Event

First session of the Intergovernmental Conference of States Parties to the Global Convention on Higher Education

Name: 1st Session of the Intergovernmental Conference of the States Parties to the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualification
Start: 2023-07-03T12:30:00
End: 2023-07-05T16:00:00
Location: UNESCO Headquarters

UNESCO will convene the first session of the Intergovernmental Conference of the States Parties to the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education.

3 July 2023 - 5 July 2023

Event

1st Session of the Intergovernmental Conference of the States Parties to the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualification

3 July 2023 - 2:30 pm - 5 July 2023 - 6:00 pm

Location

UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France

Rooms :

Room VII

Room III

Room II

Type :

Cat II – Intergovernmental meeting, other than international conference of States

Arrangement type :

In-Person

Language(s) :

Chinese

Russian

French

Spanish

English

Arabic

The Global Convention on Higher Education

Adopted at the 40th Session of the General Conference on 25 November 2019, the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education (hereinafter the Global Convention) entered into force on 5 March 2023, following the deposit of the 20^th instrument of ratification on 5 December 2022.

Today, more than half of the world’s 6.3 million international students are studying outside their region. As the first worldwide UN treaty in higher education, the Global Convention ensures fair, transparent and non-discriminatory recognition of higher education qualifications across regions. It establishes an inclusive framework for mutual recognition higher education qualifications and qualifications giving access to higher education, offering avenues for further study and employment. With provisions on non-traditional learning modes, the Global Convention also facilitates the recognition of qualifications, prior learning and study periods earned remotely.

As of April 2023, 22 States have ratified and around 20 other countries report to be at an advanced stage in the ratification process.

The First session of the Intergovernmental Conference of the States Parties

To operationalize the implementation mechanisms of the Global Convention, the UNESCO Secretariat will convene the First session of the Intergovernmental Conference of the States Parties from 4 to 5 July 2023 at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (cf. Global Convention Art. XV para 6).

The mandate of the Intergovernmental Conference is to promote the application of the Convention and oversee its implementation by adopting recommendations, declarations, models of good practices, or any relevant subsidiary text at the global or interregional level (cf. Art. XV para 7). It also adopts an interim work programme concerning activities between sessions (cf. Art. XV para 5).

The main objectives of the first session of the Intergovernmental Conference will be to adopt the Rules of Procedure (RoP), elect a Bureau and adopt a work programme for 2023-2025.