Second Meeting of the Committee of the Regional Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Diplomas and Degrees of UNESCO to be held in Havana, Cuba

The second meeting of the Committee of the UNESCO Regional Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Degrees and Diplomas will be held in Havana, Cuba, on February 9, within the framework of the Universidad 2024 Congress.

This meeting follows the first one held in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, in April 2023. On that occasion, the States Parties and the Convention Committee, made up of the ratifying countries, agreed on a work plan for 2023-2024, the creation of a regional network of national recognition structures, and an implementation guide, among other aspects. These efforts seek to facilitate the internationalization and mobility of students in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 2019, around 9 million students were pursuing higher education outside their country of origin, 2.6% out of an enrollment of some 238 million students globally. However, Latin American and Caribbean student mobility is only around 0.8% , being the geographical block lagging the furthest behind. (IESALC 2022)

First meeting in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, April 2023

Among the objectives of this Second Meeting is to analyze and follow up on the Work Plan 2023-2024 for the implementation of the Regional Convention in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as to review the status of the ratification of this instrument by the adopting States, which have agreed to harmonize and guarantee fair and non-discriminatory recognition procedures to facilitate intra-regional academic mobility.

The 6 ratifying States of the Regional Convention (Cuba, Peru, Uruguay, Grenada, Holy See and Ecuador), as well as the remaining 18 signatory States of the Regional Convention, non-signatory Member States; UNESCO Headquarters, the Secretariat of the Convention in charge of UNESCO-IESALC, and UNESCO Havana, as well as international organizations, accreditation agencies, university networks and formalized regional spaces for dialogue and coordination in the field of higher education are invited to the Second Meeting.

Within the framework of the meeting, the creation of a regional network of national recognition structures will be formalized with the objective of becoming the operational arm that contributes to the implementation of the Regional Convention.

It is hoped that the next meeting in Havana will continue to consolidate an architecture of cooperation and collaboration that will promote better recognition of academic degrees among the States Parties, thus contributing to the strengthening of the common space of higher education that is so urgently needed in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Those interested in attending should write to director.iesalc@unesco.org

For more information, download the agenda and concept note.