The PEACE Programme, a unique Interuniversity Cooperation Network

The PEACE Programme, an interuniversity cooperation network established in 1991, assists the Palestinian universities to raise the quality, efficiency and relevance of their teaching, training and research. For academic staff development, PEACE has set up a Scholarship Scheme to help Palestinian students and young university teachers and researchers obtain higher degrees abroad (mainly PhDs). PEACE contributes also to institutional development and capacity building through academic mobility and the exchange of teachers and researchers. It also supports the Palestinian universities to open up internationally and take their place, in bilateral and multilateral academic co-operation. PEACE has emerged as an efficient instrument for channelling international support to Palestinian higher education and research. It strives to play also a broader role by assisting Palestinian universities to overcome difficulties and isolation in a spirit of genuine academic solidarity, with the aspiration to make a contribution to the peace process in the Middle East.