Executive Board Two hundred and fourth session 204 EX/30 PARIS, 21 March 2018 Original: English Item 30 of the provisional agenda INVITATIONS TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL MEETINGS (CATEGORY II) RELATED TO THE PRELIMINARY DRAFT OF THE GLOBAL CONVENTION ON THE RECOGNITION OF HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY Pursuant to the Rules of Procedure concerning recommendations to Member States and international conventions covered by the terms of Article IV, paragraph 4, of the Constitution, and in accordance with Article 21 of the Regulations for the general classification of the various categories of meetings convened by UNESCO, as well as pursuant to 39 C/Resolution 81 on the progress report on the preparation of the draft global convention on the recognition of higher education qualifications, the Director-General submits to the Executive Board for its decision proposals concerning invitations to the Intergovernmental Special Committee meetings of experts (category II), to be convened in December 2018 and March 2019, to examine the draft text of the global convention. The financial and administrative implications are clarified in paragraph 9. Action expected of the Executive Board: Proposed decision in paragraph 10. Job: 201800549
I. INTRODUCTION 1. The General Conference, at its 37th session, examined the preliminary study on the technical and legal aspects relating to the desirability of a global standard-setting instrument on the recognition of higher education qualifications and the comments and observations of the Executive Board thereon. By Resolution 37 C/Resolution 15, the General Conference recognized the benefits of a global convention on the recognition of higher education qualifications (the Global Convention ) and invited the Director-General to initiate the process of elaborating it. 2. Subsequently, at its 38th session, the General Conference adopted 38 C/Resolution 12, inviting the Director-General to continue the process of elaborating a Global Convention and to submit a progress report, at its 39th session, accompanied by a preliminary draft of the Global Convention, for consideration and decision on further action. 3. Pursuant to 38 C/Resolution 12, UNESCO established, in March 2016, in close cooperation with UNESCO Electoral Groups, a Drafting Committee (category VI) to elaborate a preliminary draft of the Global Convention. It was composed of 23 independent experts, appointed on a geographical balance basis from all UNESCO regions, and convened four times. The Drafting Committee s concluding meeting (June 2017) resulted in a preliminary draft of the Global Convention. 4. The General Conference, at its 39th session, examined the progress report, accompanied by the preliminary draft of the Global Convention. By 39 C/Resolution 81, it invited the Director-General to continue the process of elaborating the Global Convention, and to consult Member States and relevant stakeholders on the preliminary draft in an inclusive manner through consultations, including an intergovernmental special committee open to all Member States. 5. Pursuant to 39 C/Resolution 81 and in accordance with Article 10, paragraph 4, of the Rules of Procedure concerning recommendations to Member States and international conventions, the Director-General will convene two intergovernmental meetings of the Special Committee of experts (category II) to continue the elaboration of the draft Convention, which will be submitted to the General Conference at its 40th session. In accordance with Article 21 of the Regulations for the general classification of the various categories of meetings convened by UNESCO (the Regulations ), the Director-General submits to the Executive Board proposals concerning invitations to the intergovernmental meetings of experts (category II), in the annex to the present document. Category of meeting 6. Pursuant to Article 18 of the Regulations, these meetings fall under the category of intergovernmental meetings other than international conferences of States (category II), at which the chief participants represent their governments. Participants 7. In accordance with the Regulations, it is for the Executive Board to decide on the invitations to the meetings, on the basis of the list submitted to it in the annex to this document. Timetable 8. The Director-General proposes to convene two meetings in Paris, at UNESCO Headquarters the first for three days in December 2018 and the second in March 2019. If deemed necessary, a third meeting may be held in June 2019, four months before the opening of the 40th session of the General Conference. In accordance with Article 10, paragraph 5 of the Rules of Procedure concerning recommendations to Member States and international conventions covered by the terms of Article IV, paragraph 4, of the Constitution, a final text of the draft Convention will be submitted to Member States at least 70 days before the opening of that session of the General Conference.
page 2 Financial and administrative implications 9. In accordance with the established rules, the travel and all other expenses related to the participation of experts in the meetings will be borne by the government/institution they represent. Taking into account 39 C/Resolution 81, in which the General Conference encourages Member States to provide financial resources to facilitate the consultation and preparation process of the draft Global Convention, the Director-General proposes to use the funds generously allocated by the Government of the Kingdom of Norway for that purpose. Nevertheless, States are invited to consider making voluntary extrabudgetary contributions to support the funding of the meetings and related activities in order to meet all costs that will be incurred. Other additional costs for the organization of the meetings will be borne from the 39 C/5 Regular Programme budget allocated. Proposed decision 10. In light of the above, the Executive Board may wish to take the following decision: The Executive Board, 1. Recalling 39 C/Resolution 81, 2. Having examined document 204 EX/30 and its annex, 3. Decides that: (a) (b) (c) (d) invitations to participate in intergovernmental meetings of experts (category II) to examine the draft Global Convention on the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications in the light of the comments received from Member States and relevant stakeholders on the preliminary draft, will be sent to all Member States and Associate Members of UNESCO; invitations to designate observers to the intergovernmental meetings of experts (category II) will also be sent to the States mentioned in paragraph (b) of the annex of document 204 EX/30; invitations to designate observers to the intergovernmental meetings of experts (category II) will be sent to the organizations of the United Nations system and which are listed in paragraph (c) of the annex of document 204 EX/30; invitations to send observers to the intergovernmental meetings of experts (category II) will be sent to the organizations and institutions listed in paragraphs (d) and (e) of the Annex of document 204 EX/30; 4. Authorizes the Director-General to send out invitations to the entities listed in paragraph (f) of the annex of document 204 EX/30, and to any other entities she may deem useful for advancing the work of the intergovernmental meetings of experts (category II), notifying the Executive Board thereof.
Annex ANNEX The Director-General s proposals concerning invitations to the intergovernmental meetings of experts (category II) are listed below: (a) Member States and Associate Members In accordance with Article 21, paragraph 1, of the Regulations, the Executive Board, on the Director- General s proposal and subject to the existing regulations applicable, shall decide on the Member States and Associate Members whose governments are to be invited to this category of meeting (category II). In accordance with Article 23 of the Regulations, the governments of the Member States and Associate Members that are invited to participate have the right to vote. (b) Non-Member States Under Article 21, paragraph 3, of the Regulations, the Executive Board may designate non-member States to be invited to send observers to the meetings. The Director-General proposes that States that are not members of UNESCO but are members of at least one of the organizations of the United Nations system be invited to send observers. At the time of preparation of the present document, those States were Holy See and Liechtenstein. In addition, the Director-General proposes that the Executive Board invite to the meetings, as observers, any States that become members of any of the organizations of the United Nations system before the opening of the meetings. (c) Organizations of the United Nations system (Article 21, paragraph 4 and paragraph 5 (a)) Under Article 21, paragraph 4, of the Regulations, the following organizations of the United Nations system, with which UNESCO has concluded mutual representation agreements, may send representatives to the meetings: International Labour Organization (ILO) International Organization for Migration (IOM) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Pursuant to Article 21, paragraph 5 (a), of the Regulations, the Director-General proposes that the following organization of the United Nations system with which UNESCO has not concluded mutual representation agreements be invited to send observers to the meetings: World Bank (d) Other intergovernmental organizations (Article 21, paragraph 5 (b)) Pursuant to Article 21, paragraph 5 (b), of the Regulations, the Director-General proposes that the following intergovernmental organizations be invited to send observers to the meetings: African Union (AU) Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Annex page 2 Commonwealth Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Council of Europe (CE) East African Community (EAC) Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) European Union (EU) Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) League of Arab States Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Organization of American States (OAS) Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) South-East Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Southern African Development Community (SADC) (e) International non-governmental organizations (Article 21, paragraph 5 (c)) Pursuant to Article 21, paragraph 5 (c), of the Regulations, the Director-General proposes that the following non-governmental organizations (NGOs) be invited to send observers to the meetings, in accordance with the Directives concerning UNESCO s partnership with non-governmental organizations: All-Africa Students Union (AASU) Association of African Universities (AAU) Association of Arab Universities (AArU) Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Community of Mediterranean Universities (CMU) Education International (EI) European Students Union (ESU) European University Association (EUA) Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (OUI-IOHE) International Association of Universities (IAU) International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) International Union of Students (IUS) L Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) Organización continental latinoamericana y caribeña de estudiantes (OCLAE) Union of Latin American Universities (UDUAL) (f) Other entities The Director-General also proposes that the following associations, networks and other similar institutions be invited to send observers to the meetings: African Network for Internationalization of Education (ANIE) African Qualifications Verification Network (AQVN) African Quality Assurance Network (AFRIQAN) American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ANQAHE) ASEAN Quality Assurance Network (AQAN) Asia-Pacific Academic Recognition Network (APARNET) Asia-Pacific Network of Information Centres (APNIC)
Annex page 3 Asia-Pacific Quality Network (APQN) Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) Association of American Universities (AAU) Association of Caribbean Tertiary Institutions (ACTI) Association of Quality Assurance Agencies of the Islamic World (QA-Islamic) Association of Universities of Asia and the Pacific (AUAP) Bureau of the Bangkok Recognition Convention Committee Bureau of the Lisbon Recognition Convention Committee Bureau of the Tokyo Recognition Convention Committee Caribbean Area Network for Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education (CANQATE) Conseil africain et malgache pour l'enseignement supérieur (CAMES) Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) East African Quality Assurance Network (EAQAN) European Association for International Education (EAIE) European Association for Quality Assurance in Education (ENQA) European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE) European Network of Information Centres in the European Region (ENIC) Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW) Global University Network for Innovation (GUNI) Groeningen Declaration Network Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) National Academic Recognition Information Centres in the European Union (NARIC) Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) Red Iberoamericana para la Acreditación de la Calidad de la Educación Superior (RIACES) Regional Observatory on Internationalization and Networks in Tertiary Education (OBIRET) Southern African Quality Assurance Network (SAQAN) Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARUA) Printed on recycled paper