Since 1985, the University Foundation for Development Cooperation, or USOS for short, has been working to build a world where social justice is central. As an organization affiliated with the University of Antwerp and inspired by Ignatian values, USOS works along three main lines: experiential learning, sustainable cooperation with partners in the Global South, and welcoming students and staff from the South to Antwerp. What began as a student initiative has grown over four decades into an established and valued player within the university community.
The seed: social engagement
The seed for USOS was planted in the 1970s and 1980s, when students at the former UFSIA asked for a structural commitment from their university to what was then still called the ‘Third World’. With the support of economist Stefaan Marysse and rector Louis Van Bladel, this call took concrete shape. Van Bladel believed in a university that does more than just train people for the labor market: a place where young people are shaped into critical and socially engaged citizens. Together with Marysse, he was inspired by the university NGO FUCID in Namur, where exposure trips for students were used as a powerful form of awareness-raising. In that spirit, USOS was founded in 1985 in response to Jesuit Pedro Arrupe's call to actively oppose social inequality.
A journey through four decades
- The early years (1985-1994): A spark that ignites
The first exposure trip took place in India at the Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS) in Ranchi, where Jesuit Michael Van den Bogaert combined academic work with defending the rights of the Adivasis, the indigenous people of the Indian subcontinent. Partnerships were soon established in Congo (then Zaire) and Nicaragua. USOS students were very active on campus, organizing lectures, publishing their own magazine (‘Globaal’) and organizing cultural activities. The many spontaneous initiatives that sprang from this new organization called for a structural and coherent approach. - Focus on education (1995-2004): Broadening and deepening
Under the leadership of the committed Jesuit Jef Van Gerwen, USOS evolved into a more structured educational organization. Carefully designed learning programs, scientifically based public lectures, and internships for master's theses in the South were introduced. The partnerships in India, DR Congo, and Nicaragua were further expanded. With this professionalization, USOS confidently approached the merger of the three Antwerp universities in 2003. - Broadening of worldviews (2005-2014): An established value at the University of Antwerp
USOS immediately became embedded within the brand-new university. The partnership with Morocco opened a new philosophical window, entirely in line with the actively pluralistic project of the University of Antwerp. Activities expanded to other programs, such as Biology and later the Faculty of Design Sciences. Within the collaboration with India, human rights specialist Koen De Feyter initiated the India internship, which became an established part of the international internship program offered by the Law program. The awareness-raising course ‘Tweesprakencyclus’ (Dialogue Cycle), later renamed ‘Debating Development’, became a permanent part of the central interfaculty curriculum. - Global engagement (2015-2025): more reciprocity and new challenges
The last decade has been marked by reciprocity. Exposures are evolving into exchanges in two or more directions: Belgian students go to the South, and students from partners come to Antwerp. Partnerships are becoming more multilateral and partners are exchanging knowledge with each other. However, certain partnerships are coming under pressure, such as in Nicaragua, where the partner university UCA was closed by the authoritarian regime, and in Bukavu, where the rebel group M23 has taken control of the region. USOS responds by remaining in solidarity and seeking new forms of cooperation. Meanwhile, at the university, the term ‘development cooperation’ is being replaced by the term ‘global engagement’. USOS actively contributes to the current vision of how the university relates to the Global South, as laid down in the Strategic Framework Global Engagement of UAntwerp.
A lasting legacy
USOS is more than just travel and projects. It is a value-driven organization that has shaped generations of students, facilitated countless collaborations, and continually challenged the university to fulfill its social role. As a ‘yeast in the university dough’, USOS continues to connect and inspire people to work towards a just world.