IESALC was established as part of UNESCO's Education Programme to assist countries in tackling challenges related to the internationalization of higher education.
UNESCO-IESALC's action and main objectives in Latin America and the Caribbean are:
- to strengthen cooperation among member states in the field of higher education;
- contribute to the renewal of higher education in the region and to improvement in reciprocal knowledge of tertiary education systems;
- assist member states' efforts to develop or improve their systems and institutions of learning and research;
- lay the basis for sustainable human development founded on justice, equity, freedom, solidarity and peace by emphasizing human resource development, capacity building and cooperation agreements targeting a new social pact;
- achieve better utilization of human and educational resources by promoting greater mobility of professionals in higher education systems;
- act as a clearinghouse and reference centre supporting member states and institutions in improving higher education;
- facilitate the exchange of information and experience among institutions in the region and elsewhere.
Main thrusts:
- Promotion of research on higher education, evaluation and accreditation of academic programmes and institutions, development of a regional system of information and documentation and improving technological capacity in higher education;
- Fostering lifelong education for all and promoting links between higher education and society;
- Stimulating the development of new models of institutional management and training of public policy-makers in higher education;
- Putting in place new forms of inter-institutional cooperation focused on further developing postgraduate studies of excellence.
Strategy
Strategy
Declaration of the Third Regional Conference on Higher Education for Latin America and the Caribbean
Adopted in Córdoba, Argentina in 2018
The Declaration advocates the implementation of the CRES 2018-2028 Action Plan, which defines the strategic actions of Latin American institutions of higher education for the next ten years, with the ultimate goal of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).