Release date：2026.09.07
From 14:00 to 15:15 (Paris time) on 10 September 2026, during UNESCO Digital Learning Week 2026, the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) and the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE) will co-host a parallel session at UNESCO Headquarters, where the two institutes will jointly launch the "AI-Enabled Empowerment: Women's Leadership in Higher Education in the Global South" Programme.
Digital Learning Week 2026 will take place in Paris from 8 to 11 September under the theme "Education in the Age of AI: Facts | Frictions | Frontiers", bringing together policymakers, institutional leaders and researchers from across the world to discuss how education is changing in the age of AI.
The forthcoming "AI-Enabled Empowerment: Women's Leadership in Higher Education in the Global South" Programme, jointly initiated by UNESCO-ICHEI and UNESCO IITE with the guidance of UNESCO Headquarters, is built around three strands — AI capacity building, women's leadership and cross-regional knowledge sharing — and will offer higher education institutions across the Global South a platform for regional dialogue, professional development and cooperation. Building on the results of the "Women Leading Change in Africa" Programme jointly initiated by UNESCO-ICHEI and UNESCO IITE in 2024, it extends Africa's experience to more countries of the Global South and empower a growing number of the female higher education workforce.
Beyond the launch, the session will bring first-hand voices from the "Women Leading Change in Africa" Programme: scholars from International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) National Centre institutions in Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia and Zambia will share their experiences of leading change, while leaders and scholars from the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Secretariat and from universities in Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Nepal will join a dialogue on AI and women's leadership in higher education.
"AI-Enabled Empowerment: Women's Leadership in Higher Education in the Global South" Programme
Session Information：
Date & Time: Thursday, 10 September 2026, 14:00–15:15 (Paris time)
Venue: Room V, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France
Format: In person
Language: English
Objectives：
· Explore strategies for strengthening women's leadership in AI-enabled transformation of higher education, with particular attention to the opportunities and challenges faced by institutions across the Global South.
· Facilitate the exchange of policies, practices and experiences that promote gender-responsive, inclusive and human-centred approaches to AI adoption in higher education across diverse regional contexts.
· Launch a new UNESCO IITE–UNESCO-ICHEI initiative supporting AI capacity development, women's leadership and cross-regional collaboration in higher education across the Global South.
The UNESCO Digital Learning Week 2026 will be live-streamed from 8 to 11 September, can be followed here:
https://webcast.unesco.org/events/2026-09-DigitalLearningWeek2026/
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