Seychelles (Commonwealth Union)_The Commonwealth of Learning has a new chair for its Board of Governors, the former President of the Seychelles Danny Faure. President Wavel Ramkalawan called it an honour for the tiny island nation and a recognition of the high status the Commonwealth holds the Seychelles in the sphere of education. Faure has been on the Board of Governors of the COL prior, when he represented Africa from January 2014 to December 2016 when he was Vice President of the Seychelles.
The Commonwealth of Learning was created in 1988 as the world’s only intergovernmental organisation with a mandate to promote distance education and open learning. In furtherance to this mandate, in 2000, Faure introduced the concept of the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) at the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers when he was the Seychelles’ Minister of Education.
Faure, the chair and patron of the Danny Faure Foundation unveiled a visionary roadmap for the Seychelles during tenure including designating 30 percent of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone as Marine Protected Areas. This pushed Seychelles as a trailblazer in marine protection.
Faure is credited by the Commonwealth of Learning to have inspired the advancement of the concept of the Blue Economy which was in its infancy at the time and was recognized for this by the African Union at the 11th Extraordinary Assembly Session of the African Union in Addis Ababa in 2018. One year later, the National Geographic Society conferred the prestigious ‘Planetary and Leadership Award’ on Faure at the National Geographic Awards Ceremony in Washington, DC. He is an Honorary Member of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa.