Collaboration between ACUP and five universities in Africa

Associació Catalana d'Universitats Públiques (ACUP)

A three-day meeting in Dakar signals the end of an ambitious collaboration programme between the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP) and five African universities. The initiative aimed to strengthen the institutional capacities of five universities located in Senegal, Mozambique, Cameroon, Madagascar and Equatorial Guinea.

18/01/2010

Promoting the exchange of experiences and training and professional development of directors and managers of universities in Africa is the objective of the Institutional Development and University Management Training Programme (DIGU). The programme began one year ago under an initiative by ACUP, made up of all eight public universities in Catalonia, and now comes to an end with a three-day meeting at the University Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal.

During these three days representatives of ACUP and five African universities from Senegal, Mozambique, Cameroon, Madagascar and Equatorial Guinea will be analysing the programme outcomes and signing a framework agreement for future collaborations in the fields of training, research and university management.

During the meetings several specific collaboration projects will be defined and a consortium of all universities will be created to continue the work carried out until now in the area of university management. One of the consortium's first actions will be the creation of the Spanish-African Higher Education Management Platform, which will allow for more African universities to join the project and will place Spain as an international reference in terms of university collaboration.

Initiatives such as the inter-university collaboration programme DIGU do not exist in the rest of the State. The programme operates under the auspices of the International Projection Plan for Catalan Public Universities 2010-2015, which prioritises social responsibility, international cooperation and development, as well as the conviction of the essential role universities have in the process of development of the country.

The programme receives the support of the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development(AECID), the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD) and Casa Àfrica, and is organised in collaboration with the Catalonia-Africa Institute (ICA).

The meeting in Dakar will be attended by Imma Tubella, President of ACUP and Rector of the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). Also attending are the rectors and vice-rectors of the universities Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegal; Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique; Yaoundé I, Cameroon; Antananarivo, Madagascar; and Nacional de Guinea Equatorial, Equatorial Guinea. The closing ceremony will be attended by Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira, Vice President of the Catalan Government.