Impact Report for the Higher Education Solutions Network
Highlights and Lessons Learned from Five Years of Programs
USAID has a rich history of working with academia and research communities to build human and institutional capacity through U.S. partnerships with low- and middle-income countries, perform sector specific research, and evaluate development programming.
The vision for the Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN) was to change the face of development by tapping into the innovation, passion, and technical expertise found within universities worldwide. Their objectives were to partner with the higher education community to leverage
- the emergent trends in creating and testing new solutions for global development;
- new data tools and techniques;
- the changing landscape of science and technology (S&T) targeted to benefit the most vulnerable; and
- how to harness youth worldwide focused on finding ways to impact society.
Eight university programs, known collectively as HESN Labs, each had their own unique plan for how they would contribute to USAID's mission and over the the years their partnerships grew and initiatives expanded.
This report captures how HESN Labs endeavored to impact global S&T development.