President Abuhijleh, UNIMED director discuss strengthening cooperation

The Director of the Mediterranean Universities Union (UNIMED) Marcello Scalisi visited on June 27, 2018 Birzeit University, and met with the university President Abdellatif Abuhijleh, and the External Relations Officer Amir Khalil.

Birzeit University is an active member at the UNIMED along with 111 associated universities coming from 23 countries of both shores of Mediterranean.  This longstanding partnership aims at promoting the international aspect of universities, planning and funding activities, promoting mobility, capacity building and research. 

Abuhijleh and Scalisi discussed the prospects of strengthening the cooperation especially in capacity building projects through Horizon 2020; which is the biggest European Union Research and Innovation program. Scalisi invited Abuhijleh to the UNIMED General Assembly that will take place this year in Venice, Italy.

During the meeting, president Abuhijleh emphasized on the importance of maintaining and strengthening multilateral relations with the countries in the region. “We need to work together with other higher education institutions and organizations to achieve innovation and entrepreneurship in education.”

Abuhijleh continued, “This ongoing partnership with UNIMED motivates us to strengthen our leading role in this organization, to help us achieve our mission and vision that aims at shaping the leaders of tomorrow, for a better future.”

UNIMED is an association of universities from the countries of the Mediterranean. It aims to develop university research and education in the Euro-Mediterranean area in order to contribute to scientific, cultural, and social and economic cooperation.