The UAB strengthens relations with two Palestinian universities
The rector of the UAB, Javier Lafuente, met with Nouraldin Abdalaziz Farid Abu Rob, president of Al-Istiqlal University, and Elham Talib Kateeb, dean of Scientific Research of Al-Quds University, at the Rectorat building on 15 January. Both Palestinian academic institutions, with headquarters on the West Bank, are participating in an international project to strengthen the practical skills of psychology graduates, with the involvement of the UAB Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy.
Rector Lafuente described the main characteristics of the UAB to the Palestinian representatives and conveyed the institution's commitment to the defense of human rights and peace in the Middle East. Dr Kateeb and Dr Abu Rob also presented the main data of their respective universities and highlighted the difficulties of being in an occupied territory and in a conflict situation, such as the economic restrictions suffered by the Palestinian National Authority, or the incursions by Israeli security forces. The meeting was also attended by Esther Zapater, secretary general of the UAB, and Òscar Jané, vice-rector for International Relations of the UAB, who stressed that the UAB already has an exchange agreement with the University of Al-Quds, and aims to expand relations with both institutions.
Melina Aparici and Tatiana Rovira, lecturers from the Department of Basic, Developmental and Educational Psychology at the UAB, participated as members of the PSYCHO-PRAC project, which includes not only the Al-Quds and Al-Istiqlal universities, but also a third Palestinian institution, the Al-Azhar University - Gaza. Aparici gave a brief explanation of this initiative, which aims to strengthen practical skills in the field of psychology at Palestinian universities with the aim of better responding to social and professional challenges. She highlighted the suitability of this objective to the mission of social transformation of Palestinian universities and referred to an initiative related to this project: the online course Psychological First Aid 2.0 in Arabic, taught by staff from the Trauma, Crisis and Conflict Unit of Barcelona (which is part of the Faculty's Psychology and Speech Therapy Service) on the MOOC's Coursera platform under the coordination of lecturer Ingeborg Porcar. This MOOC is part of an ambitious training project of more than 100 hours on the community approach to trauma developed in the project under the coordination of Professor Ingeborg Porcar.
During their visit to the UAB, the Palestinian representatives also held a meeting with Fundació Autònoma Solidària (FAS) in which they learned about aspects such as the UAB Refuge programme, and met with Palestinian students studying at the UAB.
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