MENA Scholarship Programme (MSP)

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Scholarship Programme (or MSP) offers scholarships to professionals from ten countries. The scholarships can be used for short courses in the Netherlands. The programme is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Aim

The overall aim of the MSP is to contribute to the democratic transition in the participating countries. It also aims at building capacity within organisations by enabling employees to take part in short courses in various fields of study. 

Scholarships are available for short courses with a duration between two and twelve weeks.

For whom?

The target group is professionals (with a maximum age of 45) who are nationals of and working in one of the following countries: 

• Algeria 
• Egypt 
• Iraq 
• Jordan 
• Lebanon 
• Libya 
• Morocco 
• Oman 
• Syria 
• Tunisia

While scholarships are awarded to individuals, the need for training must be demonstrated in the context of the organisation for which the applicant works. The training must help the organisation develop its capacity. This means that employers must nominate an applicant and motivate his or her application in a supporting letter.

To be eligible for an MSP scholarship you:

• must be a national of, and working and living in one of the countries on the MSP country list valid at the time of application;
• must have an employer’s statement that complies with the format EP-Nuffic has provided. All information must be provided and all commitments that are included in the format must be endorsed in the statement;
• must not be employed by an organisation that has its own means of staff-development. Organisations that are considered to have their own means for staff development are for example:
• multinational corporations (e.g. Shell, Unilever, Microsoft),
• large national and/or a large commercial organisations,
• bilateral donor organisations (e.g. USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, Dutch ministry of Foreign affairs, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid),
• multilateral donor organisations, (e.g. a UN organization, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, IADB),
• international NGO’s (e.g. Oxfam, Plan, Care);
• must have an official and valid passport (valid at least three months after the candidate's submission date);
• must have a government statement that meets the requirements of the country in which the employer is established (if applicable);
• must not be over 45 years of age at the time of the grant submission.

Obligations

Obligations for NFP and MSP fellowship holders 

You can use an MSP scholarship for a number of selected short courses in one of the following fields of study:

• Economics
• Commerce
• Management and Accounting
• Agriculture and Environment
• Mathematics
• Natural sciences and Computer sciences
• Engineering
• Law Public Administration
• Public order and Safety
• Humanities
• Social sciences
• Communication and Arts

How to apply

You need to apply directly at the Dutch higher education institution of your choice. 

1. Check whether you are in the abovementioned target groups. 
2. Check whether your employer will nominate you. 
3. Download an overview of short courses eligible for an MSP scholarship:
   MSP course list April 2016(61.4 kB)
4. Contact the Dutch higher education institution that offers the course of your choice to find out whether this course is eligible for an MSP scholarship and how to apply.

Selection process

The Dutch higher education institution will let you know whether your application is accepted or not. To get more insight in the process, please check the step by step NFP selection process in our infographic:

NFP selection process(3.2 MB)