Mountain Universities Partnership
Mountain Universities Partnership (MUP) is an initiative of the Aga Khan Development Network's University Improvement Programme. MUP is centred around the vision of University of Central Asia (UCA) and aims to support mountain universities – Naryn State University (NSU) in Kyrgyzstan, Khorog State University (KSU) in Tajikistan, Karakorum International University (KIU) in Pakistan and Badakhshan University (BU) in Afghanistan. The overriding goal of MUP is to help the four mountain universities improve their quality of education, while contributing to socio-economic development of the mountain regions in the long run. These universities serve the bulk of population in the mountainous areas and play an indispensable role in the development of the mountain regions.
MUP is committed to helping the mountain universities improve their academic programmes, learning resources, facilities, services, and research capacities. To ensure meaningful long-term impact, all MUP’s initiatives will be guided by principles of
- Ownership, requires the universities, leadership at all levels, to accommodate changes and provide contribution, financial and in-kind, to implement initiatives;
- Sustainability, obliges long-term operations through incorporation of changes into university systems and running them independently; and
- Capacity Building, entails building the capacity of universities’ faculty and staff to best utilize the updated curriculum, equipment delivered and services improved.
To stay on the course of its mission achievement, MUP is focusing on improving academic programmes which offer their graduates the prospect of being employed and contributing to the socio-economic development of the mountain communities. Employment and socio-economic development within MUP’s target geographies hinge on the effective exploration of national and provincial potentials, as well as the prospects of labour market. Not only the universities’ priorities but also national, provincial and labour market tendencies served as prioritization criteria for final selection of MUP focus areas.
