Launch of the Arab University Rankings

The Arab University Rankings were officially announced at the headquarters of the League of Arab States. This ranking will contribute to strengthening the position of Arab universities in international rankings and provide an opportunity for universities to conduct benchmarking.

According to a press release issued by the Association of Arab Universities today, the official launch ceremony of the ranking was attended by the Secretary-General of the Association of Arab Universities, Dr. Amr Ezzat Salama, Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Social Affairs Sector at the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, and President of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), Mohamed Ould Amar.

Dr. Salama explained that the Arab University Ranking will be implemented by the Association of Arab Universities in cooperation with the League of Arab States and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO). He noted that university applications will be accepted in October, and the ranking results will be announced early next year. Salama emphasized that the Arab University Ranking project seeks to enhance the competitiveness of Arab universities to reach the level of prestigious international universities.

He pointed out that the ranking will provide a comprehensive view of stakeholders' satisfaction with the university. The ranking will include a set of indicators covering all scientific, academic, and research aspects, and will take into account the university's size and its ability to achieve fairness in evaluating the performance of participating universities.

He also noted that the Federation has spearheaded numerous programs and projects to enhance higher education and scientific research in the Arab region, with a focus on capacity building in university management, quality assurance, accreditation, internationalization, enhancing access to and quality of technology, and enhancing student learning.

Today, I am proud to launch one of the most important projects that the Federation has worked on in partnership with the League of Arab States and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), namely the Arab University Rankings Project. These institutions have been keen to focus their combined efforts to achieve the strategic goal of this project, which is to enable Arab universities to enhance their educational and research outcomes and raise their visibility in the international community, and to enable researchers and faculty members in Arab countries to compete for regional and international awards, projects and financial grants.

He added that the Federation is one of the most important institutions for joint Arab action, as it is the joint umbrella for Arab universities, which includes approximately 450 universities in its membership. Given the close relationship between the Federation and Arab universities, it has worked on this project, contributing to the development of classification axes and indicators, outlining the stages of work to build the electronic classification platform, and establishing an integrated database.

Salama gave a detailed presentation on the Arab University Rankings project, its implementation mechanisms, and the goals it seeks to achieve.

In turn, Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Social Affairs Sector at the Arab League, called on Arab universities to participate in the Arab University Ranking Project, urging Arab Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research to support the project.