NICHE: one year on
24 Dec 2009
In October 2008, Minister for Development Cooperation Koenders granted the administration of the Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE) programme to Nuffic. Since then, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nuffic have worked intensively on the policy aspects and procedures of the programme.
An ongoing process
Nearly all procedures and documents have now been finalised. Meanwhile, a number of processes have been initiated and a series of identification missions to NICHE countries have been conducted. These missions will produce Programme Outlines that describe country-specific activities for the following four years. Implementation Plans are an integrated part of these Programme Outlines. They provide a detailed description of programme activities and partners.
First Programme Outline signed in South Africa
Minister Koenders and Minister Nzimande, the Education Minister of South Africa signed the fist Programme Outline in May this year. Programme Outlines have also been signed by national authorities and the respective Netherlands Embassies in Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique, Ghana and Colombia. Selected information from these Programme Outlines has been published on the NICHE website. The outlines of the other NICHE countries are currently being prepared and will be signed in the next few months.
NICHE countries
At twenty-three, the number of countries participating in the identification phase is higher than initially foreseen, mostly thanks to the commitment and enthusiasm of the embassies concerned. After Minister Koenders’ recent visit to the Kingdom of Bhutan, this country has become the latest addition to the list of ‘NICHE countries’.
Tenders
On 6 November 2009 Nuffic published the first two NICHE calls for tenders. More tenders will follow shortly. We had hoped to publish calls for tenders earlier on in the year, but the identification and articulation processes require time in order to generate quality programmes and projects. Looking back at the first year, we can conclude that the NICHE programme is on track and moving forwards.
More information
