2025 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Scholarships for Water Professionals

If you're a water professional from a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), the Sahel, the Middle East, or the Horn of Africa, and aspire to advance your expertise in sustainable water management, the IHE Delft Water and Development Partnership Programme 2025 offers a remarkable opportunity. Funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this programme provides full and partial scholarships for the MSc in Water and Sustainable Development at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands. The initiative aims to strengthen capacity and foster a thriving network of water professionals in partner countries.

---

🎓 Scholarship Summary

• Location: Delft, Netherlands

• Host Institution: IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

• Study Level: Master's (MSc)

• Target Groups: Nationals from eligible countries in SIDS, Sahel, Middle East, and Horn of Africa

• Fields of Study: Water and Sustainable Development

• Award Value and Coverage:

  • Full Scholarships: Cover tuition fees, insurance, international travel costs, and a monthly living allowance of €1,220

  • Partial Scholarships: Available for candidates with partial funding from other sources

• Award Duration: Full duration of the MSc programme

• Application Deadline: June 1, 2025

• Start Date: Academic year 2025-2026

• Eligible Countries:

  • SIDS: Belize, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Federated States of Micronesia, Montserrat, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome & Principe, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

  • Sahel: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria

  • Middle East: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Yemen

  • Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda

---

🌍 Scholarship Overview

The IHE Delft Water and Development Partnership Programme is designed to empower water professionals by providing advanced education and fostering collaborative networks. Scholarship recipients will pursue the MSc in Water and Sustainable Development, focusing on themes such as water and health, water for food, and water, peace, and justice. The programme emphasizes practical research conducted in the scholars' home countries, ensuring that the knowledge gained directly benefits local communities and ecosystems.

---

🎁 Scholarship Benefits

• Full Scholarships Include:

  • Tuition fees for the MSc programme

  • Health insurance coverage

  • International travel expenses

  • Monthly living allowance of €1,220

• Partial Scholarships:

  • Available for candidates who can secure partial funding from personal means, employers, or other sources

  • Applicants with partial funding may apply for complementary funds to cover remaining costs

---

✅ Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must:

1. Be a national of one of the eligible countries listed above

2. Have academic admission to the regular or research variant of the MSc Programme in Water and Sustainable Development

3. Live and/or work in one of the eligible countries

4. Agree to conduct MSc research in their home country/region associated with one of the projects supported by the programme

5. Actively participate in and contribute to seminars organized by the programme's learning networks

6. Confirm their intention to return to their country of origin or another priority country of the programme after completing the MSc

7. Provide an employer statement as one of the two required recommendation letters, which must:

   • Be on official letterhead, dated, and signed

   • Explain how the applicant's acquired knowledge and skills will benefit the organization

   • Confirm that the applicant will return to the organization after completing the MSc study

   • Indicate any involvement in projects funded by the Water and Development Partnership Programme

---

📝 Application Procedure

• Application Process:

  • No separate scholarship application form is required

  • Apply for admission to the MSc Programme in Water and Sustainable Development

  • Eligible applicants will automatically be considered for the scholarship upon admission

• Required Documents:

  • Completed application form for the MSc programme

  • Bachelor's degree certificate and transcripts

  • Proof of English proficiency (if applicable)

  • Two recommendation letters, including the employer statement as specified

  • Motivation statement addressing five specific questions

Important Notes:

• Applicants from Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines are exempted from submitting an English test score

• If sufficient English test results are not received before June 1, 2025, the applicant will not be eligible for the scholarship

🔗 OFFICIAL LINK

IHE Delft Water and Development Partnership Programme SIDS Scholarships 2025

---