$1.2 M grant supports economics program at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (03/30/97)

$1.2 M grant supports economics program at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

WASHINGTON - The Economics Education and Research Consortium (EERC) received a $1.2 million contribution from the Starr Foundation in support of a landmark educational program in Ukraine, the EERC's master of arts program in economics at the University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (UKMA).

This donation, announced on March 15 by EERC Chairman and Eurasia Foundation President Thomas R. Pickering, makes the Starr Foundation the newest member in a multi-donor consortium, including the World Bank, the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Institute/Soros Foundations, The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Eurasia Foundation.

Ambassador Pickering, who took over as the Eurasia Foundation's president and the consortium's chairman in December 1996 after a three-and-a-half year tour as U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation, expressed thanks John Roberts, to Starr Foundation board member and vice-chairman of the American Insurance Group (AIG), and to Starr Foundation President T.C. Hsu, for their generosity and vision for Ukraine. "Your contribution reaffirms the consortium's deeply held belief that it is meeting a critical need in independent Ukraine," said Ambassador Pickering.

"A key long-term element of the economic recovery of the new independent states lies in strengthening the technical knowledge base of those professionals who, entering both government and the private sector, will ultimately be dealing with international trade and domestic economic policy issues. When an astute charitable organization such as the Starr Foundation deems the EERC effort worthy of this large-scale contribution, it is a welcome vote of confidence in the program. We are deeply grateful and pleased to welcome them to our collective consortium effort," Ambassador Pickering added.

Dr. Robert Campbell, EERC Ukraine Program director, upon learning of the news in Kyiv, said, "This gift is an important recognition and endorsement of the role the EERC program will play in creating a new generation of economists and policy-makers in Ukraine."

The EERC effort was launched in 1995 to strengthen economics education and research capabilities in the new independent states of the former Soviet Union, and will initially focus on Russia and Ukraine.

The consortium's founders recognized that a key to successful economic reform in the NIS is greater knowledge and understanding of market-based economic systems, particularly at the policy-making level. The EERC addresses this need by building sustainable in-country institutions that provide reform of education and policy-related resources over the longer term.

EERC's master of arts program in economics at the University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy will promote standards of excellence in the discipline of economics, and has established an international-calibre graduate teaching program in Kyiv. The two-year master's level curriculum prepares its graduates to work effectively as economists in policy-making positions in Ukraine, or to pursue further studies abroad, enabling them to further the economics discipline in Ukraine through teaching and research.

The Eurasia Foundation was established in 1993 with a major grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development, and with backing from the Congress and the executive branch. The foundation works to promote economic reform and democracy in the NIS and has awarded more than 1,700 grants to support projects at the grassroots level in the 12 NIS countries. Grants support management and economic training, local government reform, development of civic organizations and free access to information through a free press and the Internet.

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