American universities partnering with Iraqi counterparts

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it was providing grant awards totaling almost $12 million for American universities to help develop and reform curricula and academic programs in three areas of study at Iraqi universities.

According to a press announcement released October 3, the first grant of more than $4 million would allow a U.S. consortia led by the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook to modernize and develop curricula in archaeology and environmental research at several Iraqi universities.

The second grant to the University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture, will provide about $3.7 million worth of resources to strengthen programs in agricultural sciences at the Universities of Mosul and Dohuk.

The third grant, worth $3.8 million, was awarded to the DePaul University College of Law and a criminal sciences institute in Siracusa, Italy. The grant will allow them to undertake reforms in Iraq's legal education system "as a central and necessary element of the nation's transition to democracy."

Following is the text of the USAID press release:

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USAID Announces U.S. -- Iraq University Partnerships

WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov/
Press: (202) 712-4320
Public Information: (202) 712-4810

2003-086

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 3, 2003

Contact: USAID Press Office

WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced that grants have been made to three university consortia, each led by a U.S. institution of higher learning, to partner with and strengthen Iraqi universities. Additional grants will follow in the coming weeks. The Higher Education and Development (HEAD) program for Iraq is one of USAID's most significant engagements with the university community in recent years. The universities will support the work of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to strengthen the capacity of Iraqi universities.

Archeology and Environmental Research. The first of these grants, a $4,131,274 award, is to a consortium led by the Research Foundation of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook that will partner with Baghdad University, Al Mustansiriyah University in Baghdad, Mosul University and Basrah University. The consortium, which includes Columbia University, Boston University and Oxford University (England) will provide tools and training to:

Modernize curricula in archaeology and Assyriology and conduct research using modern analytical methods; and

Develop curricula in environmental health and conduct environmental research programs using modern techniques.

Agriculture. A second award in the amount of $3,770,724 is to the University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources that will partner with the University of Mosul's College of Agriculture and Forestry which is located in Hamam al-Alil. These resources will:

Strengthen academic programs and extension training in agricultural sciences at the University of Mosul and the University of Dohuk; and

Rehabilitate the research infrastructure and the agricultural research program at the University of Mosul.

Raising the Bar: Legal Education Reform in Iraq. A third award, in the amount of $3,827,734 is to the Human Rights Institute of DePaul University College of Law (IHRLI) and the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences (ISISC) in Siracusa, Italy, working in association with the University of Baghdad. The goal of this activity is to engage in and generate a broad-based reform of the legal education system in Iraq as a central and necessary element of the nation's transition to democracy.

For more information on Iraq relief and reconstruction issues, please visit www.usaid.gov/iraq/.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)