The Organization of American States (OAS), the Coimbra Group of Brazilian Universities (GCUB), and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), with the support of the Division of Educational Themes of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, published a list of more than 450 selected students to receive postgraduate scholarships, from the Program of Alliances for Education and Training (PAEC) OEA-GCUB 2014.
Washington, DC, November 13, 2014 (OAS-PAHO)- The Organization of American States (OAS), the Coimbra Group of Brazilian Universities (GCUB), and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), with the support of the Division of Educational Themes of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, published a list of more than 450 selected students to receive postgraduate scholarships, from the Program of Alliances for Education and Training (PAEC) OEA-GCUB 2014.
For the first time, as a result of an agreement signed between PAHO and the OAS in February 2014, 75 scholarships will be offered specifically for studies in the area of health, opening the opportunity to strengthen human resources for health by offering graduate level degrees to dozens of students.
The 75 candidates come from 18 countries in the Americas: Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela and will study in many health related programs, including hematology, pathology, pharmacy, nursing, nutrition, and tropical medicine, among others.
The students will begin their studies in the first or second semester in 2015, in one of the 46 participating Brazilian universities. The scholarships provide tuition and fees, a monthly living stipend, and Portuguese language support to recipients. The first 125 students selected will receive additional funds for moving.
PAEC, made up of prominent representatives of Brazilian universities from around the country, met at OAS in Washington, DC from the 27 to 31 of October to evaluate applications and choose recipients from close to 2,000 qualifying applicants.
Participating in the selection process were Breno Brasil de Souza Dias da Costa; Acting Representative of the Mission of Brazil to the OAS, Sherry Tross; Executive Secretary of Integrative Development at OAS, Marie Levens; Executive Director of the OAS Office of Human Development, Education, and Employment, Rossana Valéria de Souza e Silva; Executive Director of the Coimbra Group, and Luis Gabriel Cuervo and Eleana C Villanueva from the Pan American Health Organization, among others.
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The Commission made final decisions taking into account the criteria of wide and equitable geographic distribution of applicants and the benefit to all OAS member nations. Special consideration was given to applicants from countries with small economies and relatively lower levels of human development as defined by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Diversity of gender and the potential impact of the applicants in returning to their home countries were also considered.
The 2014 OAS-GCUB scholarship program is one of the largest and most important of OAS. This initiative seeks to promote better integration of Brazilian universities with the other nations of the region, to incentivize cultural and scientific exchange, internationalization, the movement of students of the Americas, and promotion of human development.
From the inception of the program in 2011 through the present, more than 1,000 scholarships have been awarded by PAEC OAS-GCUB for master's and graduate studies in more than 50 universities. Interest from Brazilian universities has increased, with 46 participating this year, up from just 19 in the program's first year. PAHO will continue to provide technical assistance in evaluating applications for health-related programs, with a particular emphasis on students interested in research for health. PAHO's enthusiastic cooperation with OAS and GCUB is in an effort to advance the Policy on Research for Health (CD49/10) which was approved by member states in 2009 and provides measures for increased research and educational competencies in the Americas.
For a list of the scholarship recipients select this link.
To view photos of the 2014 Scholarship Selection Committee, select this link.
