26 Countries benefit from OAS Scholarships in Brazil in 2014

Over 450 candidates for Master’s and Doctoral degree studies from 26 countries in the region are packing their bags to move to Brazil in 2015. These are the recipients of the very competitive scholarship program undertaken in partnership with the Coimbra Group of Brazilian Universities (GCUB), which in its fourth edition received more than 5,000 applications and 170,000 web visits, setting a new record for the OAS scholarship program and becoming the most visited site in the Organization for that period.

From its first edition in 2011 to the present, the program has delivered some one thousand scholarships for Master´s and Doctoral degree studies in more than 50 Brazilian universities. The program began as a relatively small scholarship initiative, offering 53 scholarships in 16 universities in its first edition in 2011. Yet, interest from local universities and a growing demand from the region led to a  ten-fold increase in available scholarships, with over three times as many universities participating in the program for this edition.

Importantly, the scholarships announced this November offer studies in the area of health for the first time in OAS history, as a result of an agreement signed with PAHO earlier this year. This partnership with the GCUB and PAHO is a great example of how the OAS acts as a hub and facilitator for regional cooperation, as it is able to successfully build alliances, identify areas for collaboration, and mobilize the necessary resources and actors for effective programming.

At the opening session of the meeting of the Advisory Committee of Evaluation, tasked with selecting the candidates, the Interim Representative of Brazil to the OAS, Breno Dias da Costa, stressed the importance of this partnership not only for the students and the countries of origin but also for Brazil. In addition to the benefits for visiting students, Brazil also wins; we win in terms of knowledge, culture, and customs that also enrich our country and support internationalization. Likewise, the countries of origin benefit when the students return with new knowledge – this is the objective of the program."

For her part, the Executive Director of the Coimbra Group, Rossana Valeria de Souza e Silva, thanked the OAS for the partnership, and said that with this program, the Group is not only offering professional development opportunities for young people; “we are also offering an example for our countries, an example of solidarity, of commitment both to our own growth and development, as well as to the social strengthening of our region."

As the largest scholarship offering at the OAS, the program showcases how education, human development, and capacity building is at the core of the Organization’s work in terms of development. Sherry Tross, OAS Executive Secretary for Integral Development emphasized that “The human being, the individual, is at the center of our development programs. We focus on the individual and how we can help in terms of providing the kind of capacity, skills, and tools to help individuals realize their own potential to contribute to their societies and to their communities, in order to ensure sustainable and inclusive economic growth. I think this is one of the programs that is doing a lot in helping us to realize those objectives.”

The OAS-GCUB scholarship program in Brazil is part of the Partnership Program for Education and Training (PAEC) created in 2010. The PAEC has enabled public-private partnerships to strengthen the Organization’s higher education initiatives and meet citizens’ growing demand for quality education.