The World Conference on Higher Education is Here

Students are about to take centre stage at the 2009 World Conference on Higher Education organised by UNESCO in Paris from 5-8 July.  For only the second time, political leaders, academics and higher education stakeholders will join together with student representatives from across the globe to discuss and debate the future of higher education, and place it firmly on an international level.

ESU is one of only 13 official partners in the event, and has played a considerable role in shaping the conference through a series of preparatory meetings. Particular emphasis has been placed on facilitating an unprecedented level of cooperation among the different regional student platforms, creating a unified front for all the world’s students as never before.  This is reflected in the Global Student Statement agreed by student groups in January, and which provides the basis of the student input into the World Conference.

You can find the Global Student Statement in Spanish here

The conference will be attended by a high profile range of participants including the wife of the US Vice-President, the Vice-President of the World Bank, various Heads of State from across the world, as well as senior officials from the UN and European Union.  ESU’s chairperson, Ligia Deca, will be taking part on a prestigious stakeholders panel on the first day, reflecting the prominence given to ESU and students’ views at the event.

More details about the World Conference will follow shortly.