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MEDIA ADVISORY: round table on codes of conduct in higher education

On Thursday, 16 November the Council of Europe and European Union will hold a round table on codes of conduct in higher education. The event starts at 9h30 at Hotel International Pristina. This round table is one of the activities of the Action “Strengthen Integrity and Combat Corruption in Higher Education” funded by the European Union and co-funded and implemented by the Council of Europe under the ‘Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey’.

Key note speaker:

  • Professor Dennis Farrington, is a prominent United Kingdom legal expert, with specific expertise in the area of Higher Education legislation and ethical standards and long-standing experience in the region. He will present draft codes of conduct for students, academic staff and upper management of higher education institutions, which have been developed within the framework of the above mentioned project. 

Speakers at the opening session will include:

  • Ms Isabelle Servoz- Gallucci – Head of the Council of Europe office in Pristina
  • Mr Arber Gecaj – Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Technology
  • Mr Libor Chlad, Deputy-Head of Cooperation Section, European Union Office in Kosovo
  • Mr Faton Berisha, Vice-Rector of the University of Pristina
  • Ms Vesna Atanasova, Programme Manager at the Education Department, Council of Europe

Language: English with simultaneous interpretation into Albanian

The event is fully open to the media. Press statements will be given upon request.

Download the agenda for the roundtable

Pristina 14/11/2017
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“Strengthen Integrity and Combat Corruption in the Higher Education”


The Council of Europe assists relevant authorities in Kosovo* to improve the quality of education through applying preventive mechanisms based on Council of Europe standards and practices. The action is being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology while involving a wider group of relevant stakeholders, including public universities, the Anti-Corruption Agency, the Accreditation Agency, education policy and research institutes, NGOs and academics.

The action is co-funded by the European Union and Council of Europe as part of the European Union – Council of Europe programmatic framework “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey” and is implemented by the Council of Europe Education Department in cooperation with the Council of Europe Office in Pristina.

The duration of the actions is set at 26 months and it is expected to be completed by 30 November 2018, with an overall budget of 350,000 euros.
 

Objectives and expected results

The overall objective is to strengthen integrity and combat corruption in the higher education system in Kosovo through applying preventive mechanisms based on Council of Europe standards and policies.

The first specific objective is to support relevant higher education institutions in developing ethical standards, combat corruption and promote best practices of quality and integrity in education. This specific objective shall be accomplished through the achievement of the following results:

  • Relevant public authorities adopt mechanisms to prevent corruption and to strengthen ethics, transparency and integrity in higher education;
  • Mechanisms in place take into account standards and good practices promoted by the Council of Europe’s Ethics in Education Platform (ETINED).

The second specific objective is to raise awareness and improve knowledge of the main education actors on ethical standards and how to address corruption. This objective shall be accomplished through the achievement of the following result:

  • Educational professionals and students in public higher education institutions have increased competencies to recognise and address issues challenging the integrity in higher education.
     

Background information

On 11 April 2016, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, and the European Union’s Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, announced a new co-operation initiative of the two organisations aimed at supporting South-East Europe and Turkey in their efforts to comply with European standards. The initiative is called the European Union/Council of Europe Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey (Horizontal Facility). It is a three-year programme (May 2016 – May 2019), focusing on three themes: ensuring justice, fighting economic crime as well as combating discrimination and protecting the rights of vulnerable groups. It has a budget of €25 million, of which €20 million has been provided by the European Union and €5 million by the Council of Europe.  Through the Horizontal Facility, the European Union and the Council of Europe will assist beneficiaries in South-East Europe and Turkey to comply with Council of Europe standards and the European Union acquis, through a complementary two-fold approach of technical co-operation and the provision of expertise. The Horizontal Facility relies on the Council of Europe’s unique working methods, whereby tailor-made technical co-operation activities are based on conclusions and recommendations of the Council of Europe’s monitoring bodies, which highlight areas where improvements are needed in legislation and policies of the beneficiaries to comply with the Organisation’s standards.


* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.