FELLOWSHIPS DEPARTMENT

The Fellowships Department manages the Organization's fellowship programs, according to the priorities that each member State indicates. It applies the rules for awarding fellowships and helps to evaluate the General Secretariat's training activities.

Pursuant to mandates received from the General Assembly, overtures have been made to the sponsor countries to increase the number of fellowships they provide for courses in the official languages of the Organization. Efforts have also been made to enlist new countries to offer fellowships in those languages. Particular attention has been devoted to the importance of learning Spanish and English as a tool of integration and mutual understanding between the Caribbean and Latin America. Coordination meetings have been held at headquarters and programming missions have gone to some countries to establish more specialized training courses. The Department has managed to furnish health insurance coverage for all fellowship recipients, both those receiving regular fellowships and those participating in the specialized training courses. It has also succeeded in enlisting more countries to host courses. For example, in years past, over 90% of the fellowships under the Regular Training Program (PRA) were awarded for studies in the United States, while at the present time, 40% of those fellowships now go for studies in other member countries.

To use the resources more efficiently, the Department has succeeded in securing reduced fares on certain airlines, which lowers the fellowship costs.

Fellowships awarded

Some 1490 fellowships were awarded. The amount involved was an estimated US$7,300.000, and was financed under the Regular Fund. When the contribution received from the permanent observers through the Special Training Program (PEC) and from the member States through the Training Program Among Developing Countries (ADPD) are combined, the total amount of resources being channeled toward training is over US$9 million. Fellowship programs are a priority in the Organization's budget and its execution.

Regular Training Program

The PRA fellowships are awarded for advanced specialized studies and for research, to candidates nominated by the governments of the member countries. Those candidates must have a university degree and have been accepted at a university for graduate courses. The demand for fellowships of this type far exceeds what the PRA is able to award. The total number of new fellowships and extensions is 380, at a cost of US$5 million.

Horizontal Cooperation Fellowships

The Horizontal Cooperation Fellowships are for specialized professional and technical training courses and are therefore for short periods and at a variety of educational institutions. They are sponsored by the governments of the member States through horizontal cooperation. For the 1994 programming, offers were received from eight member States and from one regional organization; among them they offered 96 courses, for a total of 1,129 fellowships. However, owing to budgetary constraints, only 45 courses could be conducted. For those courses, a total of 500 fellowships were awarded. The General Secretariat contributed US$600,000 and the participating governments over US$1 million.

Fellowships provided with the assistance of the permanent observers

In general these fellowships are for longer periods than the horizontal cooperation fellowships; some are awarded for masters degree studies in various disciplines. Offers were received from four permanent observer countries: Spain, France, Israel and Romania. Some 150 fellowships were awarded, at a cost of US$350,000 to the General Secretariat and involving a contribution of US$1,400.000 from those countries.

Special Caribbean Fellowships Program

The purpose of this Special Program is to award fellowships to nationals of the English-speaking member States of the Caribbean, for the last two years of undergraduate education. Special training courses are also offered. Some 88 fellowships were awarded, valued at US$880,000. In addition, financing was provided to enable ten people to participate in the Subregional Seminar on International Trade, which CIENES gave in Barbados, through the Caribbean Development Bank, in January of 1995. Those stipends involved approximately US$15,000.

Fellowships from other areas of the General Secretariat

The Department collaborated with other areas of the General Secretariat in awarding 370 fellowships, associated as a rule with technical cooperation projects and costing a total of US$500,000.

Leo S. Rowe Fund

The Rowe Fund offers no-interest loans to students from Latin America and the Caribbean to add to what funds they already have for studies in the United States. Rules were prepared to govern the Fund's operations and the campaign to collect outstanding loans continued.

<-- Table of Contents <-- Next Page