Download IFP Note Revised Nov 2007

Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program
BACKGROUND NOTE on IFP WORLDWIDE
The Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) seeks to build a new generation of social
justice leaders worldwide. Ford Foundation International Fellows come from groups and communities that
have traditionally lacked access to higher education. They are selected on the strength of their academic
achievement, leadership skills and social commitment.
IFP was launched in 2000 with the largest single grant in the history of the Ford Foundation (US $ 280
million futher enhanced by US $ 75 million in 2006). By end 2007, over 2,500 Fellows will have enrolled in
more than 300 universities in their home countries and regions, Australia, continental Europe, the United
Kingdom, and the United States and Africa. IFP Fellows have been overwhelmingly successful in their
studies and are now using their new knowledge and skills to serve their communities and countries.
By 2010, the program will have selected 4,400 Fellows from 22 eligible countries and territories in Africa,
Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Russia. IFP hopes to build “social capital’ through a network of
committed alumni, who will make significant contribution to equity and social justice in their societies.
IFP provides support for up to three years of formal graduate-level study, leading to a masters or doctoral
degree. IFP Fellows may study in any country in the world. They may pursue studies in academic disciplines
and fields that are consistent with the Ford Foundation's grant making goals in order to strengthen
democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human
achievement.
The program helps Fellows to gain admission to Universities across the world, in collaboration with
International Placement Partners. Once selected, fellows spend up to one year readying for higher education.
They receive intensive language instruction, academic writing skills, computer training cross cultural and
leadership trainings.
IFP continues to promote greater access and equity in higher education by sponsoring graduate study for
talented and committed individuals who would otherwise lack this opportunity. IFP believes that Fellows'
successes are important examples of what opportunities for higher education can achieve in building a just
and equitable society, worldwide. It hopes that programs for higher education will gain from IFP's
experience.
Please visit our website www.ifpsa.org and our global website www.fordifp.net
BACKGROUND NOTE ON IFP INDIA
In India, the program was launched in 2001 has completed seven rounds of selections. 240 Fellows have been
selected. Of this number some have completed, some are currently pursuing and some are about to begin
their higher studies at various universities around the world. 3 further rounds of selections will take the
program up to 2011, and a total of 360 fellows.
In the first two years Indian nationals from all states were eligible for selection. In the following years, we
decided to concentrate on states with the highest poverty index and those affected by social and political
turmoil. The program currently selects candidates from the ten states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat , Jammu and Kashmir.
In India the focus has been to attract applications from candidates from groups that lack access to higher
education, such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, women, physically
challenged and those with other kinds of socio-economic deprivation.
Among the fellows selected to date there are a large number who are first generation learners, those who
have faced discrimination due to their caste and communities, those who have been marginalized as they
hail from remote areas of India, those who have been born to parents who are agricultural laborers or
doing manual labor. There are those who have been physically challenged. All of them have proved that
despite their social backgrounds, they have faced challenges head on and done well in academics,
demonstrated leadership and social commitment which is the hallmark of the program.
Post selection the program helps the selected candidates find suitable placements at the most appropriate
program and university across the world. It also offers tailor-made pre academic training to equip the
candidates with language skills, computer skills, academic tools and cross cultural competencies.
Several alumni are now back in India and are contributing actively in the social sector, in academia,
media and activism. Many of these non-traditional fellows have gone to get distinctions and awards and
recognitions from universities in the US, UK and Australia.