LEAP-FAST High-Level Roundtable and Interactive Dialogue Highlights Africa-Centred Transformation in Higher Education Leadership

24 February 2026, Kigali, Rwanda - The LEAP-FAST consortium convened a high-level roundtable and expert interactive dialogue entitled “Future-Ready Higher Education Leadership: The Role of the CIFAL Global Network and LEAP-FAST in Transforming Institutions” on 19 February 2026, during the Global Learning Conference in Kigali. Bringing together senior university leaders, municipal authorities, CIFAL Centre Directors, UN partners and practitioners committed to advancing sustainable development through transformative higher education. The dialogue placed strong emphasis on Africa as a strategic epicentre for future global leadership, innovation and demographic dynamism.

Opening the session, Ms Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, UN Assistant Secretary-General, Executive Director of UNITAR, reaffirmed UNITAR’s commitment to strengthening higher education institutions as engines of inclusive and resilient societies. She underscored that universities shape not only skills but also values, agency and pathways for meaningful participation of young people in building resilient and inclusive societies.

Highlighting Africa as home to the world’s youngest population and one of its greatest reservoirs of future talent, she stressed that forward-looking education systems will be decisive in enabling young people to drive sustainability, innovation and inclusive growth. LEAP-FAST, she noted, seeks to support institutions in cultivating leadership capable of advancing scientific production, sustainability solutions and inclusive development pathways across the continent and beyond.

The Interactive Dialogue reinforced the need for systemic integration of sustainability across higher education ecosystems. Ms Julia Heiss, UNESCO Chief of Section for Education for Sustainable Development,  emphasised the importance of a whole-institution approach to sustainability. She noted that meaningful transformation requires embedding sustainable development principles across governance, curricula, research agendas, campus operations and community engagement.