Protests erupt in Ghana over US military agreement

Eddie Haywood

Thousands of Ghanaians demonstrated in the capital city Accra on Tuesday against a military agreement between the US and Ghanaian governments that would allow for a significant expansion of the US military’s presence in the West African nation. The government deployed a contingent of riot police as massive crowds poured into the streets of Accra’s business district chanting, “Ghana is not for sale!”

The military agreement was signed by President Nana Akufo-Addo on Friday of the previous week after its approval in parliament. The agreement faced strong opposition from the minority National Democratic Congress (NDC), who boycotted the vote.

The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) of President Akufo-Addo, which holds the majority of seats in parliament, characterized the military agreement as a mere continuation of Ghana’s two-decade military relationship with the United States. Ghana has hosted US troops in several annually held combat exercises, and has contributed troops to several US-backed interventions across the continent. Ministry of Information Deputy Secretary Kojo Oppong Nkrumah told the New York Times, “It’s the same arrangement we’ve had in times past.”

The key parts of the agreement include Washington’s investment of $20 million to train the Ghanaian military and the granting by the Ghanaian government of an airstrip for use by US military personnel, together with giving over the exclusive use of airwaves in the country to the US military for communications. Additionally, the US military would be allowed to deploy troops throughout the country and granted the ability to import equipment necessary for its operations tax-free.

The estimated crowd of 3,500 demonstrators carried placards emblazoned with the statements: “Create Jobs, Not Military Base,” “Trump Take Your Military Base Away”, and “Shithole Country,” a reference to Trump’s disparaging remarks towards African countries in January.

Expressing outrage towards the growing militarism the agreement represents, Gifty Yankson, a local trader from Accra, told Africa News, “They [the US military] become a curse everywhere they are, and I am not ready to mortgage my security.”

Another demonstrator, Yaa Yaa Abban, expressed contempt toward the ruling government, “This is an insensitive government. We’ll resist this deal with the US because it does not favor us.”

The protest was called by the opposition party NDC, who have attempted to direct popular opposition to the deal into an appeal for national chauvinism. The NDC organized the protest with the Twitter hash tag #GhanaFirst and have stated the military agreement undermines the country’s sovereignty.

Also pushing this poisonous nationalist perspective was Frank Amoako Hene, president of the National Union of Ghana Students, “Having partaken in the struggle and fight towards our independence, we can never sit unconcerned when it comes to an agreement which has the tendency of compromising our sovereignty and integrity.”

With the NDC’s attempt to frame the protest along chauvinistic lines, the party’s leadership is attempting to bury the economic and social disaster experienced by the Ghanaian masses facilitated by past and current governments of both the NPP and NDC parties.

A tiny layer of Ghanaian elites sits atop a society that is riven by extreme social inequality. With a population of 28 million, the majority of whom subsist on under $3 per day, there are 10 individuals at the top who hold collectively $6 billion.

Reigning over this social powder keg, the ruling elite is fearful of a social explosion that threatens its rule. To this end, on Tuesday the Ghana Police Service arrested and detained NDC deputy secretary Koku Anyidoho on a charge of treason for remarks he made during an interview on a radio show in Accra in which he opinionated that President Akufo-Addo would be overthrown through a civil revolt.

Anyidoho stated: “On January 13, 1972, a certain Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led a movement that removed the Progress Party from power. Busia was the Prime Minister and [President] Akufo-Addo’s father was a ceremonial president. Somebody should tell Nana Akufo-Addo that history has a very interesting way of repeating itself. There’ll be a civil revolt.”

The arrest of an opposition political figure on charges of treason for remarks made during an interview testifies not only to the fear of a large-scale uprising from the working masses, but also to the completely antidemocratic character of the ruling government.

For its part, Washington is well aware of growing opposition to its military operations on the continent. Attempting to assuage the eruption of social anger, the US Ambassador to Ghana Robert Jackson made a statement in the wake of the demonstrations, in which he portrayed the military agreement as not materially different from US agreements made with other countries.

“This agreement is about bringing Ghana into deeper security cooperation. It doesn’t involve a base; it doesn’t endanger Ghana’s security and it does not impose any harsh obligations on the government and the people of Ghana. This rather strengthens Ghana’s security,” Jackson stated.

The military deal between the US and Ghana comes amid escalation of AFRICOM’s military offensive in West Africa, with US forces currently waging war across several countries in the region.

Last week in Libya, US forces for the first time carried out a drone strike against Al-Qaeda militants in the southern part of the country, and in Niger, the Pentagon has finished construction on a military base in Agadez, which it projects will provide AFRICOM the capability of conducting full-spectrum drone surveillance and warfare over Western and Northern Africa.

Beginning in April 2017, the Trump administration issued new rules of engagement that essentially constitute granting blanket authority to AFRICOM to wage open-ended warfare. Along with new rules of engagement, Trump authorized increased drone strikes in Somalia, as well as increased numbers of troops deployed overall across the continent.

With the expansion of its military footprint in West Africa, Washington is seeking to block China’s growing economic influence in the region. Last June, Beijing committed to a $15 billion investment agreement with the Akufo-Addo government for the development of the country’s manufacturing sector.

Israel kills 17 border demonstrators in Gaza

Jean Shaoul 

Israeli troops, using live fire, killed at least 17 Palestinians and injured more than 1,400 during demonstrations along Gaza’s border with Israel and in cities throughout the Palestinian enclave. The demonstrators were armed solely with stones and homemade firebombs.

The Israeli army, using riot control measures, injured a further 27 Palestinians in clashes in the city of Nablus as nearly 900 Palestinians demonstrated in cities throughout the West Bank.

The organisers of the protests have called for six weeks of demonstrations, called the “Great Return March,” along the border of Gaza that has been subject to an 11 year-long illegal and inhumane blockade by Israel and Egypt.

The demonstrations, starting on Friday, are set to continue for six weeks until May 15, the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel and the subsequent war between Israel and her Arab neighbours, which the Palestinians commemorate as Nakba (Catastrophe) Day.

Following the 1948-49 war, only about 200,000 of the 1.2 million Palestinians remained in the parts of Palestine that had become Israel. While many fled to avoid the war, most left out of fear of what might happen to them at the hands of Zionist terrorists. Their homes and land were seized by the newly established state. One of the most notorious incidents was the Deir Yassin massacre where 250 men, women and children were murdered in cold blood by Menachem Begin’s Irgun group, as it went from house to house to drive out the Palestinians.

According to the United Nations, there are presently some 5 million registered Palestinian refugees. They include those expelled, or their descendants, following the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948-49 and the June 1967 war, as well as countless others expelled later from the Occupied Territories or Israel. The majority have lived their lives in wretched conditions in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Many now live elsewhere in the Middle East, while others have moved to the West.

Israel adamantly refuses to acknowledge the principle of the right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants because this would be tantamount to accepting responsibility for what happened to them. Moreover, since it would end the Jewish majority in Israel, it has been repeatedly denounced as a threat to the very survival of the Zionist state.

Friday’s demonstrations also mark 42 years since Land Day—commemorated every year by Palestinians throughout the world—when Israeli security forces shot and killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel protesting the expropriation of Palestinian-owned land in northern Israel to build Jewish communities. A further 100 were injured and hundreds were arrested during the March 30, 1976 protest.

A key demand of the Great Return March is the full implementation of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 of December 1948, which stipulates that “the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.”

Of the 1.9 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, 1.3 million are refugees, according to a Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics report in February 2018.

The Palestinians have set up several tent camps to house thousands near the Israel-Gaza border. They will camp out near the fence as part of an extended protest, with weekly demonstrations on Fridays until Nakba Day on May 15.

Israel made extensive preparations. Barbed wire fences have been set up and more than 100 snipers deployed. The government confirmed ahead of yesterday’s protest that it would use “riot dispersal means” that include tear gas and sound bombs as well as firing at “the main instigators” of the protest. It called in the army as opposed to the police and Border Police, citing Land Day demonstrations within Israel and fears of attacks in Jerusalem.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gadi Eizenkot said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would not allow “mass infiltration” or tolerate any damage to the barrier on Israel’s border with Gaza during the protests.

He said, “We have deployed more than 100 sharpshooters who were called up from all of the military’s units, primarily from the special forces,” and added, “If [Israeli] lives are in jeopardy, there is permission to open fire. We won’t allow mass infiltration into Israel and to damage the fence, and certainly not to reach the communities.”

To this end, the entire border area has been declared a closed military zone. This is nothing short of a shoot-to-kill policy.

In addition, Israel has put pressure on Facebook to censor Palestinian journalists and any critical reporting of Israel. Last week, the social media corporation dutifully shut down the page of a major Palestinian news outlet, the Safa Palestinian Press Agency, which has 1.3 million followers, as well as its Instagram account. Facebook defended its action, claiming it was a move against “hate speech” and “incitement.”

According to Ha’aretz, Facebook has closed about 500 pages of Palestinian activists and journalists since the beginning of the year. The paper notes that Safa is a “Hamas-affiliated” counterpart to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency controlled by the Palestinian Authority and the Fatah faction led by Mahmoud Abbas. As such, its reporting is typical of a wide range of Palestinian news outlets.

The Facebook ban takes place in the wake of the live streaming of the Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi slapping a heavily armed Israeli soldier in the West Bank. Her arrest and sentencing to an eight-month prison term, along with the jailing of her mother for filming the incident, have made her an international rallying point for Palestinians.

The Israeli foreign ministry has briefed its embassies and sought to pre-emptively lay the blame for any clashes on “Hamas and the other Palestinian organisations who have manufactured this entire campaign.”

Just hours before the demonstrations began, an Israeli tank shell killed a Gaza farmer who had been gathering crops and wounded another in a southern Gaza village.

The Great Return March takes place amid rising tensions over the collapse of Gaza’s already blighted economy following the crippling blockade and Israel’s murderous assaults on Gaza in 2008-09, 2012 and 2014 that killed 1,417, 147 and 2,250 Palestinians respectively and destroyed much of Gaza’s basic infrastructure and tens of thousands of homes.

Further power cuts led to water shortages and untreated sewage after the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority stopped paying Israel for fuel for Gaza’s power station and electrical transmission, and ended or cut salary payments to thousands of public sector workers. While these measures forced Hamas into “reconciliation” talks with Fatah, the talks have stalled and brought no material relief.

In October, the World Food Programme announced a cutback in its food voucher programme in Gaza due to a budget shortfall. Earlier this year, the Trump administration withheld funding for food aid and the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), which supports some 1.2 million in Gaza, cutting off Gaza’s last remaining lifeline.

For months there have been almost weekly demonstrations protesting the blockade and the humanitarian crisis. Last December, tensions rose to fever pitch after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Earlier this year, Gaza’s traders closed in protest over the deteriorating situation.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described Gaza as a “constant humanitarian emergency.” Last year, a UN report stated that the living conditions for Gaza’s 2 million inhabitants had deteriorated even “further and faster” than the prediction made in 2012 that the enclave would become “unliveable” by 2020.

The imperialist powers, so eager to employ human rights to justify war in their own geostrategic interests have once again remained silent in defence of their regional policeman.

Why has Ecuador silenced Julian Assange?

Bill Van Auken

The draconian measures taken by the government of Ecuador to cut off all access to the outside world by Julian Assange represent a reactionary attack on basic democratic rights that must be vigorously opposed by workers and youth in every country.

Ecuadorian authorities have blocked the WikiLeaks founder’s access to the Internet as well as all other means of communication from Quito’s embassy in London, where Assange has been confined for nearly six years. In addition, it is barring visitors from seeing him, leaving him with fewer rights than a prisoner behind bars.

Assange continues to face coordinated conspiracies by the British and US governments to have him arrested and extradited to face US charges of treason and espionage, which carry potential death penalties.

The attack on Assange is part of a global assault on democratic rights that increasingly recalls the darkest days of the 1930s, in the midst of the rise of fascism and the drive to world war. It is significant that he was subjected to his enforced isolation in part for making a telling comparison on Twitter between the German government’s recent arrest of Catalonian leader Carles Puigdemont at the behest of Spain and the 1940 arrest of the president of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, who was extradited by the Nazis to Franco’s fascist dictatorship, which tortured and executed him.

The placing of Assange under what amounts to incommunicado detention coincides with a drive by governments all over the world to impose censorship on the Internet. Assange has been in the forefront of the resistance to this antidemocratic campaign.

These actions are also bound up with a sharp turn to the right not only by the government of Ecuador, but by those of a number of Latin American countries that were previously associated with the so-called “turn to the left” or “Pink Tide,” which began in 1998 with the election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

In August of 2012, Ecuador announced that it was granting asylum to Assange, who faced trumped-up sexual misconduct allegations in Sweden. The Swedish investigation—which was dropped last May—was a fabrication designed to enable his extradition from the UK to the US, where he would be tried for the offense of making public hundreds of thousands of confidential documents exposing US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with the conspiracies of the US State Department worldwide. While Sweden has dropped the case, British authorities are still seeking Assange’s arrest.

When the government of Ecuador’s former president Rafael Correa granted Assange asylum, it declared that it was a fundamental human right that should be respected by every government and was necessary in the case of Assange, who faced the threat of ending up in Guantanamo or suffering the kind of torture and abuse meted out to Chelsea Manning. When it asked the British government to allow Assange to leave for Ecuador, London not only denied the request, but threatened to revoke the diplomatic status of Quito’s embassy and send police to storm the building.

The intransigence of the British government has kept Assange trapped in the confines of the embassy ever since under conditions described as “arbitrary, unreasonable, unnecessary, disproportionate” by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which called for him to be freed and compensated.

The Ecuadorian government cut off Assange’s communications after he expressed his opinion via Twitter on two of the most burning current world developments, condemning Germany’s detention of Puigdemont and questioning the measures taken against Russia over wholly unsubstantiated allegations of its involvement in the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury earlier this month.

Assange’s messages, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry stated, “put at risk the good relations that the country maintains with the United Kingdom, with the rest of the states of the European Union and other nations.”

“Other nations” no doubt includes the United States, with which the new government of President Lenin Moreno has been seeking a rapprochement.

The silencing of Assange came just one day after the Ecuadorian government welcomed a delegation from the US Southern Command, the Pentagon’s arm in Latin America and the Caribbean, headed by Southcom’s deputy military commander, Gen. Joseph DiSalvo, and its chief political officer, Ambassador Liliana Ayalde. Southcom issued a statement declaring that the discussions were held to strengthen “security cooperation” and “exchange ideas and reiterate US commitment to the longstanding partnership.”

Was the timing a coincidence? Or did the Pentagon’s representatives deliver a blunt directive to their Ecuadorian counterparts to silence Julian Assange? The obvious question that follows is what other demands have been made. Do they include handing over Assange to Washington?

Since his election last May, Moreno—Correa’s hand-picked successor—has carried out a sharp turn to the right, implementing tax cuts for big business, cuts in social spending and an attempt to reduce Ecuador’s dependence on loans and investment from China in favor of closer relations with US imperialism, which is seeking to reassert its hegemony in the region and counter Beijing’s growing influence.

The turn to the right in Ecuador is part of a broader ebbing of the-called “Pink Tide,” i.e., the rule by various populist, nationalist bourgeois parties in Latin America. It is of a piece with the election of the right-wing multimillionaire Mauricio Macri in Argentina in 2015, the impeachment of Workers Party President Dilma Rousseff in 2016 and her replacement by her right-wing vice president Michel Temer, the intense crisis of the government of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and the defeat of Bolivia’s President Evo Morales’s attempt to amend the constitution to secure for himself a fourth term in office.

The right-wing turn in Latin America was prepared by all of the governments that were identified with the so-called “turn to the left” that began two decades ago. While proclaiming themselves as left-wing and even “socialist”—illusions that were promoted by a host of pseudo-left organizations in Latin America, the US and Europe—these were bourgeois governments that defended private property and the interests of both native and foreign capital.

On the basis of the commodities and emerging markets boom, they were able to create minimal assistance programs for the poor and assume a stance of limited independence from US imperialism, in large part based upon expanded commercial ties with US rivals, particularly China.

With the crisis resulting from the collapse in the prices of commodities, particularly oil, upon which Ecuador depends for 40 percent of its earnings, these governments responded by implementing mounting attacks on the working class, thereby diminishing their popularity and paving the way for the return of the right.

Correa had himself ordered the severing of Assange’s Internet connection in 2016 under US government pressure over WikiLeaks’ publication of leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee, and two years earlier he had transferred more than half of Ecuador’s gold reserves to Goldman Sachs to secure the confidence of capitalist financial markets.

Similarly, the Workers Party government in Brazil and the Kirchnerista Peronist government in Argentina carried out antidemocratic measures and attacks on workers’ rights that paved the way for the rise of the most right-wing governments to rule those countries since the fall of the US-backed military dictatorships.

These developments have confirmed that the defense of democratic rights, the overcoming of the region’s pervasive poverty and inequality and the overthrow of imperialist domination can be achieved only through the political mobilization of the working class, independent of all bourgeois parties—including the PT in Brazil, chavismo in Venezuela, Peronism in Argentina and similar movements—based on a socialist program and the unification of the struggles of the workers of Latin America with those of workers in the US, Europe and across the globe.

The attack on Assange has posed this same fundamental question on an international scale. The only genuine constituency for the defense of democratic rights is the working class. Working people must come to the defense of Assange, demanding the lifting of the restrictions on his communications and his immediate freedom. Any attempt to arrest or extradite him must be answered with mass demonstrations and work actions in the UK, the US and all over the world.

This campaign in defense of Assange and the other victims of state repression can be waged successfully only as part of the struggle of the international working class to put an end to the capitalist system, whose historic crisis threatens humanity with both world war and police state dictatorship.

PTDF Masters & PhD Scholarships for Universities in United Kingdom 2018/2019

Application Deadline: 28th April 2018

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Nigeria

To be taken at (Universities): United Kingdom. Universities include:

1. IMPERIAL COLLEGE, LONDON
2. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON
3. KINGS COLLEGE, LONDON
4. UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
5. UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
6. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
7. NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY
8. UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
9. UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL
10. CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY
11. ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY
12. HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY
13. UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD
14. PORTSMOUTH UNIVERSITY
15. UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE

Fields of Study:  For 2018, the scholarships to the UK will be restricted to select courses (available on the PTDF website) at the following universities

About the Award: The Strategic Partnership Scholarship was developed to improve the Funds’ Overseas Scholarship Scheme by offering candidates the opportunity to benefit from a diversified pool of knowledge and the facilities offered by world-class institutions across the globe.
In recognition of the fact that the best education can be found on numerous shores, the Fund has sought out strategic partnerships in Germany, France and China where candidates are offered the opportunity to study in English-taught classes and conduct research in world-class facilities where they will also have the opportunity of experiencing new cultures and work environments.
Under this scheme, candidates are invited to apply through PTDF to specific programmes at the partner institutions in any of the three countries (full list of sponsored courses is available below). The award includes the provision of flight tickets, payment of health insurance, payment of tuition and bench fees (where applicable) as well as the provision of allowances to meet the costs of accommodation and living expenses. The programmes will also include language classes to aid scholars settle into their new environments. Please note that the Fund will be responsible for obtaining admissions for the candidates to their selected programmes.

Type: Masters, PhD

Selection Criteria and Eligibility: PTDF scholarships are highly competitive and only candidates who are outstanding across the board are selected. A selection committee will be constituted to assess applications using the following criteria;

• Academic merit as evidenced by quality of degrees, full academic transcripts, other professional qualifications acquired, and relevant publications to be referenced by applicant (PhD applicants only)
• Membership of professional bodies
• The viability of the study/research plan.

• Applicants are required to make a case for their scholarship by submitting a statement of purpose (maximum 500 words) stating the reason(s) they want to undertake the study, the relevance of the proposed study to the industry and its expected impact on national development.

Requirements

1. MSc
2. A minimum of Second Class Upper (2.1) qualification in their first degree or a Second Class Lower (2.2) with relevant industry experience
3. Must have completed the mandatory National Youth Service (NYSC)
4. Must be computer literate
5. Possession of 5 O/level credits including English Language.

1. PhD
2. Must have completed the mandatory National Youth Service (NYSC)
3. Must be computer literate
4. A minimum of Second Class Lower (2.2) in their first degree and a good second degree certificate;
5. Must submit a research proposal relevant to the oil and gas industry (of not more than 5 pages) to include: Topic, introduction, objective, methodology and mode of data collection;
6. Applicants must also include their masters degree project
7. All lecturers must produce a letter from their Vice Chancellor confirming that they are not in receipt of any other scholarships.

Number of Scholarships: Several

Value of Scholarship: Full scholarship

Duration of Scholarship: for the duration of the degree programme

How to Apply: 

• Application forms can be accessed on the Website.
•  Applicants are advised to read through the requirements in the link below before applying.

Visit Scholarship webpage for details to apply

Sponsors: The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF)

SAG-SEED Starter Workshop for Eco-inclusive Startups in Africa 2018 – South Africa

Application Deadline: 12th April, 2018

Eligible Countries: South Africa, Mauritius, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Burkina Faso

To Be Taken At (Country): Cape Town, South Africa

About the Award: During the application period for the SAG-SEED Starter Months future eco-entrepreneurs form their teams and come up with their business ideas to tackle one of the main challenges in their country. Under expert guidance the selected teams will come together during two workshops to develop and refine their business ideas. The time between the workshops is used for testing the idea on with potential customers and partners. After the Starter Months the teams have proven their concept and are ready to engage partners, funders, and go to the market.

Fields: Agriculture, Manufacturing, Waste Management

Type: Entrepreneurship

Eligibility: Teams with 2-5 team members and an idea for addressing one of the three challenges above can
apply. We particularly welcome applications from women and youth.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: Participation is for free! You only cover your transport and accommodation expenses.

Duration of Program: 2-4 May & 29-30 May 2018

How to Apply: 

• Download the application form & send the completed form to starter-southafrica@seed.uno
• For more information see and download the application toolkit.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: The Starter Months in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa and Uganda are supported by SWITCH-Africa Green. SWITCH-Africa Green is implemented by UNEP with the assistance of the European Union.

Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition for Law Students Worldwide 2018

Application Deadline: 23rd April 2018
Timeline:

• Release of hypothetical case to be argued: 20 December 2017
• Request for clarification of facts: Submit by 12 February 2018
• Response to requests for clarification of facts: Publicised by 26 February 2018
• Announcement of the 50 qualifying teams: 30 April 2018
• Confirmation of travel details: 2 July 2018

Eligible Countries: All

To be taken at (country): Palais des Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland

About the Award:  The Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition is an international human rights law moot court competition.
Participation in the Competition is open to students from all universities in the world. The Competition involves a written phase after which teams are selected for the oral phase. Teams argue a hypothetical case on issues of international human rights law, as if they were before a hypothetical world Human Rights Court, on the basis of the International Bill of Human Rights and other applicable (such as regional) human rights instruments.
The 2018 Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition will include a one-day event, designed to expose students to the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as the Human Rights Council. This will involve personal interaction with senior staff members of both institutions who are involved key activities and processes. This practical exercise promises to be an eye –opening and personally enriching series of encounters which will add value to what many World Moot participants have already described as the highlight of their university studies.

Offered Since: 2009

Type: Contest

Eligibility: 

• The Competition is open to both undergraduate and master’s degree law students.
• A team of two students from each university – preferably one woman and one man – is invited to participate.

Selection Process: 

• In the preliminary rounds the students submit heads of argument for a hypothetical case, which are assessed by a panel of experts.
• The best 10 teams from each UN region are then invited to participate in the pre-final and final rounds of the Competition in Geneva. Here, teams have to argue the two sides of the hypothetical case, the Applicant and the Respondent, before a ‘bench’ of human rights experts.
• The two best teams proceed to the final round, which is presided over by judges from international courts and tribunals. The Competition will be held in English and French.

Value of Contest: 

• No registration fees are charged
• However, participants must cover all their own costs (air tickets, accommodation, meals and medical insurance).
• As participants have to cover all their costs, they are encouraged to begin fundraising as soon as possible. Donors may include embassies, the UN and EU, bar associations and law firms, corporate donors and their own universities.

Duration of Contest: 15 to 20 July 2018

How to Apply: Apply here
It is important to go through the Contest Guidelines and Application requirements before applying.

Visit Contest Webpage for details

Award Provider: The Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition is presented by the Center for Human Rights, based at the University of Pretoria, in partnership with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva Switzerland.

Jiangsu Provincial Government Scholarships for International Students 2018/2019 – China

Application Deadline: 15th April 2018 (Annual)

Eligible Countries: International

To be taken at (country): China

About the Award: This scholarship will be provided to the excellent overseas students or scholars to undertake full time study in universities and colleges of Jiangsu. It will also include those non-degree program students and exchange students in accordance with educational exchange agreements and MOUs between the Jiangsu Provincial Government and the governments of other states, institutions, universities and international organizations. China Pharmaceutical University is authorized as one of the host universities to accept international students under the scholarship.

Type: Masters, Bachelors

Eligibility: The applicantd must meet the following criteria:

• Applicants must be non-Chinese citizens in good health.
• Education background and age limit:
  • Applicants for both the college and undergraduate programs must have a senior high school diploma with a good academic performance and be under the age of 30.
  • Applicants for the master’s degree program must have a bachelor’s degree and be under the age of 35.
  • Applicants for the doctoral degree program must have a master’s degree and be under the age of 40.
• Applicants must agree to obey the relevant laws of the PRC and meet the admission requirements of the host universities or colleges.
• Applicants must have a good academic record.
• Applicants cannot be recipients of other scholarships offered by Chinese government, local governments or other organizations simultaneously.

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Scholarship: 

• Full scholarship
  • A fee waiver of tuition, registration, laboratory experiments, internship, and basic textbooks;
  • Accommodation: Free on-campus dormitory accommodation (double room) or an accommodation allowance of CNY 10000 per year.,
  • Monthly stipend: CNY1, 500 per month
  • Students registering before the 15th of the month (the 15th included) will receive full stipend of that month. Those who register after the 15th of the month will receive half stipend of that month.
  • If registered student stays out of China for more than 15 days (school holidays excluded), his stipend will be stopped during his leaving.
  • Graduating students will receive stipend until half month after the graduation date
  • Medical insurance: Comprehensive Medical Insurance and Protection Scheme for International Students while in China.

• Partial Scholarship
  • College student: CNY20,000 per academic year; Duration: One academic yearUndergraduate student / Postgraduate student: CNY 30,000 per academic year: Duration: One academic year.
  • Non-degree program student / Exchange student: CNY2,000 per month;    Duration: 3 to 12 months (in accordance with the agreement).

How to Apply: 

1. Log on to the “Study in Jiangsu” website (www.studyinjiangsu.org).
2. Register an individual account.
3. Complete the Application Form online, and upload e-copies of relevant     original documents.
4. Print the Application Form, sign it, and email it to jasmine-application@jesie.org.

Application Documents:

• Scanned copy of the passport photo page.
• Highest diploma / degree certificate (notarized photocopy). High school students or university students shall also provide Certificate of Enrollment from     the school or the university they are studying in. Documents in languages other than Chinese or English must be attached with notarized translations in Chinese or English.
• Academic transcripts (notarized photocopy): Transcripts in languages other than Chinese or English must be attached with notarized translations in Chinese or English.
• Recommendation letters: Applicants for postgraduate studies must submit two letters of recommendation in Chinese or English from professors or associate professors with contact details of referees.
• Other relevant documents.

Application materials will NOT be returned regardless of the result of application.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: Jiangsu Provincial Government

Dart Center Crisis Zones Reporting Course for Journalists (Scholarships Available) 2018

Application Deadline: 4th May 2018

Eligible Countries: All

To Be Taken At (Country): Columbia Journalism School in New York City, USA

About the Award: Covering crisis presents some of the biggest challenges in the journalism profession. Reporters must make quick decisions on whether to trust a translator or drive down a dangerous road. This course will teach you how to operate with caution in volatile situations, with an emphasis on conflicts.
The training is also relevant to working in natural disaster situations such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis. While most hostile environment training for journalists deals with ducking crossfire and kidnappers, this course will teach you how to avoid unnecessary peril through preparation and planning before, during and after assignments.
Participants will emerge from the course with a better understanding of how to hire fixers, shun attackers and protect their digital footprints.

Type: Short course

Eligibility: 

• All program sessions are conducted in English. Participants must be fluent in spoken English.
• Participation is open to freelance journalists only.

Number of Awards: 16

Value of Award:

• The course fee – regularly $1175 USD – will be covered for 16 participants
• All participants will be responsible for their travel, lodging, ground transportation and meals.

Duration of Program: 4 days (October 18- 21, 2018)

How to Apply: To apply, click here. Applications must be submitted by May 4 to be considered.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, the Rory Peck Trust, and the ACOS Alliance.

Global Korea Summer Scholarship for Undergraduate African and Latin American Students 2018/2019

Application Deadline: Specific deadline will vary according to the training institution (Generally April. Apply today)

Eligible Countries: African and Latin American countries

To Be Taken At (Country): South Korea

About the Award: The program seeks to nurture future leaders who will contribute to the development of global
society and to friendship between Korea and their home country.

Eligible Fields of Study: Candidate may be currently studying in an academic field such as Computer Engineering, Game Engineering or Digital Design

Type: Undergraduate, Short course

Eligibility: 

• Be a citizen of an African or Latin American country
• Be enrolled as an undergraduate student in the second to fourth year at a university/college located in an African or Latin American country
•  Be fluent in English
  * Priority will be given to the applicants with Korean fluency.
• Be mentally and physically healthy
• Have the ability and willingness to adapt to Korean culture and life in Korea

Number of Awards: 80 undergraduate students in total (40 from Africa, 40 from Latin America)

Value of Award: 

• NIIED and/or the training institutions will be responsible for round trip air ticket, room and board during the duration of the program, and traveler’s insurance.
• Participants will be responsible for transportation fare in his/her country, visa fee, etc.

Duration of Program: July ~ August (5 weeks)

How to Apply: Interested candidate should contact their preferred training/higher institutions to apply for this scholarship.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Korean Government

Stanford Seed Transformation Programme for High-Potential CEOs/Founders in West Africa 2018

Application Deadline: 1st July 2018

Eligible Countries: West African countries

To Be Taken At (Country): Accra, Abidjan, Lagos & at your company

About the Award: The Seed Transformation Program is an unconventional, high-touch learning experience that goes beyond acquiring business skills. Stanford’s world-renowned faculty and dedicated team of experts work with leaders throughout their 12-month journey to growth.

Type: Entrepreneurship

Eligibility: 

• CEOs/founders of for-profit companies and for-profit social enterprises
• Companies based in West Africa with annual revenues between US$150,000 and $15 million

Number of Awards: Not specified

Cost of Participation: 

• US $5,000 (Fee has been subsidized by philanthropic contributions)
• Participants are responsible for lodging and travel to the four (4) in-class sessions and five (5) Leadership Labs (location dependent).

Value of Award

• Take advantage of a world-class curriculum from Stanford GSB and the innovative thinking that has shaped so many of the most successful companies in Silicon Valley.
• Get the support from trained local facilitators to help you introduce what you’ve learned to your company and promote buy-in.
• Develop relationships with like-minded leaders to share experiences and develop an ongoing peer-to-peer support network.

Duration of Program: 12 months (27 January – 27 December 2019)

How to Apply: Apply Here

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Stanford Graduate School of Business

ITC Foundation Scholarships in Spatial Engineering for Developing Countries 2018/2019 – University of Twente, The Netherlands

Application Deadline: 22nd April 2018.

Eligible Countries: Developing Countries

To Be Taken At (Country): The Netherlands

About the Award: The ITC Foundation Scholarship Programme is available to students with a very good academic track record applying for the Master’s Programme in Spatial Engineering:

Application for the ITC Foundation Scholarship programme is a procedure separate from the application for enrolment in the master’s programme Spatial Engineering  at the University of Twente. Before applying for the ITC Foundation Scholarship Programme you first should apply for the Master’s programme in Spatial Engineering through our on-line application system to become academically accepted.

Type: Masters

Eligibility: Additional requirements for the application for the ITC Foundation Scholarship Programme include:

• Residing in and being a national of a country listed on the OECD approved List of Recipients of Official Development Assistance
• Having completed the Bachelor’s degree from a well-acknowledged university outside the Netherlands
• English: IELTS 6.5
• Relevant background for the intended field of study
• Not eligible for support under the Dutch system of study grants and loans.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: As this is a partial scholarship, admitted applicants must be able to show that additional funding is available to complement the funding through this scholarship (i.e. covering all remaining fees and costs in full before the payment deadline).

Duration of Program: 1 year

How to Apply: 

• First, you must have applied for the Master’s programme in Spatial Engineering through the on-line application system and have received an academic acceptance letter.
• If subsequently you are interested to apply to the ITC Foundation Scholarship Programme, you will have to send the completed application form via the link below.
• Apply Here

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: ITC Foundation

Important Notes: The candidates who will be offered a scholarship will be asked to make further arrangements to cover all remaining fees and costs in full before the payment deadline of 26 June 2018.

World Trade Organisation (WTO) Essay Award for Young Economists 2018

Application Deadline: 1st June 2018.

Eligible Countries: All

To Be Taken At (Country): Warsaw, Poland

About the Award: The award aims to promote high-quality research on trade policy and international trade co-operation and to reinforce the relationship between the WTO and the academic community.

Type: Award, Call for Papers

Eligibility: 

• The paper must address issues related to trade policy and international trade co-operation.
• The author(s) of the paper must possess or be engaged in the completion of a PhD and, if over 30 years of age, be no more than two years past a PhD defence.
• In the case of co-authored papers, this requirement shall apply to all authors. To be considered for the award, essays cannot exceed 15,000 words.

Selection: An Academic Selection Panel will select the winning paper. The panel comprises:

• Professor Avinash Dixit (Princeton University)
• Professor Robert Staiger (Dartmouth College)
• Professor Alberto Trejos (INCAE Business School).

Dr Robert Koopman (Director of the WTO’s Economic Research and Statistics Division) is ex officio member of the panel. Dr Roberta Piermartini (Chief of the WTO’s Trade Cost Analysis Section) coordinates the work of the selection panel.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: 

• The annual WTO Essay Award provides a prize of CHF 5,000 to the author(s) of the winning essay. In the case of a co-authored paper, the prize will be equally divided among the authors.
• The winning paper will be officially announced at the annual meeting of the European Trade Study Group, the largest conference specializing in international trade, which will take place in September 2018 in Warsaw, Poland.
• The winning author(s) will receive funding to attend the meeting.

Duration of Program: Essays must be submitted by 1 June 2018. The WTO’s Economic Research and Statistics Division will shortlist eligible papers by 18 June and the selection panel will take a final decision by 20 July. Only the author(s) of short-listed essays will be notified.

How to Apply: All submissions should be sent to essay.award@wto.org. Submissions should include as separate attachments in PDF format:

1. the essay
2. the CV of the author(s), specifying (i) current affiliation(s), (ii) the academic institution awarding the PhD, (iii) the year (or the expected year) of the PhD, (iv) the date of birth of the author(s).

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: WTO

Elimination8 Entomology Fellowship Program in Malaria Control and Elimination for African Countries 2018

Application Deadline: 9th April 2018 at 9am CAT

Eligible Countries: Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia or Zimbabwe

About the Award: The SADC Malaria Elimination 8 Initiative (E8) is a partnership between eight member states that seeks to enable and accelerate zero local transmission of malaria in eight countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
A critical success factor for attainment of this goal is strengthened capacity for entomology and it’s application within E8 country national malaria control and elimination programs, to complement other interventions within malaria elimination strategies, and enhancing programmatic decision making.
The Fellowship has the following objectives:

• Accelerate attainment of malaria elimination by building entomological capacity in the E8 region at the national level to support malaria control programs;
• Build and nurture a network of program officers and specialists in entomology and vector control, for enhanced collaboration and knowledge management within the E8 countries
• Support the strengthening of entomological surveillance to complement epidemiological data and enhance programmatic decision making towards elimination of malaria in the SADC region.

Fields of Study: 4 weeks of intensive training courses (divided up into three residential weeks during 2018), themes include:

• Basic morphological Identification, taxonomy of vectors of importance within the region, molecular identification and basic insectary management (University of Witwatersrand, South Africa),
• Theoretical and practical entomological surveillance, novel tools for residual malaria transmission and evaluation methods (Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania),
• Translation: science and evidence to policy and programming including vector control planning, monitoring and evaluation, and project management (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the United Kingdom).

Type: Fellowship (Career)

Eligibility: Candidates must demonstrate the following:

1. Citizenship in one of the E8 countries (Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia or Zimbabwe);
2. Engagement in vector control or entomology work in one of these countries in a role that contributes directly to the national malaria elimination strategy (NMCP, MOH, or relevant partner institution);
3. Holder of either; (i) a bachelor’s degree in entomology, biology, environmental health or a related field, or (ii) a minimum of a general higher certificate or diploma in biology, environmental health or a related discipline;
4. Have at least 3 years of professional experience in working with malaria;
5. Be between 25 to 40 years of age;
6. Proficiency in both oral and written English (English speaking countries) or Portuguese (Portuguese speaking countries);
7. Commitment to a future career in malaria in their home country.

Upon selection, the Fellow will be required to comply with the following conditions:

• Candidates must be employed by the national institution responsible for coordinating the national response to malaria in their home country;
• Upon conclusion of the program, candidates will be inducted into a professional network for vector control and entomology in SADC and may be required to fulfill mentorship roles for future Fellows;
• Selected candidates will be required to travel, including 4 weeks of mandatory residential workshops. The Fellow will be required to hold a valid travel document, acquired at her/his own cost, by the start of the program or else forfeit her/his place in the program.
• Successful applicants will be required to obtain permission to be absent from work for a total of one month (20 working days) in order to participate in training courses during residential weeks at academic institutions. This period will be divided over the course of the fellowship with ten days required in May, five in July or August (exact date to be determined) and lastly five days in November 2018. Participation in all residential weeks is compulsory. The Fellow will also be asked to have his/her supervisor approve his/her absence for the 4 weeks, prior to being admitted into the fellowship class
• In a situation where an applicant incurs a serious illness or medical condition or another issue arises which prevents further participation in the fellowship program and s/he wishes to withdraw, a written request must be sent to the E8 Entomology Fellowship conveners.

Selection: Once selected, Fellows will be connected with a mentor for the duration of the Fellowship based on relevance of project work. The role of the mentor is to provide guidance and supervision to the Fellow at regular intervals throughout the Fellowship, facilitate the completion of the project, provide input towards conference presentations, connect Fellows with relevant resources and contacts for her/his professional growth, and help the Fellow to apply lessons learned to the benefit of the NMCP’s malaria strategic plan.

Number of Awards: 8

Value of Award:

• Assignment to a mentor, available for one-on-one guidance and mentorship over the duration of the Fellowship;
• 9 months of distance-learning, featuring webinars, support for participating in oral and/or poster presentations during regional and/or international conferences;
• Capstone project, during which each Fellow completes a related assignment, with direct relevance or application to the country’s malaria elimination strategy;
• Induction into a professional network of vector control and entomology officers within the SADC region, and access to ongoing collaboration and networking opportunities.

Duration of Program: 9 months (7 May 2018 to 28 February 2019)

How to Apply: Applicants are required to complete and submit the following documents via the online application form accessible at the web link below by Monday, 9 April 2018 at 9am CAT:

• Application form containing personal details, short statement of purpose, brief description of project and a preliminary project budget summary. The application form is available at the following web link: https://goo.gl/forms/HAoykujfgBs8KkK13
• Short CV no longer than two pages;
• Recommendation letter from a professional or academic reference;
• Scanned copies of qualifications and academic transcripts.

All queries regarding the Fellowship and/or application process may be submitted to the E8 Secretariat via email to: lvanwyk@elimination8.org

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: SADC Malaria Elimination 8 Initiative (E8)