Alliance of Islamic Universities of Africa (AIUA)

Background

Almost one-third of World’s Muslim population resides in Africa. One of the major developmental challenges in the African region is the limited number of skilled professionals and workforce. This issue can be addressed by improving their tertiary education system. The tertiary education system has faced many challenges around the globe during COVID-19 pandemic and each country adapted different modes to tackle those challenges. The core mandate of COMSTECH is to strengthen cooperation among the OIC Member States in the realm of S&T, Higher Education and Health. COMSTECH has initiated a major program entitled COMSTECH Consortium of Excellence (CCoE) with an aim to build S&T interpedence among OIC member states. CCoE consists of several higher education institutions from different OIC member states. Realizing the importance of capacity building and support for tertiary education system in African region, COMSTECH is launching a new initiative entitled “Alliance of Islamic Universities of Africa – AIUA”.

Objective

The main objective of AIUA program is to build cooperation among Higher education institutions of Africa and the CCoE member institutions. COMSTECH will identify the needs and areas of interest in which the member institutions of AIUA require assistance from CCoE member institutions. COMSTECH will act as a facilitator to create a bond between the two networks and to empower both in the development of their tertiary education system through existing COMSTECH Programs and other collaborative activities. This initiative will help to build an ecosystem of collaboration and enable knowledge-based economic growth in the OIC member states, particularly in the African region. The alliance will open avenues to share ideas, skills, expertise, and best practices to pool resources for mutual support and benefit for each institution.

Modes of implementation:

In the first phase for the initiation of this Alliance, it is decided to:

• Invite around twenty (20) Vice Chancellors/Rectors of various Universities from Muslim majority regions of Africa to COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan.

• The visiting dignitaries will sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of their university/institution with COMSTECH to join AIUA as members.
• They will meet with VCs/Rectors of CCoE member institutions and discuss matters related to the capacity building of African universities in the fields of Science and Technology.
• The visiting officials will participate in the “International Symposium on Post-COVID Challenges in Higher Education” which is scheduled to be held on 8th December, 2022 (Thursday) at COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan.
• The dignitaries will participate in the Rectors Forum which is scheduled to be held on 10th December, 2022 (Thursday) at COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan mutually organized by COMSTECH and Association of Private Sector Universities of Pakistan (APSUP). The forum will provide a platform for Rectors to meet with the heads of leading universities of Pakistan (Members of CCoE) and to exchange ideas regarding the implementation, and effectiveness of this joint venture, as well as to collaborate with them in the areas where the assistance is required.
• The representatives of the members of AIUA will visit several Higher education institutions of Pakistan (Member of COMSTECH Consortium of Excellence), located in the Islamabad, Sargodha and Lahore cities, to get a better insight of tertiary education system of Pakistan.

Participants:

• VCs/Rectors from universities/institutions of Africa.
  • VCs/Rectors from CCoE member universities/institutions.
  • Representatives from COMSTECH and APSUP
  • Excellencies from OIC Member states.

Events held under the AIUA Program to date:

Partner Institutions of the AIUA Program: Click Here

Program Coordinator
Muhammad Haris Akram
Programe Manager, COMSTECH
Tel: +92-51-9220681-3
Email: haris@comstech.org