AFGHANISTAN

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28 October 2009
United States Provides $45 Million for Higher Education Commission

Islamabad, Pakistan 28 October 2009

At a meeting with students at the Government College in Lahore today, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a $45 million American contribution to the Government of Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC).

These funds will be used for 4 primary purposes:

• Expanding relationships between Pakistani universities and U.S. institutions through increasing additional academic exchanges
• Increasing university and technical education for students who have been displaced by violence and to those living in vulnerable areas such as southern Punjab and the North West Frontier Province, which serves students from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
• Enabling the Higher Education Commission to exempt displaced students from fees, expand opportunities for students to become health professionals, and expand engineering and women's education.
• Supporting infrastructure upgrades and improved teacher training at both vocational and university institutions.

This contribution is part of the $1 billion pledge made by the United States at the April 2009 Tokyo Donors’ Conference.

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