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OAS and Mexico Launch New Scholarship Program

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the government of Mexico, through the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) today launched a scholarship program for students of Member States who wish to pursue graduate studies in that country.

Within the framework of the 21st Regular Meeting of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), the OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza praised "the generous offer of postgraduate scholarships" presented by Mexico and stressed that the initiative is the "most valuable cooperation that a Member State has given to the OAS in terms of the education human resources, especially in the areas of engineering and science" which, he added, has already achieved broad acceptance among some countries of the hemispheric organization.

The Secretary General also stressed that the program "is a integral part of an effort that has its origin in the Declaration of Lima adopted at the First Meeting of Ministers and High Authorities on Science and Technology in 2004 and later in the Plan of Action of the Third Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology held in Panama in 2011." “We are proud to collaborate with the government of Mexico in this task and we appreciate being part of this process that reaffirms the willingness of that country to cooperate with all the states of the Americas," he concluded.

The Permanent Representative of Mexico, Ambassador Joel Hernández presented the details of the cooperation between the OAS and the CONACYT and said that for his country, "science, technology, engineering and innovation are the engines for social and economic development and are key to increasing regional and national productivity and competitiveness."

The scholarship initiative was presented to the CIDI members by the Deputy Director of Graduate Studies and Scholarships of CONACYT, Maria Dolores Sánchez Soler, who explained that the program plans to offer 500 scholarships for a period of three years at an estimated US$50 million. "The program will provide opportunities to the citizens in the region for a quality education in engineering and science, with a view to developing human capital that allows for greater levels of competitiveness."

The CONACYT representative reported that Mexico and the OAS will share in the coordination, selection and dissemination of the scholarships and considered that this "will guarantee their impact in the Member Countries and a measure of the success that will be achieved together."

Each scholarship will cover basic living expenses during the studies, the possibilities of exchange with other academic institutions in the region and institutional facilities to cover tuition fees. The program will be administered by the Scholarship section of the OAS Department of Human Development with the participation of the Office of Science, Technology and Innovation of the OAS. Additional information about the OAS scholarship programs is available here.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-411/12