UNESCO brought together experts from around the world on 5 November 2025 for an online consultation focused on strengthening the connection between the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education and the various regional recognition conventions. The session formed part of the ongoing work of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG), which is drafting a new subsidiary text to guide how these conventions interact.

The overall goal: make it easier for qualifications to be understood and recognized across regions, and ultimately support more international cooperation and mobility in higher education.

The meeting kicked off with a short overview of why this new guidance is needed, followed by a lively exchange among representatives from the regional convention bureaux. Participants shared the challenges countries face when ratifying or implementing both global and regional agreements and offered ideas on how the new text could be structured to better support them. Armenia is among the members of the OEWG.

The consultation of the OEWG followed shortly after the OEWG members formally adopted their Terms of Reference, which outline the group’s mandate, composition and the multi-stage process for preparing the draft subsidiary text.

This consultation is one step in a longer drafting process that will conclude in 2027, when the text is expected to be considered by the Intergovernmental Conference of the States Parties. For now, the insights gathered will help UNESCO prepare the Zero Draft, which the working group will review at its next meeting.