The Association of African Universities is inviting all Higher Education Institutions across the continent to celebrate the 2018 African Universities’ Week which comes off from 12 -16 November, 2018.

The African Universities’ Week will put the spotlight on the achievement of the African Higher Education sector – with a view to reflect on progress, challenges and opportunities faced by this important sector. The celebrations are also aimed at attracting increased support for African Higher Education.

The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘The Africa We Want: The Role of Young People’.  It seeks to bring to the fore, the critical role the youth need to play in influencing policy, legislative and social change; disrupting the status quo; and taking on a more active role in ensuring that we attain the “Africa we want” by 2065. This year’s theme draws its inspiration from the overall vision for Africa based on the aspirations of African Countries as articulated in the Agenda 2063.

The Secretary General of the AAU, Prof. Etienne Ehile said ‘putting the youth at the forefront of Africa’s transformation agenda is the right thing to do.  The future belongs to the youth; hence Africa’s youth bulge needs to be involved in creating the Africa we want, an Africa where each youth fulfills their potential. AU week presents the right platform to engage the youth in such critical discussions’.

From topical seminars, debates, exhibitions, social media conversations, conferences, webinars and several interesting events, the variety of events hosted by Higher Education Institutions over the years has been as inspiring as ever. The 2018 celebrations promise to be even more insightful.

In Ghana where the AAU Secretariat is hosted, a rich bouquet of events planned to celebrate the AU Week include an Essay Competition among all AAU member universities on the AU week theme; a Vice Chancellors Forum focusing on the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (VC CESA Forum); AAU Television Studio Discussions on Topical Issues; Road Show to some Institutions in Ghana; a Fair on African Arts, Culture and Technology, among others.

AAU suggests that university management circulates information concerning the hosting of events to mark the AU Week to Ministries of Education, University Councils, Committees of Vice-Chancellors and all institutions involved in the management of Higher Education Institutions. Other public and private universities in each country which are non-members of the AAU, research institutions, the media and general public should also be invited to join the celebrations to give visibility to the week and promote the activities of Higher Education Institutions in each country.

More information about the African Universities Week is available at events.aau.org/auweek and on Twitter @aau_67. A special information pack has been put together to guide and support institutions as they plan their independent events on their campuses to mark this key week on the AAU’s Calendar. This is accessible via  https://events.aau.org/auweek/information-pack/

The Press Release is also available in French  –  Version Française – Communiqué de Presse – Semaine de l’universite africaine 2018

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Media contacts: Ms. Nodumo Dhlamini     ndhlamini@aau.org

Mrs Felicia Kuagbedzi         fnkrumah@aau.org