UNESCO Portal on Higher Education Institutions

I received the following announcement from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation last week:

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has established a Portal on Higher Education Institutions that is now available online at: http://www.unesco.org/education/portal/hed-institutions.

The Portal provides access to (1) higher education institutions sanctioned either by government or other competent authorities and (2)  general information about higher education, accreditation, quality  assurance and related subjects in various countries. It is an entry point  to each country's institutions and information and not a centralized  database or international "list." The Portal has been developed by an International Steering Group convened by UNESCO that has been working for the past several years.   We at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) have been  part of this effort. The Portal currently includes information from 12 countries and will be expanded to incorporate additional countries over  time. The information from individual countries is made available through  links on the Portal site. Each country's data remain within the control of  the participating country and have not been transferred to UNESCO. For the  United States, the Portal includes links to the CHEA and USDE databases of  institutions and programs accredited by U.S. accrediting organizations  recognized by CHEA or USDE or both.  The U.S. site also includes  access to information about credential evaluation and financial  assistance. The Portal will assist students, faculty, administrators, employers and  other interested parties with reliable and useful information about higher education institutions and accreditation or quality assurance bodies.