Principals statement to senate

Abstract

The second UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education was held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on 5‐8 July 2009. The theme of the World Conference was “The New Dynamics of Higher Education and Research for Societal Change and Development”. Some 1700 participants from some 70 countries, drawn from higher education leaders from government, institutions, professional organisations and non‐governmental organisations met to reflect on new directions that higher education could take in the next decade to steer the world towards sustainable human development. A special feature of the conference was a focus on Africa, demonstrated by the participation of the Prime Minister of Namibia at the opening session, a very strong affirmation by the Director General in his opening speech, and special session where the African Ministers of Education were represented by our Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande.