NORRAG, an associate programme of the Graduate Institute, Geneva, organised an online launch event as part of the newly started KIX Hub for Europe, Asia, Pacific (EAP) on 27 May 2020. NORRAG was selected to host the KIX EAP Hub as a Regional Learning Partner, serving as one of the four regional hubs of the KIX Initiative.
KIX is a joint endeavour between the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to connect expertise, innovation and knowledge to help developing countries build stronger education systems and accelerate progress toward SDG 4.
As part of the KIX EAP Hub, NORRAG assembled a team of education specialists to support and give authorship, voice and visibility to the education experts in the participating countries during the 45-month long project.
“We are delighted that NORRAG is hosting the KIX Europe, Asia, Pacific Hub”, said Gita Steiner-Khamsi (Professor of Interdisciplinary Programmes, at the Graduate Institute and of Comparative Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, and Director of NORRAG), who led the team as Hub Director. “Our region is vast, with Albania to the west, Maldives to the south, Papua New Guinea to the east and Mongolia to the north. Our team of dedicated professionals will help [these countries] create, together with peers in surrounding countries, studies that are interesting, relevant, data-based and of high quality, and will help [their] education systems [as well].”
The launch event convened delegations from the 21 participating countries composed of government representatives, UN agencies and other national education stakeholders, as well as strategic partners of the KIX EAP Hub and invited guests from organisations active in the region.
Upcoming KIX activities in the region were presented and discussed, and participants had the opportunity to share their thematic priorities and suggestions during sub-regional breakout sessions.
In addition, a survey on education priorities, challenges and innovations in the 21 KIX EAP Hub countries was also launched to identify common priorities and challenges in the region and to make sure that the Hub’s activities are in line with the needs of the participating countries.
NORRAG has been hosted by the Graduate Institute since it first moved to Switzerland in 1992, under what was then the Graduate Institute of Development Studies. NORRAG collaborates with the Institute and benefits from official services and institutional support.
Find out more about the project.
Watch the message from Hub Director, Professor Gita Steiner-Khamsi