Financed by the UNESCO Participation Programme, the Promoting Equitable and Inclusive Internationalization at Universities in Africa project aims at promoting equitable and inclusive internationalization of higher education both in terms of knowledge and people, paying special attention to women (at all levels from Leadership to students).

In collaboration with the Women’s University in Africa, Zimbabwe, the IAU, using the HEIAS Programme methodology, facilitated an in-depth assessment of the university’s internationalization strategy and process in order to create more inclusive and equitable internationalization strategies, which leveraged African specificities and promoted women’s engagement. This was done by working with an institutional committee and an international Panel of Experts. The project also shared such experiences and debated how to make internationalization more equitable and inclusive in a final workshop with Zimbabwean academic community and beyond.

This project responded to the growing need and demand among African higher education institutions to strengthen their institutional capacity for internationalization policies and programmes without a simple transposition of models copied from other regions of the world, but a differentiated approach for the local African context; it promoted African culture and knowledge, focusing on equality and inclusion, especially but not only, of women.