The German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – DAAD) has extended its support efforts through the Hilde Domin Programme that awarded 26 young Afghans with a full scholarship to complete undergraduate, postgraduate or doctoral studies in Germany. The majority of the selected applicants are still living in Afghanistan, so the DAAD will support them, to the best of its abilities, in applying for an exit visa. Next to this, the so-called bridge scholarships for refugee Afghan students and doctoral candidates are granted to 59 Afghans, most of whom are currently living in Germany and are receiving financial assistance for six months to help them with their reorientation in the country.

DAAD President Professor Joybrato Mukherjee commented that ‘recent media reports from Afghanistan indicate that drastic restrictions continue to exist in public life there and in all areas of education, under which girls and women in particular are suffering. The few remaining bridges to the western world are therefore vitally important for young Afghans, and we see their funding and acceptance into the German higher education system as the obvious continuation of two decades of commitment to the Afghan higher education sector’.

The number of students at risk nominated under the Hilde Domin Programme tripled within a year. This suggest that the global need for academic safe havens has increased significantly.  Against this backdrop, more than 100 scholarships have been awarded between 2021 and March 2022 within the Hilde Domin Programme. The latest version of the long-term plan foresees the annual addition of 50 grants for candidates from around the world.

You can read the full press release here.