The Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) will be organizing it’s 4th biannual Regional Workshop (ACE Impact of Fall 2020 Virtual Workshop) from October 19-27, 2020.
Due to restrictions on mobility imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to ensure the safety of all participants, the meeting will be held virtually.
The meeting will bring together the 53 Centres of Excellence and key stakeholders including government representatives from participating countries, Vice-Chancellors, players of the higher education sector, the private sector, policy think tanks, and partners including the World Bank, the French Development Agency and the Association of African Universities.
The overarching objective of the ACE Impact, October 2020 Virtual Workshop is to provide
participating Centers, their host institutions, and governments with the tools and information necessary to implement the project and help achieve its objectives despite the current global pandemic, which has had a significant impact on all aspects of higher education.
The ACE impact the project broadly targets strengthening post-graduate training and applied research in existing fields and supporting new fields that are essential for Africa’s economic growth.
Specific key focus areas of the Workshop include:
i. Provide Centers the opportunity to share and to learn best practices on higher education
excellence and relevance.
ii. Take stock of the status of progress towards fulfilling the Implementation Plans, earning
Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) and advancing Center and project objectives.
iii. Share global best practice on institutional resilience, re-opening universities, and digital
education.
iv. Plan key next steps for each country, institution, and Center in implementing projects in
challenging social, health and academic environments.
v. Provide clear guidance on requirements for disbursement, fiduciary and safeguards
matters
vi. Provide networking and collaboration opportunities for the Centers.
The official opening of the meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, and will be presided over by Ms Meskerem Mulatu, World Bank Education Practice Manager, West Africa.
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Additional planned workshop activities include implementation support and peer learning sessions for all the participating Centers across the various thematic areas of the project – Agriculture, Health and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The virtual workshop will also feature operational clinics on Monitoring & Evaluation, Procurement and Financial Management.
These sessions are aimed at equipping the participating ACEs and their host institutions with the needed tools to help them improve their project effectiveness and Implementation.
Additionally, there will be a Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting which is scheduled to take place on the 19th of October 2020. The PSC comprises representatives of all participating countries, regional bodies, and industry.
They serve as the policy-making body of the project.
The ACE Impact project will continue to adopt innovative approaches towards strengthening the Centres and their host Institutions to become excellent and responsive to the continent’s developmental needs.
We continue to count on the support of all stakeholders and look forward to their active participation in the upcoming 4th Regional Workshop, in their respective capacities.
