Activities & progress
Over the course of 2023, PARC and its partners have introduced the Africa Charter at numerous gatherings of higher education leaders, funders and policy makers, building a coalition of signatories who will drive its development forward. See below for some of the key engagements and events that are helping to socialise and publicise the Charter.
March 2024
Africa Charter Steering Group
The Africa Charter Steering Group is meeting for 4 days at the Institute for Humanities in Africa (HUMA) at the University of Cape Town. Consolidating plans and structures to advance the implementation of the Africa Charter globally, we are establishing a Charter secretariat and wider programme of policy and practice-focused work. PARC joins senior figures from UCT, UNISA, AAU, ARUA, CODESRIA, AAS and other Africa and global HE leaders for this important next step in the Charter’s development.
February 2024
Sector-specific working groups
We have convened a first set of discussions with high-level funder, publisher, Higher Education Institution and Research Assessment stakeholders, to consider a structured process determining what specific changes their sector will need to make – in terms of policies, priorities and practical action. Read more
November 2023
ARUA 2023 Biennial International Conference
On 15-17 November, Vice Chancellor Professor Evelyn Welch delivered a keynote address on the “The Africa Charter for Transformative Research Partnerships: A New Approach to Research Relationships”.
She addressed experts from universities, research institutions, government, industry, civil society and other organisations at the University of Lagos, as they came together to reimagine the future of African higher education. Read more.
October 2023
Bristol and the Africa Charter
On 31st October, city leaders and senior figures at the University of Bristol joined forces to make Bristol a city that models the principles of the Africa Charter. The event was co-hosted with Research Culture, Inclusive Research Collective, Centre for Black Humanities, Forever Africa, Anti-Racism Steering Committee, Transforming Education for Sustainable Futures and the African Voices Forum. It included the performance of a poem by Dr Lawrence Hoo. Read more.
Towards change: realising aspirations of the Africa Charter in the UK
Together with the UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR), PARC convened a dialogue of UK-global HEI, university networks, publishers, research funders and assessment bodies to realise the ambitions of the Africa Charter, hosted at the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). Read more.
UNISA and University of Bristol partner on Charter principles
On 19th October, the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Africa (UNISA), Prof Puleng LenkaBula, visited the University of Bristol, joined by Professor Puleng Segalo and seven other senior leaders to discuss and further the aims of the Africa Charter and to sign an MOU for closer partnership working with Bristol.
September 2023
At the THE World Academic Summit in Australia
This year’s THE World Academic Summit at University of Sydney focused on the theme of collaboration for greatness in a multidisciplinary world.
The Africa Charter was presented at a fringe event on Monday 25 September, with representatives from the University of Bristol including the Vice Chancellor Professor Evelyn Welch. Read more.
Open Science at the Berlin University Alliance
On 21st September, Professor Isabella Aboderin discussed the paper of Prof. Dr. Nelius Boshoff and Dr. Similo Ngwenya (Center for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa) on the relationship between open science and international collaboration in Africa. This Berlin University Alliance event took place at Robert K. Merton Center for Science Studies (RMZ) at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
Equitable Partnerships Programme training event
PARC Director Professor Isabella Aboderin joined the Equitable Partnerships Programme event run by the Medical Research Foundation and Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF) at the African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, where the Africa Charter was discussed and there were some useful recommendations for researchers.
July 2023
The Africa Charter is launched in Windhoek, Namibia
More than 400 Vice-Chancellors from universities across the world came together on Wednesday, 5 July at COREVIP, a continental conference hosted by the Association of African Universities, at which the Africa Charter was officially launched.
At its launch, around 90 higher education institutions and other organisations became signatories of the charter. Read more.
June 2023
Joining the All Party Parliamentary Group for Africa (APPG-A)
We brought the Charter Initiative to the attention of UK policy-makers with a roundtable at the All Party Parliamentary Group for Africa (APPG-A) in June. The PARC team, together with our University of Cape Town and University of South Africa partners, the Perivoli Foundation and University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor Professor Evelyn Welch, joined MPs and other stakeholders working on Africa policy and research relationships. Read more.
January 2023
Establishment of the Africa Charter steering group
26th January marked the first formal consultation with representatives of key Africa Higher Education constituencies. At a meeting in Accra with players including UNISA, HUMA, AAU, ARUA, AAS, INHEA, CODESRIA, IUCEA, AWAU and AU ESTI, we formed a groundbreaking new steering group for the Africa Charter.
