Education
Intesa Sanpaolo and the University of Padova alongside Afghan students
Intesa Sanpaolo along with IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division supports the ambitious fundraising initiative Unipd4Afghanistan, promoted by the University of Padova to offer young Afghans the opportunity to access university studies in our country.
IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division will contribute to the establishment of three scholarships for three Afghan female students to accompany them in their master's degree studies in STEM disciplines.
The common commitment: all people must be educated
Intesa Sanpaolo and the University of Padua share a commitment to guaranteeing the right to study and education, especially for women.
Intesa Sanpaolo, as an active player attentive to the great and unstoppable transformations linked to the changes affecting social systems, believes that the value of knowledge is an essential pillar to ensure the individual and social growth of communities. The Bank, in fact, promotes the dissemination and circulation of knowledge, interpreting the desire to reinforce a collective consciousness close to social issues, inclusion, human rights and access to study and education.
The University of Padova has been active for some time now in concretely addressing the right and inclusion to study, guaranteeing the reception of students from all over the world, including those with refugee status or those fleeing their country. Recently, in order to deal with the humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan, it has decided to establish 100 scholarships for international students with Afghan citizenship, to be awarded over the three-year period 2021-2024. Of these, 50 scholarships will be activated with University funds and 50 scholarships will be supported by private individuals, public or private bodies and institutions with funds raised through fundraising.
Unipd4Afghanistan Scholarships
The scholarships are aimed at students of Afghan origin to ensure their continuation of studies or support for the entire duration of the degree course just started. They will be awarded through a specific call for applications.
The fundraising campaign
In order to reach the goal of 100 scholarships in total, the University of Padua launched a fundraising campaign to raise funds and establish 50 scholarships thanks to donations from individuals, companies, associations and foundations. In
particular, by adhering to the campaign IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division guarantees support for the establishment of three scholarships and doubles the contribution of Intesa Sanpaolo's people and customers who decide to donate through the dedicated page, at least until a fourth scholarship is available.
Intesa Sanpaolo's people and customers can donate here.
"We continue to keep our attention on what is happening in Afghanistan. We must succeed in guaranteeing a future for students who, in a few weeks, have seen their hopes vanish. A dramatic situation in which it is necessary to intervene as a team, involving institutions and individuals.
The agreement with Intesa Sanpaolo, which has decided to support three two-year scholarships for students and to promote our fundraising among employees, is in this perspective.
I and the University would like to thank Intesa Sanpaolo for the sensitivity shown and the concrete help provided".
"Many young refugees aspire, consciously and passionately, to receive a hope capable of welcoming them into a future respectful of their uniqueness and attentive to their potential. Studying is undoubtedly the best chance to help these girls and boys to transform the difficulties of their lives into a practical and effective opportunity for their own lives but also, and this is perhaps the greatest opportunity and one with the richest consequences, to give our society the ideal of building a better place in which to live and work.
For these reasons Intesa Sanpaolo and in particular the IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division, which I proudly represent, has decided to support with enthusiasm and conviction this programme of absolute value that will be able to ensure these people a concrete and close hope. At the same time, support for the project will offer us all a better, more inclusive and generous future".
Including to educate to citizenship
For us inclusion means educating young people to be citizens capable of thinking independently and responsibly, possessing the skills and competences to respond to the challenges that face us from the contemporary world.
Inclusion must be able to face concrete problems and confront reality in a sustainable way. Only in this way can citizens work to overcome visions that do not help collaboration and collective growth. In this sense, migrants, refugees and displaced people are given the opportunity to transform their mobility, sometimes forced, into energy that favors the evolution of the two contexts: that of origin and that of the hosting country.
December, 2021
Last updated 3 January 2022
Intesa Sanpaolo for education
Here are some initiatives that we support to spread education and knowledge, guarantee the right to study and support research and businesses in the country
