The Universidader Internacional do Cuanza (International University of Cuanza, UNIC), an educational project founded by the Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic, UNEATLANTICO) and the Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana (Ibero-American University Foundation, FUNIBER), recently received the ambassador of the European Union in Angola, Rosario Bento Pais, accompanied by ambassadors from different member states. They were received by the rector of the institution, Dr. Carlos Jélvez Martínez, together with Angolan government authorities.
During the visit, the ambassador defined FUNIBER as ‘the first university platform with a pan-Iberian vocation’, in reference to its integrating educational model, which articulates Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries in Europe, Africa and America. This vision is materialised in its network of on-site campuses – among them UNIC in Angola, the European University of the Atlantic in Santander, Spain and the University of La Romana in the Dominican Republic -, complemented by a wide range of online studies, thus forming an academic, scientific and cultural network of intercontinental scope.
FUNIBER’s model is based on horizontal and triangular cooperation that transcends academia and also includes cultural promotion and scientific-technical development. This work is complemented by a scholarship programme that ensures that economic factors are not an impediment to access to quality education, thus promoting educational inclusion and equity.
Tangible proof of this commitment is the ClinicalSim project, led by UNEATLANTICO, which the diplomats were able to learn about during their visit. This is an initiative funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme and developed in consortium with institutions from Spain, Portugal and Angola, which seeks to modernise practical training in the area of health through advanced clinical simulation.
The Spanish Ambassador to Angola, Manuel María Lejarreta, highlighted the role of UNIC as a space for female empowerment and valued the institution’s commitment to inclusive, international and transformative education.
From this perspective, UNEATLANTICO, together with FUNIBER, consolidate themselves as pioneers and prescribers in the construction of a pan-Iberian academic space with a global dimension, promoting an educational diplomacy that fosters integration between peoples with common historical and linguistic links.