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FIP UNESCO-UNITWIN Programme

Global Pharmacy Education Development Network

- Overview on the FIP UNESCO-UNITWIN Programme

- "FIP pharmacy education in sub-Saharan Africa" report

- Introductory video on the "FIP pharmacy education in sub-Saharan Africa" report

- Recording of the "FIP pharmacy education in sub-Saharan Africa" report launch webinar.

- Messages on "FIP pharmacy education in sub-Saharan Africa" report, ready for you to post on your social media

- Setting up new FIP UNITWIN centres for excellence and establishing pharmacy schools’ associations: a pathfinder toolkit

- FIP’s global call to action for advancing pharmaceutical education

- FIP toolkit for addressing inequities in pharmaceutical education

- FIP Education Transformation Toolkit

FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN centre for excellence in South East Asia

 

In 2010, FIP and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched a unique global programme: the University Twinning and Networking (UNITWIN) — The Global Pharmacy Education Development (GPhEd) Network.

This FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN programme was the first in the field of higher education for health professionals and the first for global pharmaceutical education. The activities of the programme have been led by our FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN director Prof. Ralph Altiere.

The programme sought to advance research, training and curriculum development in pharmacy education by building university networks and encouraging inter-university cooperation worldwide. It has been a platform for FIP Education (FIPEd) to implement its global pharmaceutical education and workforce strategies. Pharmacy schools in the GPhEd Network have been positioned as centres for excellence and innovation that actively contribute to the development of their respective fields at national, regional and international levels.

The FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN programme acted as a platform for the work of FIPEd, where tools and resources were developed to help tackle challenges of academic capacity, quality assurance of educational systems and workforce competency in both high- and low-resource pharmacy education institutions. The programme enabled synchronised and powerful development in undergraduate training and continuing pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences education, as well as improved communication for scientific innovation, healthcare outcomes, and, ultimately, the attainment of FIP’s Development Goals.

The Centre for Excellence in Africa has been the active GPhEd Network. Its founding partners, who are the leaders of the sub-Saharan African schools of pharmacy, participate to facilitate the development of academic capacity, quality assurance of educational systems and workforce competency.

Now, looking back on a decade of experience of pharmacy education and innovation across Africa, through FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN Centre for Excellence in Africa, we now seek to renew the agreement with UNESCO to strengthen the Centre for Excellence in Africa and roll out centres across other regions globally.

FIP pharmacy education in sub-Saharan Africa report: The FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN Programme: A decade of education partnership across Africa

The “FIP pharmacy education in sub-Saharan Africa” report provides an overview of the needs and priorities of pharmacy education in sub-Saharan African countries, with a particular focus on academic capacity and needs-based education.

The report highlights the most challenging and pressing needs in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of health care and societal needs and publishes a decade’s worth of evidence from the FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN Centre for Excellence in Africa of how pharmacy education and pharmaceutical workforce have responded to these ever-changing challenges.

The report provides a set of purposeful ways forward and recommendations to consolidate its impact and build on the findings. It is co-authored and co-created by the institutions that were part of the FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN Centre for Excellence in Africa since its inception in 2010, FIP member organisations and FIP AIM members from the African Region, African Pharmaceutical Forum and supported by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa and UNESCO.

Report can be downloaded here.


An introductory video on the "FIP pharmacy education in sub-Saharan Africa" report can be watched here:

 

The webinar recording of the "FIP pharmacy education in sub-Saharan Africa" report launch is available here.

 

Multimedia repository

Join the conversation! Share FIP Pharmacy Education in sub-Saharan Africa Report’s key findings on your Facebook, LinkedIn, Whatsapp or Instagram accounts. Use the graphics below to accompany your posts! Use ‘Click-to-Tweet’ link to directly post on your Twitter!

              

The @fip_org #PharmacyEducation in sub-Saharan #Africa report recommends addressing the current shortfalls, building on existing capacity and implementing plans for improved investment and partnerships. #FIPinAfrica #UNITWIN @UNESCO – Click to Tweet

     

There is a severe shortage of health workers in Africa. Pharmacists are integral to the healthcare needs in the region. @fip_org #PharmacyEducation in #Africa report shows a need for a robust workforce and how @FIPEd resources can help. #FIPinAfrica #UNITWIN @UNESCO – Click to Tweet

   

According to @fip_org #PharmacyEducation in Africa report, pharmacy degrees are shifting, variations exist in education quality between sub-regions, and improving staff welfare and therefore numbers are critical. #FIPinAfrica #UNITWIN @UNESCO – Click to Tweet

  @fip_org #PharmacyAfrica report’s findings suggest investing in #PharmacyEducation #Pharmacy workforce will influence national health workforce density and economicgrowth, as pharmacy is the third largest healthcare workforce in most countries. #FIPinAfrica #UNITWIN @UNESCO – Click to Tweet
   
@fip_org’s partnership with @UNESCO and the subsequent #UNITWIN programme has provided advances in Africa’s #PharmacyEducation through joint research and improvements in academic capacity and needs-based education, resulting in stronger intra-regional ties #FIPinAfrica – Click to Tweet   The FIP-UNITWIN Needs Assessment Framework serves to identify the needs and priorities in pharmacy education and pharmaceutical workforce in Africa, and includes the following steps:#FIPinAfrica #PharmacyEducation #TransformPharmacy #UNITWIN @UNESCO @fip_org – Click to Tweet
 

#PharmacyEducation provided in Africa must meet standards of quality. @fip_org report recommends new teaching methods, continuous curriculum review and collaboration with stakeholders to support quality education. #PharmacyAfrica #FIPinAfrica #TransformPharmacy #UNITWIN @UNESCO – Click to Tweet

 

Pharmacy students’ associations and young pharmacists are calling for more experiential #PharmacyEducation opportunities, mentorship,and support to engage with pharmacy network across Africa and beyond.#TransformPharmacy #FIPinAfrica #PharmacyAfrica #UNITWIN @UNESCO @fip_org – Click to Tweet

 

Empowering and enabling women in #PharmaceuticalSciences and #PharmacyEducation is critical to improving overall standards of pharmacy and healthcare in Africa. #EquityRX #FIPWiSE @UNESCO #UNITWIN #FIPinAfrica @fip_org – Click to Tweet   COVID-19 has exposed existing inequities & flaws in #PharmacyEducation. The @fip_org - #UNITWIN Centre for Excellence in Africa addresses these and ways to mitigate the impact of heavy disruption on #PharmacyEducation. @UNESCO #PharmacyAfrica #FIPinAfrica #TransformPharmacy – Click to Tweet

 

   

 

@fip_org report on #PharmacyEducation in sub-Saharan #Africa calls for addressing inequities in #PharmacyEducation, educational partnerships through #UNITWIN, and highlights the need for an African Association of #Pharmacy schools. @UNESCO #FIPinAfrica #TransformPharmacy – Click to Tweet

   

 

Setting up new FIP UNITWIN centres for excellence and establishing pharmacy schools’ associations: a pathfinder toolkit

The FIP UNITWIN pathfinder toolkit builds on the work of the FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN programme in sub-Saharan Africa and the decade of history of its Centre for Excellence in Africa (CfEA).

The toolkit has two key objectives:

1. It supports the planned global expansion of the FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN programme by providing step-wise guidance to academic institutions to establish new FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN centres for excellence across all regions of the world. The toolkit provides case studies from the experts/partners/founders about the CfEA and operational resources on transforming pharmacy education through educational networks using the FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN programme’s CfEA approach.


2. It supports pharmacy schools to set up associations and particularly designed to support African academic institutions to establish an Africa-wide association of schools of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. The toolkit provides case studies from regional and country associations of pharmacy schools about their mission, vision, legislative steps, strategic plans and priorities, decision-making, leadership, membership, marketing, partner engagement of associations from other regions, opinions on success and benefits of pharmacy school associations.

The digital toolkit can be accessed here.

 

FIP’s global call to action for advancing pharmaceutical education

In October 2021, FIP organised the FIP-UNITWIN regional workshops, brought FIP’s member academic institutions, professional organisations and key pharmacy stakeholders from each of the World Health Organization’s six regions together, and co-created ONE FIP roadmaps to advance pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences education. The workshops’ participants identified their regions’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) on pharmaceutical education, and prioritised FIP Development Goals (FIP DGs) relevant to needs and priorities in pharmaceutical education.

To address priority FIP DGs and actionable SWOT areas in pharmaceutical education, the workshop participants co-created roadmaps for their regions. The roadmaps provide a systematic and concerted framework for FIP members to advance pharmaceutical education, and support collaboration between FIP members and key pharmaceutical stakeholders in co-creating strategies and solutions for their region.



Following the workshops, on 13 December 2021 at the FIP-UNITWIN global summit on pharmaceutical education, FIP launched the final roadmaps for each region and the “FIP global call to action on pharmaceutical education” for academic institutions, professional organisations, policymakers and key pharmaceutical stakeholders around the world to support the implementation of these roadmaps. FIP’s member academic institutions who participated in the workshops and the global summit will benefit from the opportunity to join the FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN Centre for Excellence in their region, and will be recognised by UNESCO as regional leaders in implementing these roadmaps in solidarity with colleagues in and beyond their region and with FIP.

Coming soon: Peer-reviewed article on FIP-UNITWIN workshops and FIP regional roadmaps on pharmaceutical education.

If you are interested in unifying with FIP-UNITWIN, and contributing to the FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN Centre for Excellence to advance pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences education in your region, please contact education@fip.org.

 

FIP toolkit for addressing inequities in pharmaceutical education

The FIP toolkit for addressing inequities in pharmaceutical education is based on recent FIP findings that point to the need for urgent action to address such inequities. It includes recommendations and a set of focused next steps from the “FIP pharmacy education in sub-Saharan Africa” report and the “FIP global call to action on pharmaceutical education”. Furthermore, UNESCO’s 2021 Global Education Meeting — “Paris declaration: A global call for investing in the futures of education” — which is supported by FIP, emphasises the need to tackle the educational crises and inequalities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The toolkit is designed to support academic institutions, policy makers, educators and students to achieve equitable, inclusive and quality pharmaceutical education for all, which is crucial for the development of a competent, adaptable and flexible pharmaceutical workforce globally. In the toolkit, you will find global and regional perspectives on inequities in education as well as tools that individuals and institutions can use to assess their inequities status and examine attitudes to the different categories of inequity. Furthermore, the toolkit recommends a number of actions for addressing different types of inequity and offers materials that can be used to raise awareness, drive social change and promote equitable pharmaceutical education.

We invite you to utilise the toolkit to achieve equitable, inclusive and quality pharmaceutical education for all in your context by:
1. Sharing the digital toolkit on your social media, across your educational and scientific networks, in your university or organisation’s newsletters, and at events and lectures you attend;
2. Using the self-assessment tool in Chapter 3 to identify your or your institution’s status on different inequity areas in pharmaceutical education;
3. Sharing the campaign messages and social media cards (which can be found in Chapter 3 of the toolkit) on your social media, or in your presentations;
4. Printing and displaying the campaign poster (which can be found in Chapter 3 of the toolkit) as your commitment to addressing inequities in pharmaceutical education;
5. Advocating that governments and other key decision makers address inequities in pharmaceutical education within your context; and
6. Celebrating if you or your institution is already achieving an equitable, inclusive and quality pharmaceutical education by sharing your good practices with FIP at education@fip.org.

You can access the digital toolkit here.

 

FIP Education Transformation Toolkit

One year after the launch of the FIP global call to action on advancing pharmaceutical education, FIP launches the FIP Education transformation toolkit during the FIP-UNITWIN Global Summit on December 13th 2022. This digital toolkit is a collection of FIP resources on pharmaceutical education that will support implementation of the FIP global call to action on advancing on pharmaceutical education. With this toolkit, academic institutions, educators, professional organisations, policy makers and key pharmaceutical stakeholders will be able to adopt and adapt globally relevant resources from FIP to address their needs and priorities in pharmaceutical education in the context of the FIP Development Goals.

We invite you to explore the FIP education transformation toolkit to advance pharmaceutical education in your context and share it on your social media, across your educational and scientific networks, in your university or organisation’s newsletters, and at events and lectures you attend.

You can access the digital toolkit here.

 

FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN centre for excellence in South East Asia

The FIP-UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) UNITWIN centre for excellence in South East Asia was established in 20 October, 2023 under the auspices of FIP’s partnership with UNESCO concerning the UNITWIN Network on Global Pharmacy Education Development.

This second FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN centre for excellence leverages on the achievements and expertise gained from the pioneering FIP UNESCO UNITWIN Centre for Excellence in Africa. The centre aims to:

  • Enhance the integrated system of research, training, information, and documentation activities in pharmacy education within the South-East Asian region.
  • Lead educational and scientific transformations, and promote interregional collaboration to address sustainability, inequities, and technology in education in the region.
  • Cooperate closely with existing FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN regional centres for excellence as well as UNESCO UNITWIN Networks on relevant programmes and activities.
  • Implement the FIP regional roadmap for transforming pharmaceutical education specifically:

            - Adapt FIP’s global competency framework into the South-East Asian regional context “in line with FIP Development Goal (DG) 5 (Competency development).
            - Provide young faculty members with opportunities to build academic capacity (DG1) by developing a Train the Trainer series for all levels of academics, linking to the FIP competency framework for educators.
            - Build continuing professional development (DG9) by leveraging FIP’s existing CPD strategies and resources to develop a CPD toolkit, supported by the Provision Programme and the FIP seal for quality.
            - Facilitate the implementation of actions from the FIP call to action on pharmaceutical education as relevant to the South-East Asian region’s needs and context.

Seven universities from five of the 11 countries in the World Health Organization South-East Asia region (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand) are founding members. This includes:

  • Rajani Shakya, Department of Pharmacy, Kathmandu University, Nepal - Lead
  • Surakit Nathisuwan, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Thailand
  • Jerad Suresh, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education & Research, India
  • Editha Renesteen, Faculty of Military Pharmacy, The Republic of Indonesia Defence University, Indonesia
  • Andi Hermansyah, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia
  • Farzana Islam, School of Pharmacy, Brac University, Bangladesh
  • Fadlina Chany Saputri, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia

Individual members of this centre include:

  • Mansi Doshi, Services development & medicines optimisation, India- Deputy Lead
  • Antonius Nugraha Widhi Pratama, Universitas Jember, Indonesia
  • Dyah Aryani Perwitasari, Dahlan University, Indonesia
  • G. Suma latha, Vikas Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, India

If you have any questions about the toolkit or the FIP-UNITWIN programme do not hesitate to contact FIP at education@fip.org

Last update 26 October 2023

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