OBREAL was present at the Extraordinary Session of the Intergovernmental Conference of States Parties to the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education (GLOCO), held on March 7 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education (GLOCO)
The Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education (GLOCO) is the first United Nations global treaty on Higher Education, and “ensures fair, transparent and non-discriminatory recognition of Higher Education qualifications in all regions“. Thus, the convention provides a framework of recognition that promotes educational and employment opportunities for the states that have ratified it (27 to date).
These states, which have ratified the Convention, make up the Intergovernmental Conference, whose objectives are to promote the application of the Convention, supervise its implementation and adopt a provisional work program.
It is this last point, that of addressing a provisional work program, that took place during this Thursday’s Extraordinary Session at UNESCO headquarters.
OBREAL’s attendance
OBREAL participated in the Extraordinary Session as observers, and we did so with our Senior Coordinator for Higher Education Policy, Marina Larrea.
An opportunity not only to attend first-hand the approval of the work plan for GLOCO implementation, but also to engage in dialogue with representatives from various countries and entities and explore potential collaborations.
In this regard, the words exchanged with Gonzalo Baroni, National Director of Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay; Dr. Fahmi Ahmed Mohammed, Advisor to the Minister of Higher Education and Research of Djibouti, or Paz Portales, Program Specialist of the Section of Higher Education of UNESCO, were very fruitful.
Equally interesting was meeting at the conference with some of our strategic partners, such as representatives of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) or representatives of the National Authority for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ANAQ-SUP) and the CNAQ of Mozambique.
From OBREAL, we offer our expertise in knowledge production and capacity building to reinforce GLOCO implementation processes.
Marina Larrea, Gonzalo Baroni, and Paz Portales
