Launch of policy insight on the recognition of foreign higher education qualifications

UNESCO has historically been a strong advocate for the recognition of qualifications acquired abroad to promote international mobility of students and professionals, ensure equitable access to higher education, facilitate the transition to labor market for professionals who studied abroad, and foster cooperation between countries. UNESCO’s Global and Regional Conventions establish universal principles to ensure fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory recognition of higher education qualifications across States Parties. The Global Convention, in force since 2023, promotes recognition, mobility and inter-university cooperation between regions, whereas the regional conventions promote this within their specific regions.

In this framework, UNESCO IESALC’s launches its Policy Insight 17, entitled Do countries recognize Foreign Higher Educaton Qualifications?, which takes stock of progress made across countries worldwide regarding the recognition of higher education qualifications acquired abroad. Building on the data from the Higher Education Policy Observatory, it highlights differences between world regions and income groups in the share of countries that either ratified the UNESCO Global Convention or a regional convention, adopted a national policy for that purpose, or are still to incorporate these principles in their legal system.

Objectives of the webinar

• Introduce and disseminate the new findings of Policy Insight 17 on the recognition of foreign higher education,
• Reflect on these findings, take stock of progress made globally in the recognition of higher education qualifications acquired abroad and identify the remaining barriers for countries in this area,
• Explore innovative ways to address barriers and promote and support the ratification of UNESCO recognition conventions Share on strategies and good practices for the implementation of UNESCO Conventions in different regional and national contexts
• Identify the next steps for promoting the recognition of higher education qualifications globally, considering the evolving higher education

Panelists

• Luca Lantero, President of the Lisbon Recognition Convention Committee Bureau and Director General of the Italian Information Center on Academic Mobility and Equivalence (CIMEA), Italy
• Gonzalo Baroni Boces, President of the Buenos Aires Convention Committee and Director of Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Uruguay
• Dolly Seow-Ganesan, Chair of the Tokyo Convention Committee and Director of Qualifications Recognition Services, New Zealand
• Lamine Guèye, President of the Addis Convention Committee for Africa and Executive Secretary of the National Quality Assurance Authority for Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Senegal
• Francesc Pedró, Director, UNESCO IESALC
• Victoria Galán-Muros, Chief of Research and Analysis, UNESCO IESALC.
• Mathias Bouckaert, Policy Analyst, UNESCO IESALC.
• Vanja Gutovic, Education Specialist.
• Borhene Chakroun, Director, Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, UNESCO

Concept note and agenda: here