At the end of November, I had the opportunity to join the British Council’s Going Global Conference in Abuja.
Holding the flagship event in Nigeria’s capital was a strong statement: its first-ever Going Global to shine a light on Africa – a continent whose population is projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, and whose youth population, already the largest in the world, is set to double to over 830 million by the middle of this century.
As one might expect, there were impassioned contributions from a broad range of speakers, including, brilliantly, members of the youth advisory board that helped shape the conference. There were lively discussions on curricula, employment, entrepreneurship, sustainable and equitable cross-border partnerships, the role of technology in building global and transdisciplinary competencies, climate change and green jobs, and much else besides.
However, it was a smaller session on displaced populations that sticks in my mind. I listened to a colleague from Maiduguri University in Northeast Nigeria recount how, time after time, the campus had been attacked and partly destroyed by Boko Haram and other militants, with fatalities among students and staff alike; and how each time the university had rallied, rebuilt, and continued in its mission.
To be sure, this has impacted enrolment; and online and distance provision has grown partly as a result. But the sheer determination of Maiduguri University and others in similar situations not to allow these appalling circumstances to deter them is something both remarkable and deeply moving.
The case of Nigeria in this respect is, sadly, replicated in many places in Africa and around the world. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that in 2023, 110 million people were forced to flee their homes; and by mid-2024 this grew to 122m. Over half of these are internally displaced, and more than 30% with refugee status.
I listened to a colleague from Maiduguri University in Northeast Nigeria recount how, time after time, the campus had been attacked and partly destroyed
For the global higher education community, this is an enormous challenge, and one that the UNHCR and its many partners are making massive efforts to meet. Many of us in the sector, as well as NGOs, TVET providers and the private sector, are engaged with the Commission’s campaign to raise youth refugee participation in higher education from the current 7% to 15% by 2030. The UNHCR’s 15by30 Roadmap is an ambitious and necessary set of actions to achieve this.
Here in the UK, there is laudable commitment by the sector, with Universities of Sanctuary and a plethora of schemes to enable refugees to resume their education journey following (often violent) disruption and displacement.
The Going Global session also offered reflections on modes of delivery and the role of host communities. We learned from the Malawi Ministry of Education that tailor-made e-content delivered to displaced students in designated host communities ensured not only academic progression but also sustained community support. This is an approach that has been recognised in multiple contexts around the world as providing an effective basis for tackling the global challenge.
The University of London’s distance provision since 1858, now spanning 190 countries, gives us a unique platform from which to contribute to global efforts on behalf of students who have had their higher education curtailed by conflict, oppression, and natural disasters.
For many years, we have supported refugee and displaced students from South and South East Asia; Central, East and South Europe; the Middle East; and numerous countries across Africa. Most have fled their country of origin and are now in countries that include Malaysia, Canada, Lebanon, Turkey, Germany, Finland and the UK. Others have been displaced within their own country, for example in Ukraine and Pakistan.
This expanded portfolio of full-fee scholarships builds on provision that includes bursaries for our MA refugee protection and forced migration studies in partnership with the UNHCR, Norwegian Refugee Council and Danish Refugee Council; upskilling the growing number of professionals needed to address the global crisis on the ground.
The role of higher education in helping to achieve the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) has never been more vital. It is widely accepted that the interconnectedness arising from increased globalisation means that challenges such as access to education, health and wellbeing, climate change, conflict and forced migration can only be addressed through global collaboration; and higher education is integral to this.
Higher education systems around the world have long recognised this. Important contributions towards the SDGs manifest not only from the achievements of universities’ graduates, but flow from their collective global networks of connection and collaboration.
Challenges such as access to education, health and wellbeing, climate change, conflict and forced migration can only be addressed through global collaboration; and higher education is integral to this
Universities’ overarching contribution is to SDG4: quality education, with which of course all the other 16 SDGs are closely interlinked, and where targeted research has growing impact. And it is in areas such as health and wellbeing, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, and peace, justice, and institutions that we strive through global partnerships to create environments where the number of refugees and displaced populations finally, one day, starts to decrease.
This was the overriding message for me from a very special conference in Abuja. Kudos to the British Council for staging this. And all power to everyone who left the event determined to continue with their respective actions in their respective contexts, fuelled by energy, belief, and the collective commitment from multinational collaborations to build a better world.
