At UNESCO IESALC we are celebrating our 25th anniversary this week

Our UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean has reached its first quarter of a century. It has been 25 years full of constant challenges that have served to promote higher education as the engine of a better world.

With this unwavering north, today we can affirm that we have traced a path towards the development of education with greater relevance, equity and quality and we will continue with this mission, as our motto states “higher education for all.”

UNESCO IESALC was created by UNESCO’s General Conference in 1997 from the Regional Center for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (CRESALC), established in 1974. It is currently the only specialized institute in the United Nations system whose objective is to contribute to the improvement of higher education in Member States.

To commemorate this date we will have a week full of online activities for everyone to participate in. At the opening, Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO, offered a conference outiling first some of the global trends and challenges facing our societies and planet, secondly, the vision of the United Nations and its role in addressing these challenges through higher education; and finally, presented UNESCO’s roadmap for transforming higher education, following the 2022 World Higher Education Conference.

Francesc Pedró, Director of UNESCO IESALC, offered concluding remarks and launched officially a video piece explaining the work the Institute carries out in the region for fostering higher education for all.

In order to face global challenges, it is necessary to create more open, equitable, inclusive and collaborative higher education systems. As Giannini has pointed out, this is a necessary transformation, guided by principles such as the right to education and education as a public good.

In order to face global challenges, it is necessary to create more open, equitable, inclusive and collaborative higher education systems. As Giannini has pointed out, this is a necessary transformation, guided by principles such as the right to education and education as a public good.

Event in English and Spanish.

Throughout the anniversary week, there will be online events with different actors in higher education, as well as virtual presentations of the trajectory and multiple projects of UNESCO IESALC.