Thaindian News

Sonipat (Haryana), Nov 9 (IANS) In a first of its kind, the O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) based here inked an agreement Wednesday with a leading non-governmental organization of Mozambique to train Mozambican grassroots workers and NGOs in India.

A Memorandum of Understanding on Human Development and Social Empowerment Initiative was inked between JGU and the Crianca Nosso Futuro Institute (C.N.F.I) of Mozambique.

The initiative is for training of Mozambican grassroots workers and NGOs by faculty members and students of Jindal Global Law School. The law school is already implementing a ‘Good Rural Governance and Citizen Participation Model’ in over 100 villages of Haryana.

The NGO, which works under the office of the first lady of the Republic of Mozambique Maria Da Luz Guebuza, signed the MOU in her presence here.

Delivering the Jindal global lecture on ‘Gender and Empowerment in Africa’, Guebuza praised the agreement with JGU as a “shining example of south-south cooperation between the educational and social service sectors of Africa and India”.

“My government is committed to learning from India’s experiences in uplift of downtrodden sections within a democratic system,” she told the gathering here.

“The Mozambican trainees will live and work in these villages and learn best practices of how to empower vulnerable sections of society to participate in self-governance and in pursuit of justice at the lowest level in rural communities,” a JGU spokesman said here.

In return, students of the Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA) and other schools of JGU would intern in rural development organizations in Mozambique to learn how African civil society is facing up to socio-economic challenges.

“Mozambique will also nominate up to 15 Mozambican students to come to India and study in various post-graduate degree programmes offered by JGU,” the spokesman said.

Member of Parliament and JGU Chancellor Naveen Jindal, who was present at the signing of the MOU, said: “Such concrete initiatives between African and Indian institutions would bring much needed developmental dividends to the masses in both our societies.”

He added: “JGU is the only university in India which is entering into actionable agreements with governments in Africa and Latin America that are based on academic interaction as well as on social service.”