Five priority Africa flagship programmes to advance science

Five priority Africa flagship programmes, bringing together educational institutions, academics and other experts to collaborate, co-produce and share knowledge, were introduced during the International Forum of UNESCO Chairs and Partners: Transforming Knowledge for Africa’s Future, which ended in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 2 October.

The programmes, that will run until 2029, include: Campus Africa: Reinforcing Higher Education in Africa; the General History of Africa (GHA) as a catalyst for achieving Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda; Fostering cultural heritage and capacity development; and harnessing new and emerging technologies for sustainable development in Africa, including through the implementation of the recommendations on the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI).

The final programme is themed, ‘Enhance open science, reinforce capacity-building in basic and applied sciences and scientific research to strengthen innovation and technology development and use in ocean science, climate change resilience and water resource management in Africa’.

On the occasion of the Transforming Knowledge for Africa’s Future forum, Firmin Edouard Matoko, UNESCO’s assistant director-general for priority Africa and external relations, stressed the importance of the flagship programme for UNESCO and the African region.

“The strategy was developed in consultation with UNESCO member states, stakeholders in the field, national commissions and civil societies. It represents UNESCO’s commitments to addressing the evolving dynamics and challenges in Africa and, in that sense, reflects the vision for the continent’s future, aligning UNESCO’s actions with Africa’s aspirations in expressing its Agenda [2063],” he outlined.

During the conference, Stefania Giannini, the assistant director-general for education at UNESCO, presented the programmes and highlighted that two of UNESCO’s priority Africa flagship programmes captured some of the main themes of the forum, which were understanding and celebrating Africa’s rich cultural history, while supporting its future development aspirations.

She said the Campus Africa flagship programme, which focuses largely on the future of education, is a portfolio of UNESCO-supported programming, which reflected the organisation’s commitment to support its member states in transforming their higher education systems.

“On a continent with a rapidly growing youth population, it is essential that all young people, including women, girls and vulnerable populations, have access to a flexible and responsive higher education offer that prepares them for entry into fast-changing, yet uncertain, job markets, and to contribute to breakthrough solutions for their communities,” she said.

Higher education central to Campus Africa

Campus Africa aims to achieve its goals through three main pillars, which were closely aligned with the themes of the forum.

“First, it brings diverse partners together to support higher education capacities for world-class research in emerging growth sectors – including renewable energies, agribusiness and technologies – [areas] that are critical to Africa’s economic growth and sustainable development.

“This includes support for leadership capacities to design, oversee and manage cutting-edge research portfolios, the use of technologies to advance research agendas, encouraging a wider participation of women in key STEM fields, and capacities to work with actors outside of academia on joint research – including through closer academia-industry linkages and multi-stakeholder collaboration,” she stated.

Secondly, the Campus Africa flagship programme works to enhance collaboration and mobility between African universities, with global institutions as core elements of knowledge-sharing and capacity strengthening.

Faculty and student exchanges, including through scholarships and doctoral programmes, would also be a priority focus of Campus Africa, while also bridging digital divides and ensuring that universities and research institutions are connected through online networks and can access repositories of good practice and information on potential partners.

Providing skills for the future

The Campus Africa flagship programme is also working to transform higher technical education by working with different partners, including industry, to restructure curricula to skills-in-demand in fast-growing innovation sectors.

“Campus Africa also works to facilitate workforce entry and will support pioneering work to understand the long-term impacts of skilling, employment and entrepreneurship on the lives of higher education students and youth.

“UNESCO’s network of chairs … institutes, regional offices [and UNESCO’s network of technical and vocational education and training centres] play a crucial role in supporting all these efforts by providing technical expertise and supporting regional and global collaboration,” she highlighted.

“Recognising that the higher education sector has already undergone significant transformation over the past 15 years with the arrival of online and hybrid forms of learning and internationalisation, a key concern is to protect and augment the quality of the higher education offer in Africa through robust national quality assurance frameworks and to improve the recognition of qualifications across borders, helping students and academics move freely between countries for both study and employment.

“Last but not least, intra-regional and trans-national cooperation are helping to strengthen university capacities for data collection to inform policy and practice – by improving the availability of statistical data on indicators such as enrolment by population group, gender, geographies and graduate employment rates,” she added.

Strengthening education systems, and higher education, in particular, was a critical step towards Africa’s future.

Said Giannini: “UNESCO’s Campus Africa programme is about reinforcing the higher education and research ecosystem on the continent and enhancing mobility and employability, including through the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education that UNESCO member states adopted four years ago.

“This is the spirit of the global network of UNESCO chairs and UNITWIN Networks [University Twinning and Networking Programme]. The number of UNESCO chairs in Africa is growing, with nine new African countries a year, in addition to the 31 already.

“These chairs are a key modality for enhancing such intellectual and scientific solidarity. It is a means of redressing knowledge exclusions, inequalities, hierarchies, and epistemic injustice, which is no less important than social injustice,” she stated.

African history

Giannini also presented on the General History of Africa (GHA) flagship programme which aimed to provide understanding and reclaiming Africa’s rich history as a foundation for understanding and building a more just and sustainable present and future.

She noted that the ambitious project, which was launched in 1964, was created to correct historical inaccuracies, empower Africans to reclaim their past, and highlight Africa’s contribution to the general progress of humanity.

“GHA is the product of 35 years of cooperation between more than 230 historians and other specialists, and was overseen by an International Scientific Committee, of which two-thirds were from Africa,” she said.

The flagship programme is built around three key components and the first one aims to mainstream African history into education systems across the continent.

“By mainstreaming the General History of Africa into curricula, textbooks and teacher training programmes, we are ensuring that students across Africa – and beyond – learn their history from an authentic and African-centred perspective,” she said.

She underlined that such efforts were about more than just teaching history, but also about transforming education towards a vision of justice, peace and sustainable development.

The second component is about strengthening knowledge production. The GHA continues to expand and update its volumes, ensuring that new research is incorporated and that young African researchers are involved in shaping the narrative, while the third component is on promoting the General History of Africa through non-formal education.

Working with cultural institutions

“The GHA has already produced eight volumes, and UNESCO has been updating and expanding the collections through the development of three more volumes, focusing on the latest social, political and archaeological developments on the continent and its diaspora.

“This process is crucial to keeping the project dynamic and ensuring that Africa’s history remains relevant for future generations,” she said.

UNESCO was working with cultural institutions, artists, and creators to bring African history to life through various forms of media, such as films, exhibitions, books, and even video games.

“These efforts make African history accessible to diverse audiences, from children to the general public, fostering a deeper sense of pride and identity. A vital element of this programme is the development of an interactive digital platform, which will house all the resources related to the General History of Africa.

This platform will be available to educators, students and researchers across the world, ensuring that African history can be taught and shared in a variety of educational settings.

“The General History of Africa is a flagship programme that is not only about understanding the past, but also about using history as a tool to shape Africa’s future,” said Giannini.