Netherlands’ Middle East and North Africa Scholarship Programme (MENA) 2012

Deadline- There are two scholarship application deadlines for the MENA Scholarship Programme. Depending on the course, applications must be submitted at the Embassy either before 1 March 2012 or before 2 July 2012.

Countries/Region- Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Syria, Tunisia, Netherlands.

MENA scholarships can be used for a number of selected short courses offered by educational institutions in the Netherlands. The institutions provide professional training at post-secondary level in several fields of study. The programme enables mid career professionals from Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Syria and Tunisia to do a short course in the Netherlands. Each year there are around 120 scholarships available, which are proportionally distributed among the participating countries. Ideally, half of the scholarships are allocated to female applicants.

Eligibility criteria–
A candidate applying for a MENA scholarship must:

Apply for a course on the MENA course list 2012;

Not have received a MENA Scholarship in the three years prior to the start of the proposed MENA course;

Complete a MENA scholarship application form and submit all the required documentation to the Netherlands Embassy;

Be a national of and working in one of the seven selected countries;

Be a mid-career professional with at least three years’ work experience;

Not be employed by:

A multinational corporation (e.g. Shell, Unilever);
A large national and/or commercial organisation;
A bilateral donor organisation (e.g. USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, BuZa, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid);
A multilateral donor organisation, (e.g. a UN organisation, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian
Development Bank, African Development Bank, IADB);
An international NGO (e.g. Oxfam, Plan, Care).

Meet the admission requirements of the selected course. As such he or she must have at least a diploma or a bachelor’s degree in one of the selected fields of study and meet other educational or professional requirements, which may vary per course. These requirements can be found on the MENA course list available in chapter 10 of this brochure. Please also contact the institution directly for more information.

Offer evidence of proficiency in speaking and writing the language of instruction (English in most cases). Preferably, a candidate can provide evidence in the form of an official and verifiable score in an internationally recognised test, such as IELTS (a score of at least 6.0) or TOEFL (a score of at least 550 points on the paper-based test or 213 points on the computer-based test or 79 points on the internet-based test). In case the candidate cannot provide sufficient evidence, the embassy will evaluate the candidate’s knowledge of the language. However, the final decision about a candidate’s language proficiency lies with the Dutch institution.

Be nominated by his or her employer, who pledges to continue to pay a substantial part of the candidate’s salary during the study period, and guarantees that at the end of the scholarship period the candidate will be offered a position at least equivalent to the current position;

Demonstrate a solid link between his or her work and the selected course; the course must have added value for the sustainable capacity development of the employing organisation and the development of the country;