The University of Padua activated the "Unipd 4 Afghanistan" scholarship program to support Afghan students in dangerous situations by offering them the opportunity to access university studies.

By September of 2021, the University was able to finance 50 scholarships worth 12,000 euros per year for three years, which gave relative priority to female students. However, the University received over 100 applications.

In response, the University launched an additional fundraising campaign to support new scholarships. Thanks to the contribution of private donors from companies, individuals, associations, and foundations, an additional 24 scholarships have been financed.

Special thanks to Fondazione Cariparo, which has always been a strong supporter of the University, allocating a considerable number of scholarships.  Much gratitude to the Intesa Sanpaolo IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division, which financed three scholarships for STEM students and promoted a crowdfunding campaign among all employees at the national level. Furthermore, the Treviso-Belluno Chamber of Commerce gave generous support by offering student internships. In addition to this, the Diocese of Padua promoted a peace march on Sunday, January 23 with all proceeds donated to the project.

The Unipd community has also taken action.  Individuals who felt the need to demonstrate their solidarity in a concrete manner introduced many different initiatives. In particular, generous support came from the Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology - DiSCOG.

Furthermore, the CIAI (Centro Italiano Aiuti all'Infanzia), whose vice-president is a professor at the University, contributed to the project with a significant donation.

While the Trivenetochapter of the Soroptimist International Club activated and co-financed a two-year scholarship.

Thanks to the more than 400 donors who have supported this project, almost 580,000 euros of funds raised will finance new scholarships for the 2022/2033 academic year. Scholarship recipients have been selected, click here for the results.

There are real people behind these numbers, and thanks to the support of our donors, more Afghanistan students will have the opportunity to build a new future for themselves.