The IAU Heefa project aims to connect higher education with the UN's Education for All (EFA) initiative, addressing the need for involvement and collaboration in achieving educational goals. It highlights the importance of higher education institutions in contributing to education development while establishing a reference group for sharing expertise and experiences globally. The document also discusses the transition from EFA to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to education, emphasizing the need for inclusive and equitable quality education by 2030.

1. The IAU
HEEFA
Project
From HEEFA to SDG4: Building on
Achievements
Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, Barcelona,
Spain
8-9 October 2015

2. Education for All (EFA)
6 goals to be reached in 2015
• Expand early childhood care and
education
• Provide free and compulsory primary
education for all
• Promote learning and life skills for young
people and adults
• Increase adult literacy by 50 per cent
• Achieve gender parity by 2005, gender
equality by 2015
• Improve the quality of education
No mention of higher education

4. Why Higher Education?
• Higher education has generally not been involved as a sector up
to now, with the exception of teacher training
• The three missions (teaching, research and outreach) of higher
education institutions can be of help to EFA
• The higher education sector is generally not aware of the
initiative, issues at stake, and how to become involved
• The higher education sector will, if not already, be impacted by
EFA: growing number of secondary-school graduates; quality of
pre-higher education schooling; teacher education reforms

5. Starting point of the
HEEFA Project:
Maputo, Mozambique
2007
Higher Education and
Education For All: The
case of two
solitudes?
Photograph: IAU

6. The Expert Meeting validated a real need for exploration of the
linkages between Higher Education and the UN Education For
All initiative and requested information sharing and capacity
building.
And consequently:
An international - with no region left out - Reference group to
bring in people’s experiences and expertise from diverse
locations, culture and environments was created.

7. IAU HEEFA Reference Group – 30 people
Present here
Varghese, India
Bijan Pant, Nepal
Valtencir Mendes, Spain
Montanus Milanzi, Tanzania
Limbani Nsapato, Zambia
Loise Gichuhi, Kenya
Norzaimi Azman, Malaysia
Djénéba Traoré, Mali
Marianne Granfelt, Sweden
Semukeliso Gono, Zimbabwe
But it also has Members from: USA, Mexico, Senegal, Canada,
Haiti, Uganda, Australia, the Netherlands, etc.

8. An Information kit was
drafted and published to
both address and
answer the questions of
what is EFA, why and
how should HE get
involved; where can HE
activities be developed,
and who is engaged

9. A collaborative Portal – the HEEFA Portal - was set up to allow
academics to publish online their expertise, work and projects
related to EFA. It also provided information on recent
developments in the EFA field.
The HEEFA Newsletter extracted information published on the
HEEFA Portal and provides highlights on recent developments in
the HEEFA Project and activities of Reference Group Members.
Both were halted in 2015, waiting for new developments

10. The Collaborative Workshop : A three-step activity to
envision higher education for Education for All was tested in
Cuernavaca, State of Morelos, Mexico and conducted in
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Katmandu, Nepal, Nairobi,
Kenya, and New Delhi, India
Brings together local representatives of HEIs, pre-HE sector, students,
teachers, NGOs, UNESCO – IAU as facilitator
Aims to inform both the higher education community of what EFA is and
the other EFA stakeholders of what higher education can bring to EFA,
Identifies local needs and higher education’s possible intervention(s) in a
commonly agreed upon document for a way forward.

11. A meeting was held in
Ankarra, Turkey in
November 2014 to evaluate
the results of the capacity
building sessions
IAU’s capacity building
approach to involve the
higher education sector
in EFA is:
• Participant-centred
• Inclusive
• Based on Dialogue
• Result-focused
• Embedded in a
process
• Local but not closed

13. UN Sustainable
Development
Agenda 2030 was
adopted in
September 2015
EFA ends in 2015,
great progress made
but no goal will be
reached/ new issues
are emerging

14. 17 sustainable development goals, 1 is on education
Universities are included for the 1st time
4.1 Free, equitable, quality primary/secondary education for all
4.2 Pre-primary education for all
4.3 Equal access to affordable quality technical, vocational and
tertiary education, including university.
4.4 More youth and adults with relevant skills for employment
4.5 No gender disparities and equal access for all
4.6 All youth and more adults achieve literacy and numeracy
4.7 Education for sustainable development.
all that by 2030
Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality
education and promote life-long learning
opportunities for all

15. … and also
4.a build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and
gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective
learning environments for all
4.b by 2020 expand by x% globally the number of scholarships for
developing countries in particular LDCs, SIDS and African countries to
enrol in higher education, including vocational training, ICT, technical,
engineering and scientific programmes in developed countries and
other developing countries
4.c by 2030 increase by x% the supply of qualified teachers, including
through international cooperation for teacher training in developing
countries, especially LDCs and SIDS

16. The Framework For Action developed to provide
guidance towards the accomplishment of the
Education 2030 agenda is to be adopted at a
High-Level Meeting which will take place at
UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France on 4
November 2015