CCRIF SPC provides US $250,000 to The UWI for scholarships, tuition

CCRIF SPC provides US  $250,000  to The UWI for scholarships, tuition

From left: Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Dale Webber; The UWI Mona Guild President Sujae Boswell; University Registrar Dr. Maurice Smith; CCRIF Scholar Matthew Arnold; CCRIF Technical Assistance Manager and Corporate Communications Manager Elizabeth Emanuel; and CCRIF Board Member Saundra Bailey at the handing over of funds for scholarships and tuition support to The UWI.

 

KINGSTON, Jamaica--On November 26, CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) presented a cheque for US $250,000 (J $35 million) to The University of the West Indies (The UWI) for scholarships and for covering the tuition fees of students who are in need of financial support this academic year. 

  Approximately US $108,000 or J $15 million of the US $250,000 (J $35 million) is already allocated for scholarships for 2020-21 at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels and this is about the usual amount that CCRIF has been providing to The UWI annually since 2010 and can be considered merit scholarships, as they are based largely student performance. The remaining US $142,000 or J $20 million has been provided to cover the tuition fees of the most needy students who, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are finding it difficult  to pay tuition and who are at risk of either being de-registered or not completing their studies. This latter support is part of the Facility’s COVID-19 response geared to supporting its members and other key stakeholders.

  According to Saundra Bailey, CCRIF Board Member, “Since 2010, CCRIF has provided The UWI with 71 scholarships totalling US $761,230 or almost J $107 million. CCRIF continues to view its investments in scholarships as critical to building a cadre of individuals who possess the knowledge and skills to advance the resilience of the small island and coastal states of our region.”

  Outside of support to students at The UWI, its graduates also have benefited from CCRIF scholarships to study for postgraduate degrees in the US and the UK as well as internships at national and regional organisations involved in disaster risk management and meteorology and at a number of departments and centres of The UWI itself, such as the Disaster Risk Reduction Centre, Climate Studies Group Mona and the Seismic Research Centre.

  University Registrar Dr. Maurice Smith, in acknowledging CCRIF’s contributions, commented that both The UWI and CCRIF have had a longstanding relationship and last week’s handing over ceremony was significant as it was an expression of support for not only the regional institution, but the talented students who are pursuing programmes related to CCRIF’s mandate.

  Professor Dale Webber, Principal of the Mona Campus and Pro Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness, signalled his gratitude for the tuition support for students in civil engineering, geography and geology. He asked CCRIF to consider students pursuing programmes in actuarial science, computer science and social work as these areas are critical to strengthening the region’s response to disaster management.

  Earlier this year, CCRIF expanded its partnership with The UWI even further when the two organisations signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) which went beyond offering scholarships and established a framework for the promotion and facilitation of disaster risk management, including modelling, disaster risk financing, and climate change adaptation as well as research, capacity-building and resilience-building initiatives that will support and advance the Caribbean Community’s CARICOM’s ambition of making the Caribbean the world’s first climate-resilient zone.

  One of the first outputs of this new MOU was the development of a new course called Fundamentals of Disaster Risk Financing for Advancing Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which is currently being offered through The UWI Open Campus. Over 30 students are members of the first cohort to take this Continuing and Professional Education Certificate course, which offers four continuing education units.

  Including its most recent contribution, CCRIF’s overall support to The UWI over the period 2010-2020 has totalled over US $1 million (J $140 million), through programmes for scholarships and internships and the current MOU as well as two grants to the departments of Food Production and Geography at the St. Augustine campus for community-based disaster risk reduction projects; support to the Seismic Research Centre towards establishing and maintaining a new accelerometric network in the Eastern Caribbean and Jamaica to enhance the capability for identifying and mitigating seismic risk in the Caribbean; and a contract with Lumin Consulting for work related to the CCRIF-Caribbean Development Bank Integrated Sovereign Risk Management Project.

  CCRIF also used the occasion to launch its Technical Paper Series #4, “A Collection of Papers and Expert Notes on Disaster Risk Financing and Disaster Risk Management ... Highlighting academic papers prepared by a selection of CCRIF scholarship winners”. This collection of papers highlights research conducted by nine recipients of CCRIF scholarships between 2010 and 2017. The academic papers include papers completed as part of course work, extracts from dissertations, as well as complete dissertations – all submitted as part of their degree requirements. The papers demonstrate the diversity of research topics undertaken by CCRIF scholarship recipients – which range from social issues such as a discussion of whether disaster scenes should be “off-limits” to victims’ relatives, and climate and risk communication to an analysis of the financial services sector responses to climate change risks, to more technical discussions such as seismic analysis.

The Daily Herald

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