How regional, global conventions work together for students

The global mobility of students is expanding at an accelerating pace. The latest figures from UNESCO Institute for Statistics show that there are at least 6.4 million internationally mobile students worldwide. More than half of these students make the bold choices of studying outside their own region. By 2030, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE), we may expect the number of internationally mobile students to be close to 10 million.

A key driver of the growing number of internationally mobile students is the presence of a robust regional and global ecosystem that ensures the recognition of their qualifications.

This is equally important whether the students are pursuing studies abroad, returning to their home country after graduation, or taking their qualifications to yet another destination. As importantly, these aspects matter for the millions of young people who consider undertaking a future international student journey.

The UNESCO regional and global recognition conventions concerning higher education provide an inclusive framework for the recognition of qualifications in higher education. At its core, it aims to facilitate the regional and global mobility of students and staff in higher education as well as to promote and strengthen international cooperation.

In general, the conventions, as legal frameworks, have enabled several noteworthy advancements. They mark a shift in favour of applicants, emphasise the need for the development of transparent, coherent and reliable procedures and establish the principle of granting recognition unless substantial differences are identified.

Additionally, they include provisions for refugees and displaced people, facilitate channels for information-sharing to support international mobility and have resulted in the establishment of codes of good practice, recommendations and guidelines.

Growing numbers of ratifications

By now, nearly 100 countries have ratified one or more regional conventions, with as many as 36 of them having ratified the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education (the Global Convention) since its adoption in 2019.

The number of countries ratifying these conventions is steadily growing. Since the first Extraordinary Conference of the State Parties in March 2024, which was covered by University World News, seven new ratifications represent countries as diverse as Djibouti, Ecuador, Georgia, Mongolia, New Zealand, San Marino and South Africa.

The upcoming second Conference of the State Parties of the Global Convention, taking place in Paris at the end of June 2025, will, among other decisions to be taken by the state parties, include the adoption of practically focused operational guidelines and an ambitious work programme for the next two years.

The Lisbon Convention, covering Europe and North America, which has the Council of Europe and UNESCO as its secretariats, has been in operation for over 25 years. With Greece finally ratifying the convention, which is described as a remarkable achievement by Sjur Bergan in University World News, the number of parties to the convention is now 57.

Supplementary texts

A long list of relevant supplementary texts has been adopted over the years, which together with the active ENIC-NARIC Network of National Information Centres offers an active and relevant platform to promote and facilitate mobility in the region.

The Tokyo Convention, which covers the Asia-Pacific region, adopted in 2011, has 12 ratifications so far, a number which has not increased in the last four years. An important development in the region is the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Network of National Information Centres (APNNIC) to provide best practices, fairness and transparency, which are important for high-quality recognition decisions.

The Addis Convention, which covers the African continent, has 14 ratifications so far, the last one being Cabo Verde in 2022.

The 2024 UNESCO Forum on Higher Education in Africa, which took place in December 2024 and included the 10-year anniversary of the Addis Convention, gave significant importance to promoting the convention and the benefits a ratification will have for national higher education systems and for mobility within the African continent as a whole.

The Buenos Aires Convention, which covers the Latin American and Caribbean region, was adopted in 2019. It entered into force in 2022 and currently has six ratifications, with Ecuador becoming the last state party in 2024. An asset for this convention is the significant technical and policy support by the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was established 25 years ago.

The newcomer in terms of regional conventions is the Arab Convention, which was adopted in Paris in 2022. For the convention to enter into force, it must be ratified by five states. So far, Palestine, Yemen and (recently) Qatar have become state parties.

Hopefully, in the near future, this convention can be operational as well, to the benefit of the mobility of international students in the Arab region.

Global and regional conventions

As nearly 100 countries have ratified one or more regional conventions or the global recognition convention, the governing body of the global convention has introduced a process to investigate the relationship between the regional conventions and the global convention. Even if the conventions have similar objectives and strong similarities, there are disparities which it would be beneficial for states to sort out.

A key question that arises is whether the relatively rapid increase in ratifications of the Global Convention will eventually supersede the regional conventions.

When considering this, it is essential to recognise that regional conventions play a crucial role in establishing structures for information-sharing through national information centres, while the Global Convention in its turn introduces provisions not covered by most regional conventions. Therefore, the recommended approach is one of complementarity, where the benefit for a state might be maximised by ratifying both the respective regional convention and the global convention.

Stig Arne Skjerven is the chair of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Conference of State Parties of the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications Concerning Higher Education and senior advisor in the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir). He has previously held the roles of chair of the ENIC Network and been Norway’s deputy permanent representative to UNESCO.

This article is a commentary. Commentary articles are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of University World News.