The Organization for Southern Cooperation (OSC) on Monday inagurated its Institute and Library in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
January 29th marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Balanced and Inclusive Education (UDBIE), and the establishment of the Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC) with the election of the first Secretary-General. Celebrating this 4th twin anniversary, OSC held a series of events under the leadership of its Secretary General, Sheikh Manssour Bin Mussallam, and the Minister of Innovation and Technology of Ethiopia, Belete Molla Getahun, as Guest of Honour, and with Ethiopian officials, the Addis-Ababa- based diplomatic community, Faculty Deans, Heads of Academic Research Centres, higher learning students in attendance.
Stock was taken of the occasion to inaugurate the Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC) Institute and Library, and to present two digital platforms developed by the OSC: the Greater South Information System (GreSIS), and the Greater South Learning Enrichment Resources Nexus (GreSLERN).
The OSC Institute is a flagship programme of the OSC established to provide experts and policy makers from Member States and Associate Members with comprehensive and intensive courses to build institutional capacities in: Balanced and Inclusive Education (BIE); transdisciplinary research and production; endogenous technology development; and strategic, economic transformation.
The GreSIS digital platform marks a pivotal milestone in democratising access to knowledge across the Global South. It aims to democratise access to, and the production of, knowledge in the Global South. It is a tool aimed at fostering collaboration and engagement among educational institutions, researchers, instructors, students, government officials, and Indigenous people’s organisations.
The Greater South Learning Enrichment Resources Nexus (GreSLERN) is an open-source, free-of-charge and customisable digital tool for Member States and Curriculum Development Centers to facilitate the production of interactive, engaging, and contextualised digital learning resources. Both digital platforms, the Greater South Learning Enrichment Resources Nexus (GreSLERN) and the Greater South Information System (GreSIS), are a demonstration of the commitment of OSC to advancing the collective exchange of ideas, research, and knowledge.
In the afternoon, a panel discussion was held in collaboration with Addis Ababa University. The event brought together eminent speakers, academicians and students around the theme “Education Systems: Perspectives and Practices from the South”. Keynote speakers included Prof. Abdeljalil Akkari, Professor of International and Comparative Education of the University of Geneva in Switzerland who joined online, and Prof. Norbert Hounkonnou, Professor of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin who is also President of the Network of African Science Academies, and Chair of the Conference of Associate Members of the OSC.
The OSC was established on 29 January 2020 by countries and organizations from across the Global South at the International Summit on Balanced and Inclusive Education held in the Republic of Djibouti. As the first intergovernmental organisation of and by the Greater South, the OSC acts as an instrument of intellectual, technical and financial cooperation and solidarity between its Member States as well as its Associate Members in the pursuit of a Third Way of Development – from the South, for Humanity.