On August 1, the Dialogue Meeting on Partnership for UNESCO's Priority Africa was held at Beijing Normal University. This event was jointly hosted by the China National Commission for UNESCO and Beijing Normal University, and organized by the UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education. Firmin Matoko, Assistant Director-General for the Priority Africa and External Relations Sector at UNESCO (the Sector), attended and addressed the meeting, and QIN Changwei, Secretary-General of the China National Commission for UNESCO, presided over it. QIAO Weifeng, associate research fellow and Assistant to Secretary-General of the International Centre for Engineering Education under the Auspices of UNESCO (ICEE), also attended the meeting.
 
Matoko pointed out in his speech that UNESCO attaches great importance to the development of Africa and has developed the Priority Africa strategy to effectively promote the development of the African region. The dialogue meeting was expected to strengthen the collaboration between the Sector and Beijing Normal University and other partners on the five flagship projects under the Priority Africa strategy to facilitate the development of the region.

About 60 people attended the meeting, including the permanent ambassadors or counselors of African countries to UNESCO such as Angola, Gabon, Mali, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, and Mozambique; YANG Jin, Chinese ambassador to UNESCO; DU Yue, senior advisor to the Assistant Director-General for the Priority Africa and External Relations Sector at UNESCO; as well as the representatives from UNESCO's Category II centres, chairs, and corporate partners in Beijing, and Beijing Normal University. They gathered together to explore the ways to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Africa under the framework of UNESCO. QIAO Weifeng briefed the ambassadors and other attendees on the cooperation between ICEE and African countries in engineering education, including strengthening academic exchanges and cooperation with the African engineering education community, promoting the sharing of online educational resources during the pandemic, and cooperating with global partners to train local engineers and technicians in Africa. ICEE has always been committed to promoting the building of a worldwide engineering education community worldwide, especially supporting the engineering capacity building in Africa, and has endeavoured to contribute to the development of high-calibre engineering talent for the developing countries.
 

Group photo of the Dialogue Meeting on Partnership for UNESCO's Priority Africa