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20.11.2014 Regional News

USAID Awards Scholarships For Water And Sanitation-Related Studies

By US Embassy, Accra-Ghana
USAID Awards Scholarships For Water And Sanitation-Related Studies
20.11.2014 LISTEN

ACCRA, Ghana – At a ceremony today in Tamale, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded scholarships to 11 students from the University for Development Studies (UDS). These scholarships are granted through the USAID West Africa Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Program (USAID WA-WASH) to support students pursuing Master's Degrees in WASH-related fields.

“Among USAID's goals in West Africa are increasing sustainable access to safe water and sanitation, and improving hygiene in this region,” said Alexandre Deprez, USAID West Africa Mission Director. “The students who receive these scholarships will conduct research on topics related to these areas, thereby providing their own contributions to these efforts.”

A total of 42 students from four universities in Burkina Faso and Ghana will be granted scholarships for the 2014-2015 academic year. These students will receive a scholarship package covering tuition fees and field work expenses, a monthly stipend as well as health insurance.

Six UDS students received similar scholarships last year. Their research topics, which focused on a number of regions in the Upper West region of Ghana, included conservation agriculture as an adaptation strategy, the effects of women's access to and ownership of land on food security, and an assessment of borehole water quality at source and point-of-use at the household level.

The USAID WA-WASH Program, implemented by the Florida International University, is a four-year project that contributes to meeting West Africa's Millennium Development Goal of providing improved access to water and sanitation to 50% of the population. In addition, WA-WASH provides access to water for productive uses via multiple use systems and improves resilience to climate change in three target countries: Burkina Faso, Ghana and Niger.

WA-WASH is funded through the USAID West Africa Regional Office, whose goal is to promote social and economic well-being advanced by West Africans.

Spanning 21 countries, USAID/West Africa designs and implements programs with West African partners to strengthen systems of non-violent conflict management, support economic growth, and expand quality health services. The American people, through USAID, provide economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries worldwide. For more information please visit http://www.usaid.gov/west-africa-regional.

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