The United States (US) has announced a commitment of $5m to establish a fellowship programme in partnership with The University of the South Pacific (USP) under its Roadmap for a 21st Century U.S. – Pacific Islands Partnership.
This fellowship, Resilience and Adaptation Fellowship Programme for Rising Leaders is a commitment by the Biden-Harris Administration together with the US. Congress, will link USP and premier universities in the US, such as the University of Hawaii and the University of California Santa Barbara and offer rising leaders in the Pacific Islands the opportunity to gain expertise in natural resource economics and management, climate resilience, sustainable food systems, renewable energy development, water security and waste management.
The fellowship is a result of one of the eleven areas of cooperation made under the historic new partnership agreement between the US and Pacific Island Leaders during the US. – Pacific Island Country Summit 2022 hosted by US President Joe Biden with leaders from 12 Pacific Island countries.
USP Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Pal Ahluwalia welcomed this announcement and said, “We are delighted that the US administration has chosen USP to collaborate with leading universities in the US on this fellowship programme. Climate change and sustainable development continue to be major issues for the Pacific region. The region desperately needs relevant expertise to address climate change issues and by-products while also building climate resilience. We hope that by integrating our unique disciplinary strengths, we will be able to adequately support the needs of our region while also building the capacity of our rising Pacific leaders”.
