“Education is not just of the five pillars of the Global Gateway but it is the enabler of the others”, according to Martin Seychell, Deputy Director General for International Partnerships of the European Commission. Seychell opened the S-DHG Forum 2024 held in Brussels this week and which was attended by OBREAL.
S-DHG, or the Forum for Sustainable Development in Higher Education, which OBREAL hosted in Barcelona two years ago, welcomed over 30 organisations and agencies funding higher education for development, including important associations and networks like OBREAL. Hosted by the DAAD, the European Commission and the VLIR-UOS, the event revolved around the theme “Building Alliances for development in higher education and research”.
OBREAL’s Strategic Contributions at the S-DHG Forum: Director Elizabeth Colucci Leads Global Gateway Dialogue on Higher Education and Impact
Amongst OBREAL’s contributions to the event, Director of International Projects Elizabeth Colucci chaired a panel on “A Global Gateway for Higher Education and Research. Perspectives from Partner Countries and Regions”. OBREAL and VLIR-UOS also coordinated a world café session to brainstorm ideas for joint initiatives that support capacity for management and impact assessment in the different Souths. The latter session promoted the results of the recent interregional dialogue in Addis Ababa and the newly launched Erasmus+ Capacity Building project ‘IMPACT HE’, targeting project and impact capacity management in universities and ministries in Kenya and Ethiopia.
OBREAL remains committed to the S-DHG Forum, and especially to advocating to role of higher education institutions as motors for development and key actors in realizing the EU’s Global Gateway agenda. OBREAL also continues to advocate interregional partnerships for development and welcomes collaboration with S-DHG members to this effect.
