To implement the cooperation consensus of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges, unlock the potential of high-quality China-Africa vocational education cooperation, and jointly address youth employment challenges in Africa, the UNESCO Liaison Office to the African Union, in partnership with the Sino-North African International Education Innovation Alliance, recently launched the selection process for institutions under the UNESCO China-Africa Vocational Education Cooperation Program.Aligned with multiple strategic frameworks—including the Outline for Building a Leading Country in Education (2024–2035) which calls for “deepening cooperation with UNESCO and other international organizations and multilateral mechanisms”and “establishing an RCEP international education cooperation zone and implementing the China education brand cultivation initiative”, China’s 15th Five-Year Plan Outline which emphasizes “upholding open cooperation and mutual benefit, steadily expanding institutional opening-up”and “sharing opportunities and pursuing common development with all countries”, as well as UNESCO’s Education 2030 Framework for Action— the program aims to promote China’s advanced experience and mature models in vocational education, and support African countries in building a systematic modern vocational education talent support system. Shanghai Donghai College has been selected as one of the first batch of institutions under the program, in recognition of its distinctive disciplinary strengths, internationalized educational vision, remarkable outcomes in vocational education “going global”, and solid foundation in China-Africa vocational education cooperation.
On August 20, the 2026 first working meeting on the China-Africa Vocational Education Cooperation Program and China-Africa MOOC Platform Quality Development was convened in Beijing. Ms. Rita Bissoonauth, Director of the UNESCO Liaison Office to the African Union, Ms. Chen Lu, Secretary-General of the Sino-North African International Education Innovation Alliance, and Mr. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to China, attended and addressed the meeting. President He Ying of SDC was invited to attend and chair the keynote report session, where speakers included Ms. Rita Bissoonauth, Mr. Wang Dong, Deputy Director of the Center for AI General Education Research at the Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, Mr. Abdoulaye Salifou, Director of Education Cooperation at the UNESCO Liaison Office to the African Union, and Mr. Chen Jiangfeng, Vice President of Beijing Vocational University of Science and Technology.
During the meeting, diplomatic representatives including Mr. Frank Ajaba, Ambassador of the Republic of Benin to China, Mr. Abou Dosso, Ambassador of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to China, Mr. Tafera Debe Imam, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to China, and Ms. Linet, Deputy Ambassador of the Embassy of the Republic of Kenya to China, together with counsellors from the embassies of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of South Africa, shared insights and proposals on the theme “Key Areas and Implementation Priorities of China-Africa Vocational Education Cooperation to Match Africa’s Industrial Talent Demand”. Mr. Meng Zhaoshang, Director of the International Exchange Office of SDC, delivered an exchange speech at the plenary session titled Leveraging Private Institutional Strengths to Contribute “SDC’s Wisdom” to China-Africa Cooperation.
Certificates were awarded to the first batch of construction institutions for both the China-Africa Vocational Education Cooperation Program and the China-Africa MOOC Platform, presented by Ms. Rita Bissoonauth, Ms. Chen Lu and other guests. SDC, Beijing Vocational University of Science and Technology, Heilongjiang Vocational University of Agricultural Engineering and Tianjin Modern Vocational Technology College were among the institutions selected for the first batch of the program. Courses selected for the China-Africa MOOC Platform include SDC’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Rehabilitation, Henan Polytechnic Vocational University’s Fundamentals of Mechanical Design, Sichuan Vocational and Technical College’s Industrial Robot Operation and On-site Programming, and Jilin Water Conservancy and Electric Power Vocational College’s UAV Structure and System.
