Contact: In Washington: Ekaterina Svirina (202) 458-1042 - office (202) 468-7591 - cell esvirina@worldbank.org CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 3, 2008 – World Bank President Robert Zoellick said today that the World Bank plans to renew a scholarship program partnership to enable 32 scholars from developing countries to obtain Masters’ degrees in Public Administration in International Development from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Under the renewal agreement, the World Bank Group is to earmark $5 million from the Joint Japan-World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program to finance scholarships at Harvard Kennedy School over five academic years, from 2008-2013, for students from developing countries, all of whom are selected for admission through a competitive process. “Learning and knowledge are vital resources for development,” President Zoellick said at a meeting with Harvard Kennedy School faculty and students. “This partnership has proven itself as an effective way to help young people build their knowledge, and use it to make a difference in improving governance in their countries.” The World Bank Institute (WBI), the training and capacity-building arm of the World Bank Group, launched its collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School in 1987. Since then, over 200 students from developing countries have received scholarships for Masters’ or PhD degrees in public policy and administration at Harvard Kennedy School. This partnership is part of the larger Joint Japan World Bank scholarship program, which has awarded nearly 4,000 graduate scholarships financed by Japan to developing-country students at academic institutions around the world. “Many of these graduates have gone on to assume leadership roles in their countries of origin,”said Rakesh Nangia, Acting Vice President of WBI. “We are grateful to the Government of Japan for the contribution that makes this possible, and to Harvard Kennedy School for developing a curriculum that serves the goal of poverty reduction.”
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