Kathmandu, November 23
Australian Ambassador to Nepal, Peter Budd bid farewell to recipients of the Australia Awards Scholarships for 2019, amid a programe in Kathmandu on Thursday.
Altogether 29 scholars, including 13 government officials, will travel to Australia to commence their post-graduate level study in Australian universities.
This year’s scholarships recipients include 17 women and 12 men. Three of the recipients are persons with disability, the Embassy of Australia stated in a press release.
It is stated that the scholars will be studying a variety of courses under six priority sectors. Three will be enrolled in education, seven in economic development, two in gender inclusion and disability, eight in governance, six in health and three in water resource management.
For 2019, the Australian Government offered 3,186 Australia Awards scholarships, fellowships and short courses to individuals from over 55 developing countries with an aim to transfer high-quality knowledge, skills and best-practice methodologies to equip them to directly contribute to both their workplaces and to the future development of their countries.
Addressing the ceremony, Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi noted that six decades of partnerships between the government of Nepal and Australia has been fruitful. He stated that Australia has been a reliable development partner in the field of energy, education, livestock and forest management.
Ambassador Budd congratulated the Australia Awards recipients and reminded them that they were selected to participate in Australia Awards for their potential to make significant contributions to the development of Nepal.
