West Africa

Ford Foundation $75 Million Commitment Extends International Fellowships Program Through 2014

Washington, D.C. - April 25, 2006 – A new $75 million commitment from the Ford Foundation will allow 900 additional Fellows to participate in its International Fellowships Program (IFP), an innovative model that broadens access to advanced study for people from some of the world's poorest communities. The new support is based on positive results from the program's first five years, which show that a very high proportion of Fellows have achieved academic success and are returning home to tackle development challenges in their own countries. The new commitment was announced at a press conference today by Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation, who was joined by Senator Richard G. Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The new funds will enable the program to build on its success providing opportunities for advanced study to talented, socially committed men and women in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Russia who come from groups that have traditionally lacked access to higher education. The 2,065 IFP Fellows selected to date have won admission to master's, doctoral, and other advanced degree programs at top universities in Europe, North America, and in their home countries and regions. A total of 4,440 Fellows will receive support by the end of the program.

"Five years ago, we launched IFP because we saw the need for a new kind of fellowships program," said Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation. "Our challenge was to increase access to advanced education while reducing 'brain drain.' Today we are excited to report that IFP Fellows are not only doing well academically, but are using their training to make life better in their home countries. An investment in IFP is an investment in international development."

A 2005 survey of the first 400 IFP alumni shows that over 85% of master's candidates had completed their degrees within the expected timeframe. Among the 31 Ph.D candidates surveyed, 41% had already earned their doctoral degrees. Additionally, 75% of the first 400 alumni are now living and working in their home countries, while nearly all the others are pursuing additional advanced degrees or completing professional training. Networks developed through IFP give alumni access to a vast reservoir of talent and experience to improve their development efforts at home.

IFP was launched in 2001 with $280 million, the largest single grant in the Ford Foundation's history. It is different from other international fellowships in several key ways. First, IFP Fellows are selected on the basis of their leadership record and commitment to their country or community as well as the strength of their academic achievement. Second, Fellows come from disadvantaged groups that have limited access to higher education: about half of the current Fellows are women; many are from ethnic, religious, or linguistic minority groups in their home countries; and most come from remote or rural areas distant from capital cities. Third, Fellows can pursue graduate studies at universities anywhere in the world.

"Today there is an urgent need for programs like this that promote international understanding and train new leaders who can advance peaceful and equitable development around the world. The Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program is making an important contribution to furthering this goal," said U.S. Senator Richard G. Lugar (R-IN), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"We are learning that broadening access to higher education is an effective strategy to promote social justice and development around the world," said Joan Dassin, IFP's executive director. "Reaching talented people who would not otherwise have the opportunity for advanced study involves outreach and recruitment far beyond the usual international fellowship candidates. The IFP can serve as a new model to accomplish that goal."

Some examples of IFP alumni who have had an immediate impact on their home countries:

• Raúl Choque, Peru – Already active in community health education in Peru's poorest region, Choque used his fellowship to earn a master's degree in communication and education at the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona in Spain. After returning to Peru, Choque completed another master's degree and assumed the position of Executive Director of Social Communication at the Ministry of Health, where he coordinates with other departments to advance Peruvian public health initiatives.
• Margarita Tri Wahyuningish, Indonesia – After completing her master's degree in gender and women's studies at the University of Bradford, in England, Wahyuningish returned to West Kalimantan, a province beset by traditional conflict and sporadic ethnic cleansing. She is now a field officer for an international NGO, Search for Common Ground in Indonesia, training women to become mediators for peace.
• Samuel Duo, Liberia – A Liberian refugee who had fled to Ghana, Duo completed a master's degree in agriculture at Pennsylvania State University. He then returned home to open a new office for the Social Enterprise Development Foundation of West Africa in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, to help rebuild his war-torn country.

"We continue to be impressed by the ways IFP alumni are furthering their social justice work with renewed dedication made more effective by the education, training, and networking skills gained during their IFP fellowships. This is welcome evidence the program is beginning to achieve the returns we envisioned when it began," said Ambassador Donald McHenry, chairman of the board of the International Fellowships Fund, which oversees IFP activities.

The Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program's secretariat in New York City coordinates work on IFP Fellows' selection, placement, mentoring, and monitoring with the program's 20 international partners worldwide. IFP is a program of the International Fellowships Fund, an independently incorporated supporting organization of the Institute of International Education (IIE). For more information about the IFP and its alumni, go to: www.fordifp.net.

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.