Contact: In Washington: Tsutomu Shibata (202) 458-9449 tshibata@worldbank.org In Nairobi: Catherine Wanjikku Gachukia (+254 203 22 6449) Cgachukia@worldbank.org NAIROBI, May 11, 2006 – The Joint Japan-World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP) held its first regional conference on May 11, 2006. The conference was part of an effort that began in 2005 to scale up the JJ/WBGSP by disseminating and applying the research that is carried out by it’s scholars, and by strengthening it’s worldwide network of alumni. The objective of the Program is to facilitate lifelong knowledge exchange and dialogue among development practitioners and scholars. “The JJ/WBGSP supports the World Bank Institute’s mission by enabling scholars from developing countries to pursue studies in development-related fields and to apply and disseminate their knowledge and skills back home,” says Frannie Léautier, Vice President of the World Bank Institute. “The program includes scholars from 103 countries; and fifty percent of the 210 scholars selected in 2005 come from some of the poorest countries in the world, with urgent needs to strengthen their human resources.” More than eighty of The Program’s Kenyan alumni were invited to the one-day conference where several received awards for outstanding research and presented their papers. These included: ‘Determinants of Health Status in Kenya’ by Mr. Edward Gakunju from Kenya, a graduate of Makerere University; ‘The Long-Run Effects of Fiscal Deficit on Economic Growth in Ghana 1970 – 2000’ by Ms. Bernice Serwah Duodu from Ghana, a graduate of University of Ghana; ‘Determinants of Trade Balance in Tanzania: 1970-2002’ by Mr. Mbayani Saruni from Tanzania, a graduate of Makerere University. Several presentations pertaining to development in Africa were also made, including: ‘African Development and Japan's Partnership’ by His Excellency Mr. Satoru Miyamura, Japanese Ambassador to Kenya; ‘Selected Issues in Growth and Poverty Reduction in Africa’ by Mr. Colin Bruce, Country Director, World Bank Nairobi. Mr. Bruce was among those who pointed out the importance of the fund, noting that “further investments in post-secondary education, like that supported by JJ/WBGSP, will be a major determinant of the Region’s longer term development prospects. This is especially true because HIV/AIDs has raised mortality among young adults thus reducing the expected pool of skilled workers.”
The JJ/WBGSP was established in 1987 with funding from the Government of Japan and is administered by the World Bank Institute. Every year, the Program awards scholarships to students from World Bank member countries enabling them to pursue graduate studies in the field of social and economic development. Now in its 19th year, the JJ/WBGSP has awarded 3,427 scholarships through a highly competitive selection process. The next regional conference for the Program is planned for May 2006 in Hanoi, Vietnam. -###- For more information on the JJ/WBGSP, please visit: www.worldbank.org/wbi/scholarships |
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