Previous Phases of the HAQAA Initiative

HAQAA1 (2015-2018) and HAQAA2 (2019-2022) have demonstrated higher education can be a backbone for and advocate of continental integration. Both initiatives have given voice, structure and visibility to the Continental Education Strategy for Africa – CESA – in the field of higher education, and more specifically to the African Union endorsed Pan-African Quality Assurance and Accreditation Framework (PAQAF), which contains action lines and tools that, as of 2015, were merely promises. With direct support in intervention of HAQAA

  • the African Standards and Guidelines (ASG-QA) were developed and endorsed by stakeholders across the continent, becoming a major reference framework for quality assurance systems and QA at the level of higher education institutions, promoting a common language and culture for quality in Africa, and positing important principles for higher education, like that of autonomy, self-assessment, accountability and societal responsiveness.
  • a method for evaluating quality assurance agencies externally, to raise their standards and accountability was piloted and tested in 15 countries across the continent
  • Over 250 professionals working in external and internal quality assurance became ‘HAQAA Ambassadors’ trained on quality assurance and continental objectives and tools
  • the Africa Union Commission was supported to conceptualise and concretise the set-up of an Pan-African Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency,
  • professionals in government and academia were sensitised on the complexities of comparative policy frameworks for higher education integration, and ultimately built a community of African stakeholder organizations that own and advocate continental African higher education harmonisation objectives
A MAP OF IMPACTS UNDER HAQAA1 AND 2 CAN BE FOUND HERE