Higher Education Authority an tÚdarás um Ard-Oideachas HEA

Round 3: Call for Proposals

Round Three of the Programme of Strategic Cooperation between Irish Aid and Higher Education and Research Institutes (PSC) will be launched week commencing 20th of June, with an information briefing to follow on the 30th of June 2011 in the HEA.

Further information will be posted on the HEA website as it becomes available. Formal notification of the launch will be provided to all institutions.

2010 MDG Summit

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit was held in New York over three days from the 20th to the 22nd of September 2010.The summit reviewed progress made towards achieving the MDGs and other Internationally Agreed Development Goals. The discussions at, and leading up to, the summit were based on the report of the UN Secretary General  which reviews progress; identifies challenges and opportunities; and proposes concrete strategies for action.

Ireland was actively engaged in the Summit with Minister Martin and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hosting an event to highlight the importance of addressing hunger and child under-nutrition. They were joined by leaders from governments, civil society, international organisations and the private sector to particularly highlight programs targeted at the 1,000 day window of opportunity (from pregnancy to two years of age).  The event provided a platform for the international community to highlight its work in addressing under-nutrition, including the current development of the roadmap for Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN).

Additional information on the summit is available below:


Ireland’s national report to the Millennium Development Goals Review Summit

Factsheets which explain the goals and Ireland’s contribution to reaching them in further detail 

High Level Event on Hunger (specifically Childhood Nutrition)

Research Opportunity-Cooperation with UNRWA Barrier Monitoring Unit (BMU)
The United Nations Relief and Works agency (UNRWA)  and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)  set up a Barrier monitoring project in early 2006 in order to document trends and gather information on the impact of the West Bank Barrier on communities in its vicinity. The project employs a specific methodology for the purpose of its research, and its findings have been published in a number of joint OCHA/UNRWA publications.

The Barrier Monitoring Unit have developed a project proposal that defines the need in monitoring the West Bank Barrier in a detailed and timely fashion in order to better serve other humanitarian agencies, researchers, think tanks and Human Rights organisations. More comprehensive information on this proposal is available here.

Terms of referencehave now been drawn up  to stimulate donor’s interest in cooperating with the Barrier Monitoring Unit. This cooperation project targets universities from abroad and aims to help build research capacities within Palestinian research institutions linked to the study of the Wall.


Publication of Good Practices in Educational Partnerships Guide: UK Higher & Further Education Partnerships

The Africa Unit is based at the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) in the UK. It is funded by the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland (DELNI). It aims to promote, facilitate and enhance partnerships between African and UK Higher and Further education institutions (HE/FE). The Africa Unit has recently published the Good Practices in Educational Partnerships Guide: UK-Africa Higher & Further Education Partnerships

The main reason behind the preparation of this Guide by the Africa Unit, is the lack of knowledge about the scope, nature and depth of partnerships in this area. The Guide does not set out to present a set of universal, objective rules to be followed and which will guarantee success. Instead, it identifies 10 valuable 'principles of management and good governance' which have been the driver behind a number of successful and sustainable UK-Africa partnerships, which can inform future partnerships.

Second Annual Showcase Event-19th of April 2010

The second annual showcase event for the Programme of Strategic Cooperation between Irish Aid and Higher Education and Research Institutes was held on Monday the 19th of April in the Irish Aid Volunteering and Information Centre on O'Connell Street, Dublin.
The purpose of this event was to showcase progress made by projects funded under the programme and to share and discuss lessons learned and best practice. This year's event  also facilitated break out group discussions structured around thematic areas. A number of presentations were made at the event and are available below.
Progress to date
Research Capacity Strengthening Modalities and instruments
Research Capacity Strengthening Concepts, components and achievements
Pathways towards Sustainability in Higher Education & Development
Engagement- Building Stakeholder involvement from initial needs identification to using research outcomes for policy & advocacy
International Trends around Alignment and Complementarily in HE Cooperation
Web Portal as a tool of Knowledge Dissemination