The Annual Summit is Part of USAID’s Initiative to Build Capacity in Pakistan’s Higher Education Sector
IIE implemented the second annual Student Support Services Annual Summit in Pakistan this summer. The summit is part of the USAID Higher Education System Strengthening Activity (HESSA), a five-year, $19 million initiative designed to advance the capacity of Pakistan’s higher education institutions and systems to develop employable graduates.
Held June 20 –23, 2023, eighty-three professionals from the 16 partnering public HEIs convened for intensive training sessions, plenary remarks and panels, and small group networking about the various facets of student support services. The summit was organized by six focal areas: alumni engagement, career readiness, financial aid, mental health, microenterprise development, and student leadership development and programming.
IIE is one of three USAID HESSA implementing partners, along with the University of Utah and the University of Alabama, working with the Government of Pakistan to provide their expertise and technical assistance to sixteen in-country higher education institutions (HEI). IIE helps to implement the student support services aspect of the initiative, providing overall project management and technical expertise in various focal areas.
Following this year’s Summit, USAID’s HESSA project will use the strategic plans designed by each HEI to build out technical support for the year ahead, building on the exciting momentum that the project has established in its first two years of implementation. IIE has managed USAID programs for more than forty years, delivering expert scholarship and fellowship management, workforce development, university partnerships, and local capacity-building services for more than 100 projects in 30 countries around the world. Last month, USAID selected IIE to implement the new Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship Program in Burma; the program is designed to support current and future community leaders of Burma, particularly those from vulnerable groups, to gain access to quality higher education.
See the highlights from the summit.