DAAD and the Inter University Council for East Africa sign new Memorandum of Understanding on Quality Assurance and Strengthening of the Higher Education Area in the EAC

IUCEA and DAAD have a long history of cooperation and share common interests in higher education cooperation, mobility, exchange and quality assurance. Since 2005, the DAAD and the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) have been cooperating within the framework of the BMZ-funded DIES program. The Nairobi field office cooperates with the IUCEA in many areas. The basis of the cooperation between DAAD and IUCEA were two already MoUs that have already expired, which will now be followed by a third for the period 2022-2026. Specific measures are defined at the operational level via an activity plan (master plan) that is coordinated annually.

These activities relate to the four main areas of cooperation defined in the MoU:

Line A: Strengthening of the EAC Common Higher Education Area

§ Line B: Developing and Promoting higher education management initiatives in/for the East African region for higher education management, postgraduate supervision, teaching, and learning

§ Line C: Strengthening the implementation of an EAC – Higher Education Information Management System through benchmarking similar systems for harmonized HE Information Management

§ Line D: Supporting capacity building and cooperation of universities, especially in research and innovation, incubation centres, and centres of excellence, of universities in East Africa and in Germany

In this context, the Director of the DAAD Regional Office Nairobi, Beate Schindler-Kovats visited the IUCEA in Kampala in April. In an interactive workshop moderated by Prof. Mike Kuria, Deputy Executive Secretary, the new MoU was negotiated and discussed.

For the DAAD in East Africa, the IUCEA is an important strategic partner. The member universities of the IUCEA are multipliers, the efforts for a common higher education area in East Africa (EAC) also facilitate the work of the DAAD in the region. Joint events, forums and workshops have been held since 2005.

The Nairobi office cooperates with the IUCEA in the following areas:

• IUCEA as multiplier for DAAD calls for proposals and calls in the EAC
• Co-organizers and partners in events, forums and conferences
• Implementation of joint webinars within the framework of DIES dialogue events.

Since 2010, the EAQAN Forum has been held annually by the East African Quality Assurance Network (EAQAN), an association of QA experts in the region, largely trained by the DAAD, which was also involved in its foundation.

Currently, the IUCEA is also acting as a key strategic partner in the EU-funded project HAQAA2 (Harmonization of African Higher Education, Quality Assurance and Accreditation), which aims to harmonize quality assurance structures and disseminate knowledge of the African Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ASG-QA).