afrol News, 11 February - About eleven regional youth have been awarded scholarships to the East African Community Nyerere Centre for Research (EAC-NCPR) for undergraduate and internship programmes to be conducted at the EAC-NCPR in Arusha.

"The programmes are aimed at exposing the students to the regional integration, best learning practices and widen their knowledge of different cultures," said Pamela Atukunda, the Coordinator of EAC-NCPR in a statement.

She said this was an opportunity for students from the EAC Partner States, to increase their scope of understanding the EAC integration and related issues, adding that plans are afoot to increase the number of scholarships in future.

"Depending on the availability of the funds, we're determined to open up more places for students from the EAC at NCPR," she said.

The students’ programmes and scholarship opportunities are organised in cooperation with the Arcadia University of the United States of America on an exchange basis.

“The exchange programme will give the students a chance to learn more about the region and the opportunity to share experiences with their counterparts from Arcadia University," added Ms Atukunda.

The undergraduate semester, which began on Monday this week and will last for four months, while the internships start on 1st March and will stretch up to 30 June 2010.

The Nyerere Centre for Peace Research (NCPR) was launched on 13 July, 2007 as an institution of the EAC. It is envisaged that the NCPR will be developed as a centre of excellence in capacity building and research as there is need to constantly identify the strengths and weaknesses of, opportunities for and threats to the Community, for which appropriate regional responses need to be put in place. The Centre also embraces late Tanzania's President Nyerere's vision of a prosperous East Africa built on tenets of peace and unity.

Its operational objectives include among others; undertaking both empirical and policy oriented research that will promote peace and security as a means of enhancing regional integration and development; networking and collaborating with like-minded local, regional and international organisations to tap good practices and approaches to research and training; and enhancing students' interest in the EAC regional integration process.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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