Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE)

Organisation universitaire interaméricaine (OUI)
Organização Universitaria Interamericana (OUI)
Organización Universitaria Interamericana (OUI)

Contact Details

Main address: Exec Dir: Patricia Gudiño, Univ de Montréal, 3744 Jean-Brillant bureau 592, QC H3T 1P1, Montréal QC, Canada, Tel: (1 514) 343 6980, Fax: (1 514) 343 6454, E-mail: fbrown (at) oui-iohe.org , E-mail (2): secretariat (at) oui-iohe.qc.ca

URL: http://www.oui-iohe.org/

Aims

Promote cooperation among member institutions; foster development of higher education in the Americas; encourage pooling of resources to improve quality of higher education; serve as a network of partners supporting inter-American university cooperation; provide a vision of the Americas based on solidarity and mutual assistance, search for dialogue, respect for differences and freedom of thought.

Official Relations

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)^* (Consultative Status).

Activities

Works in the areas of: university management; scientific cooperation linked to socio-economic development; production and dissemination of information on higher education; development of communication networks for teaching and research. Supports activities of member institutions and different cooperation programmes, including:

• (1) Institute of University Management and Leadership (IGLU-Leaders)^* - supports development of the Inter-American Common Area of Higher Education, and includes online courses, on-site training; academic stays and institutional projects;

• (2) College of the Americas (COLAM)^*, a network of Inter-American Training Networks (RIF) of university consortia that offer joint academic programmes providing an Inter-American, interdisciplinary and intercultural perspective concerning themes of regional interest. The RIFS include:

• -Women, Gender and Equitable Development;

• -Social Determinants of Health;

• -Environmental Management and Eco-Tourism;

• -Education and Telematics;

• -Training of Trainers in Indigenous Education;

• -Connectivity of University Libraries;

• -Electronic Governance;

• -Teacher Training;

• -Governance and Human Rights;

• -Governance and Democracy;

• -The Internationalization of Higher Education;

• -Language Training;

• -Science and Technology.

• (3) CAMPUS - channels institutional strengths of IOHE and those of members, and aims to build common areas of higher education. Strategic aims: Latin American and Caribbean Common Area of Higher Education (ELES); Collaborative Doctoral Programme and Research Incubator Areas (CDPRI); Knowledge Management and Web 2.0 at the IOHE; Spirit and Values in the 21st Century University.

• (4) Intercampus - Inter-American Space for Mobility and Academic Exchange, aims to facilitate the creation of the Latin American and Caribbean Area of Higher Education (ELES) Awards Inter-America Prize to personalities who have distinguished themselves either by supporting American cooperation activities or by helping to establish close cultural ties among different American countries. Has initiated several networks that have subsequently become autonomous: Education about the Amazon (EDAMAZ); Inter-American Centre for Studies on Water Resources (CIRA)^*; Inter-American Distance Education Consortium (CREAD); Inter-American Network for Environmental Protection (RICA)^*. Organizes: Congress (every 2 years); Meeting on Collaborative Doctoral Programmes and Research Incubators.

Members

Universities and institutions of higher education. Members (345) in 26 countries:

• Argentina, Bahamas, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, United States of America, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).

Member university associations (33) and other organizations in 14 countries:

• Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, United States of America, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).

Included in the above, 5 organizations listed in this Yearbook:

• Association of Caribbean Universities and Research Institutes (UNICA)^*; Inter-University Centre for Development (CINDA)^*; CONAHEC; Central American University Confederation (CSUCA)^*; Inter-American Distance Education Consortium (CREAD)^*.

UNESCO NGO Section Data

Type of Relation with UNESCOConsultative Status

Reclassification date1997

Name and contact details of NGO focal point at UNESCOMs Shen Xuesong
ED/EO/IFE
81082

History1979 Creation 1982 Category C 1989 Category B 1996 Postponed decision (150 EX/ONG.2) (150 EX/Dec. 7.2) 1997 Formal consultative relations (151 EX/ONG.2) (151 EX/Dec. 9.2) 2002 Renewal of Formal Consultative Relations (165 EX/ONG.2) (165 EX/Dec. 9.5) 2009 Renewal of formal consultative relations for a new six year period (181 EX/44) (181 EX/Dec.44)

Contribution to UNESCO's programmes Active and representative regional organization, IOHE maintains regular relations of cooperation with decentralized structures of the UNESCO Secretariat in Latin America and North America, but also with Paris Headquarters, where it participates among others in the collective Consultation on higher education. Actively participates in the preparation of the World Conference on Higher Education. The nature of its cooperation is operational as well as consultative with regard to its regional reach, and in mind of the paragraph 4 of the Preamble of the Directives, its admission to the formal consultative relations is recommended.

Previous evaluation made by Programme sector concerned 164 EX/ONG/2 (April 2002): An active and representative regional organization, IOHE maintains close cooperation relations both with Headquarters and the field. It has been a key partner in the implementation and evaluation of the project “Women, higher education and development”, in particular with the UNESCO/IOHE UNITWIN network aimed at building up women’s management capacities in Latin America and the Caribbean, and support for the publication of the work Women, Power and the Academy: from Rhetoric to Reality (2000). Its expertise in the field of higher education and its experience of university cooperation for development make it an essential partner in the implementation of the UNESCO programme on higher education. It took part in the preparations of and follow-up activities to the World Conference on Higher Education (1998) and in meetings of the collective consultation on higher education. However, it did not reply to the Director-General’s consultations on the C/4 and C/5 documents and did not contribute to the sexennial report (1995-2000). Given its influence on higher education programmes on the American continent, the Division of Higher Education, with which it works closely, recommends the renewal of formal consultative relations.

Keywords Artistic creativity,Education,Higher Education,History,Youth,University,Development

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