As one of UNESCO’s concerns is to strengthen the capacity of educational institutions in Africa, UNESCO took the initiative of establishing the International Institute for Capacity-Building in Africa in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). The Institute, opened on 5 May 1999, is the first of its kind and has as its main aim the implementation of a programme designed to meet the needs of Africa in the fields of educational management, curriculum development, teacher education and distance education. The Institute will establish and maintain a network of regional and national institutions with a view to developing and reinforcing their institutional capacity.

Other centres are now being set up: the Pan-African Network of Human Resources in Education (Pretoria, South Africa), the International Institute for Girls’ and Women’s Education (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso), the Youth Development Centre (Lilongwe, Malawi) and the Intercultural Centre (Port Louis, Mauritius).

In the Institute of Technology of Dar es Salaam (United Republic of Tanzania), a Regional Centre for the Culture of Maintenance has been operational for some time now, thanks to financial and technical assistance from UNESCO.