US govt announces scholarships for flood-affected students in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The United States (US) government has announced 500 new scholarships for Pakistan’s university students from flood-affected districts ‘to assist them in completing their degrees’, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

The scholarships were announced by US Ambassador Donald Blome at an event celebrating the achievements of female scholars in honour of International Women’s Day at the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Islamabad.

“The United States, through USAID, has supported scholarships for meritorious yet financially disadvantaged students to pursue higher education at top Pakistani universities,” stated a press releases issued from the US embassy.

It stated the US government, in partnership with the HEC, awarded over 6,000 scholarships through the Merit and Needs Based Scholarship Program.

“60% of those scholarships have been awarded to women as part of the US government’s support for women’s higher education,” it added.

“International Women’s Day not only serves as a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements made by our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, and daughters. It is also a call to action to accelerate gender parity and to dismantle gender stereotypes”, the press release quoted Ambassador Blome as saying.

Speaking on the occasion, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that Pakistan has suffered from catastrophic floods where millions of people lost their homes and livelihoods. “The humanitarian response by the United States and other donors is commendable. We welcome US support for flood-affected students,” he added.

Meanwhile, HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed remarked that the US government’s support to strategic sectors in Pakistan, especially the higher education sector, was “commendable”.

“Not only have these scholarships helped secure university education for many underprivileged students, lifting themselves and their families out of poverty, they have helped supply Pakistan with crucial skills and knowledge sets to drive the economy,” he added.