UWI, IDB sign new partnership
Published:Monday | December 13, 2021 | 12:07 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
The University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at strengthening the regional institution.
UWI Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles said the partnership will better enable the university to serve the Caribbean on the issues it currently faces, as IDB’s 2025 vision aligns with UWI’s strategic vision.
“Research, teaching and learning, institutional modernisation ranging from issues in respect of digital transformation through to matters of infrastructure or research in respect of climate change, social justice issues and gender inequality – all of the issues that are relevant to us at the moment,” he said.
Beckles said the MOU signed on Thursday is a deepening and an expansion of an earlier agreement that was focused on UWI’s modernisation.
“We have a first-class global university in a region that has suffered from tremendous economic setbacks, the financial crisis of 07/08 and now all of these matters in terms of COVID-19. We’ve had horrendous earthquakes, we’ve had volcanoes and the region has had its fair share of natural disasters. We are trying to rebuild our economies in the context of tremendous headwinds and what we do know is that we cannot do it alone,” the vice-chancellor said.
Beckles said it is strategic and mutual partnerships like that with the IDB that will get the region where it needs to be in a sustainable manner.
IDB President Mauricio Claver-Carone said its knowledge resources will be at the disposal of the UWI.
The IDB Academy allows universities to access research and support in terms of 21st century skills and digitalisation skills to expand its presence.
VALUE OF PARTNERSHIP
“In this new phase of collaboration, we look forward to deepening and expanding our work. The Caribbean is among the most creative populations in the world and how we take that creativity and turn it into innovation and how we take that innovation and drive it into improving productivity and productivity to growth is going to be key in moving forward, but that can’t be done without the University of the West Indies,” Claver-Carone remarked.
When asked about the value of the partnership, Beckles said it was impossible to put a dollar figure on a partnership of this nature.
“We are looking forward to working with the IDB, a long-standing partner to regional development in the Caribbean and now we are here to do some heavy-lifting, to help the people of the Caribbean through the empowerment of this, their public university,” Beckles remarked.