Project Introduction-UNESCO-ICHEI

AI-Enabled Empowerment: Women's Leadership in Higher Education in the Global South

The "AI-Enabled Empowerment: Women's Leadership in Higher Education in the Global South" programme aims to address the issue of insufficient representation of women in higher education in the global south during the era of artificial intelligence. It focuses on three aspects: capacity building, women's leadership development, and cross-regional knowledge sharing, aiming to build a platform for regional dialogue, professional development, and cooperation and exchange for higher education institutions in the global south.

Project Background

Despite improvements in digital access, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions, digital technology and STEM fields, limiting inclusive participation in empowerment and transformation. This issue is particularly acute in the global south, particularly Arab States, Africa and South Asia. The "AI-Enabled Empower Empowerment: Women's Leadership in Higher Education in the Global South" aims to leverage the existing IIOE platform, multilingual courses, micro-certifications, in-person training, workshop, policy dialogues, case studies and policy recommendations to drive practical change.

Project Roadmap

UNESCO-ICHEI will utilise the IIOE platform, existing curriculum and the IIOE ecosystem, to provide project design support, resource coordination, local implementation support, as well as research and knowledge production mechanisms for the participating universities.

UNESCO IITE will leverage its professional advantages in digital education, information and communication technology, and AI to offer international experience and cooperation connections, and support knowledge collaboration within the UNESCO system.

The participating universities will act as local implementation institutions, organizing and operating training, promoting community building, and facilitating the integration of courses into the teacher development system and broader policy discussions and good practice accumulation.

Governments, enterprises, the UNESCO headquarters, and other regional offices will further collaborate to expand the project's influence.

Project Value

Response to UNESCO mandates
Bridging the digital gap and gender-representation gap
Global South driven
Sustainable scaling
Human-centred AI approach