Wales Higher Education leads way to partnerships in Kurdistan

Wales International Consortium is leading a Wales higher education mission to Kurdistan in February for its first overseas mission of the New Year and the first joint visit by representatives of Wales HE to Kurdistan.

Participating in the visit will be Bangor University, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Glyndwr University, Swansea University, University of Glamorgan and University of Wales Newport.

Since the establishment of the no-fly zone in 1991 and even more so since the liberation of Iraq in 2003, the Kurdistan Region has undergone rapid development. Over 65% of the villages destroyed by Saddam Hussein’s regime have been rebuilt, two new airports have been opened and new highways, schools and hospitals are being constructed. With a population of nearly 4 million, the three governorates of Dohuk, Erbil and Suleimaniah cover about 40,000 square kilometres - four times the area of Lebanon and larger than that of the Netherlands.

The visit itinerary will include visits to universities, meetings with government organisations as well as meetings with students from Kurdistan and Iraq.

The Wales Universities visit to Kurdistan is being supported by Study Group, who operate the Wales International Study Centre at University of Wales Newport and is a global leader in private higher education.

The Wales International Consortium (WIC) was formed in 2003 by all the higher education institutions in Wales to promote Wales in the international market, as a desirable study partner and destination. WIC works collaboratively with member institutions and with partners of both national and international reputation and profile. In 2011 it led four Wales Universities missions to Vancouver, India, China and Turkey and in 2012 it was be leading further missions to China, India and the US. 

Virginia West, the WIC Director said, “This is a very good opportunity for our universities to promote themselves in a developing region where demand for higher education is high. Despite difficult conditions, the standard of education is extremely good and the students’ determination is remarkable; we have been advised that we can expect students to make long journeys to meet us from the rest of the region, which covers parts of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. It is a great opportunity to work with an emerging region and to explain to an entirely new audience what Wales has to offer as part of the UK higher education experience”.