Small Island States Universities Consortium

On 14 January, as part of the high-level segment Plenary session, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the setting up of a Small Island States Universities Consortium. The MOU was signed by representatives of five founding member institutions: University of Malta, University of Mauritius, University of the South Pacific, University of the Virgin Islands, University of the West Indies. The main aim of the consortium is to strengthen the national capacity of small-island states to implement the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA).

The consortium is a product of a UNDP Ministerial Round Table hosted by Jamaica in May 2002. Development of the consortium has been supported by UNDP through its Capacity 2015 initiative. UNESCO was represented at a planning meeting held in the US Virgin Islands in August 2004, with preliminary proposals for the consortium being examined by representatives of interested universities at an informal meeting held at UNESCO House on 4 November during the ‘University Community and Education for All’ meeting. Subsequently, in December, draft proposals were circulated by proponents on possible affiliation of the consortium with UNESCO’s UNITWIN network, and informal discussions held on possible links with the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.