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By Brianda Hernandez Cavalcanti

On behalf of the MacJannet Foundation and the 2016 Selection Committee, the Talloires Network is pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship!

For the eighth year in a row, we had a very difficult task – this time evaluating 48 nominations received from 38 member universities in 18 countries. Each and every program nominated is a testament to the commitment our members have to their communities and to developing student leaders who are actively engaged with society.

MACJANNET PRIZE 2016

The first place winner, receiving $7,500, is the Center for Civic Engagement and Community Service (CCECS) at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. Since its inception in 2008, the Center has developed a culture of service and civic leadership within the AUB community. The Center’s operations are defined by four crosscutting components: outreach and volunteerism, community development projects, service-learning initiatives, and university scholarship programs. The Center prides itself on being a place of active political and social dialogue where students can immerse themselves in a unique learning experience. Currently, AUB and the Center are actively addressing the refugee crisis in Lebanon through student-based projects such as waste management campaigns, workshops, and toolkits to improve the communication and interpersonal skills of refugee students in the Bekaa region. The center works with six refugee schools run by AUB, providing psychosocial treatment to thousands of refugee children.

This year’s second place prize winner, receiving $5,000, goes to Ziauddin Sikanderabad Community Partnership at the Ziauddin University in Karachi, Pakistan. This long-standing program focuses on providing holistic family medicine and empowering community members to contribute to their own welfare. The program is run inside a primary health care center donated by the community. Community members and university students from the faculties of medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy and pharmacy work collaboratively to provide primary health care. Though the center is open to everyone, women are the main beneficiaries.

This year’s third place winner, receiving $2,500, is Tecnologías para la Comunidad at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara in Mexico. The program supports and empowers people with disabilities by linking university research and technology development, student social engagement, creative funding initiatives, and professional volunteerism. Tecnologías para la Comunidad delivers prosthetics at four times less than the market price for lower limb amputees, a feat made possible by the founding of a non-profit enterprise that leverages public and private funding to multiply patient co-payments while reducing product and services costs. The students and staff of the program work with a local hospital, other non-profit organizations and the amputee community to deliver these high-quality prosthetic devices. The program is unique in that it functions as both a social development and entrepreneurial project through its efforts to de-monopolize the prosthetic market in Mexico. This program highlights the innovation that arises when science and technology meet a social need.

Lastly, two honorable mentions were awarded to Ubunye at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and Multilingual Manchester (MLM) Student Volunteer Scheme. Ubuyne, meaning unity, is an entirely student-run program at the University of Cape Town that provides educational advancement, opportunities for leadership, and life-skills development and mentorship to high school students in township schools. The program provides space for high school and UCT students to engage in deliberative dialogue about topics such as race and community development.

Multilingual Manchester Student Volunteer Scheme promotes awareness of language diversity across the University’s city-region. It supports local institutions and communities in responding to language needs, fostering cultural and language heritage, and harnessing language skills. Student volunteers respond to real-world problems by allowing the health, police, education and and other social sectors to outreach to minority and immigrant communities.

The members of the Selection Committee were highly impressed by the quality and scope of all of the programs. Members of the committee included:

  • Hector Opazo, Chilean Network for Service-Learning and member of Europe Engage
  • Martina Jordaan, Talloires Network African Engaged Faculty grantee and Professor at University of Pretoria, South Africa
  • Alexis Velo Brunet, Office of International Cooperation and Service at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
  • Gul Zehra, member of the Pakistan Chapter of the Talloires Network and Faculty at the National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan
  • Timothy Stanton, International Service-Learning scholar and visiting Faculty at Northwestern University
  • Pauline O’Loughlin, Program Manager for the 2015 2nd Place MacJannet Prize winner, UTS Shopfront at University of Technology, Australia
  • Todd Langton, President, MacJannet Foundation
  • Wenke B. Thoman, VP of Development, MacJannet Foundation