Two Solomon Islanders awarded 2007 U.S-South Pacific Scholarship for studies in Hawai'i

Two Solomon Islanders have been announced among the 2007 recipients of the prestigous United States-South Pacific (USSP) Scholarship Program to commence studies at Hawai'i in August.

The two Solomons finalists are Mr. Coggan Donald Kuare (Masters candidate in Urban and Regional Planning) and Mr. Alfred McDacascos Ri'ibako (Bachelors candidate in Information Technology).

Other Pacific recipients of the 2007 scholarship include Mr. Joseph Lawrence Brider (Cook Islands) Masters candidate in Environmental Studies; Ms. Evelyn Cecilia Pusal (Papua New Guinea) Masters candidate in Education; and Ms. Margaret Anne Moala(Tonga) Bachelors candidate in Business Management/Information Technology.

The USSP scholarship program, funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, is a competitive, merit-based scholarship, which provides educational opportunities for academically talented individuals from South Pacific countries to pursue bachelor's and master's degree study at U.S institutions in fields that are directly relevant to development needs in the Pacific region. The program also provides the participants with an opportunity to obtain a broader understanding of the United States. The USSP scholarship is administered by the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai’i.

Competition for the U.S.-South Pacific Scholarship is open to citizens of the following countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Samoa. The deadline for the USSP 2006 competition was February 1, 2007.