the Initiative partners have been working together, significant progress has been made in moving towards a concrete plan of action.
The primary goals of the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Collaboration Initiative are to enhance and empower higher education institutions in Africa and the United States to contribute more effectively to African development and transformation and to increase the competency of U.S. higher education institutions in global affairs related to Africa.
Reference:
Website of the summit: Higher Education Summit + Agenda of the meeting
prnewswire 30/04 USAID Announces $1 Million Grant to Improve Education in Africa
Resources:
[PPT] presented at the Summit on 30/04 Regional Networks to Strengthen Higher Education in Africa
World Bank Working Paper 127, 2007, 57 p. [PDF] Higher Education Quality Assurance in Sub-Saharan Africa
