In March 2023, the UNESCO Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education entered into force. Four months later, in July, the First Intergovernmental Party of the State Parties (COP1) of this convention was held at UNESCO’s Headquarters in Paris.

Source: UNESCO

A Process Taking Over a Decade

These important milestones in 2023 are the result of a long journey which has been ongoing for over a decade. An important starting point was in 2011, when UNESCO’s General Conference decided to do a feasibility study on the potential need for a global recognition convention to supplement the work taking place in regions of the world with a similar focus. Before the text of the regional convention was adopted at the General Conference in 2019, UNESCO and its Member States undertook further studies, formed a drafting committee for the text, , and carried out intergovernmental negotiations in which all the Member States of UNESCO could participate.
For the convention to enter into force, it subsequently required the ratification of 20 Member States. Norway was the first country to ratify the convention. Among the 21 State Parties at the COP1 in July 2023, there were at least two ratifying Member States from each of the UNESCO regions of the world around table, making it a truly global and inclusive process.

The reason why convention processes often take many years is that they involve legal agreements between Member States regulating matters affecting them all. However, although it took time to reach an agreement, one should be proud that the convention is now the first global UN treaty in higher education.

Goals and Principles of the Global Convention

Source: UNESCO

Although what will follow may not encompass a comprehensive list of all the goals and principles, it is important to recognize that the global convention is rooted in, and will continue to draw from, ongoing and future work done within the contexts of the regional recognition conventions.
While the regional recognition conventions have a regional scope, a very important aim with the global recognition convention is to promote and secure global mobility of students, focusing on mobility across regions. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, there are currently 6 million students studying outside their own country, and more than half of them study outside their own region.

The convention is an important building block for more international cooperation in higher education across regions, as the recognition of qualifications – based on transparent, fair, and non-discriminatory principles – is a prerequisite for securing student mobility. It is a fact that having functioning systems for recognition of qualifications is a strong advantage in attracting international students and an international labor force with higher education qualifications. By laying the ground for a global system for recognition of qualifications, the aim is to shift away from today’s brain drain in certain regions of the world toward a fairer system of brain circulation. For example, in many countries outside of Europe, obtaining recognition for qualifications can be exceedingly challenging, and insome cases, it may even be impossible. Consequently, when a student from such a country goes abroad to study, the possibility of him/her returning is hindered by the lack of recognition procedures.

The convention text includes provisions for all qualifications concerning higher education. In addition, there is a separate article describing that the State Parties have an obligation to assess qualifications from refugees, also in cases where documentary evidence is missing. A landmark operationalization, already in place, is UNESCO’s Qualifications Passport for Refugees and Vulnerable Migrants and its European counterpart by Council of Europe.

The Next Steps Ahead

During COP1 in July 2023, the State Parties agreed on the framework of their work by adopting the rules of procedure. In addition, the first bureau was elected, in which I was elected chair, with representatives from all UNESCO regions and the Holy See represented in the bureau. Currently there is an important ongoing process in a working group of the State Parties. The objective is to develop the program for the remaining period until COP2 in June 2025; the interim program will be adopted during an extraordinary COP in March 2024. The toolbox for the working group, according to the convention, includes operational guidelines to the State Parties, recommendations, declarations, models of good practices, and any relevant subsidiary text at the global or interregional level. Crucial is also the number of ratifications; at the time of writing there are 22 State Parties to the convention. 22 State Parties is a start, and the aim is that the number of ratifications will rapidly increase, to benefit more students, persons with higher education qualifications, universities, and our societies as a whole.

About the author

Stig Arne Skjerven is Norway’s Deputy Permanent Representative to UNESCO in Paris. Before becoming a diplomat in Paris, Skjerven has extensive experience in international higher education. He has held positions as Director at the competent authority in charge of recognition of qualifications in Norway, Director of Academic Affairs at a Higher Education Institution and as Policy Advisor. Skjerven is the first elected Chair of the Bureau of the Global Recognition Convention for Higher Education Qualifications, and he has been highly involved during the various stages of the developing the convention. Previously, twice, he has been elected as President of the European recognition network of information centers, known as the ENIC-NARIC network.

The First Global UN Treaty in Higher Education / Higher Education Research Group by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0