Art for Gender Equality in Mumbai, India

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The Gender Equality mural painted by Joel Bergner, Krishna Sharma, and students from Sophia College

Every March 8th is International Women’s Day, a celebration of women around the world that takes place during Women’s History Month. While Meridian organizes exchanges for women leaders in various fields, for the past two years the Meridian Center for Cultural Diplomacy has used the arts – specifically the mural arts –  to directly address issues such as human trafficking, gender-based violence, empowerment, equality, and education that affect women and girls around the world. Continue  

Meridian celebrates its Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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Danielle Nicolai teaching a two-day Income Generating Activity course to a women’s group

Its national Peace Corps Week, and everyone from former volunteers to President Obama have celebrated the occasion. Here at Meridian, we think there’s no better way to celebrate than by recognizing the members of our team who have served as volunteers across a diverse range of sectors and regions. While it may have been many years since they served as Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV), there is no doubt that the experience impacted their lives and has allowed them to relate to the more than 4,000 international visitors who have walked through the Meridian House doors in 2015 alone. Yesterday,...

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Spotlight on Soft Power: March 2016

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The China-Latin America and Caribbean 2016 Year of Culture Exchange

A new intern, a new outlook. This blog looks forward to some of the cultural exchanges happening across the world. The China-Latin America and Caribbean Year of Cultural Exchange Next month sees the start of the 2016 China-Latin America and Caribbean Cultural Exchange Year. Kicking off with an opening ceremony at the Beijing Tianqiao Art Center , the event on 25th March will include dance performances by various artists from Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Peru. Zhu Qi, Deputy Director of the Bureau for External Cultural Relations at China’s Ministry of Culture, highlighted the way cultural exchanges can bring together...

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Golden Weeks of Healthcare, Exchange and Celebration

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The delegates listen as the WISER tour guide describes how they create different scenarios to allow medical students to prepare for disasters or emergencies that could arise while with a patient.

This past October, 24 Chinese medical professionals participated in a U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) Healthcare Training Program. They attended a week of training  at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Unlike most Chinese who returned to their hometowns or traveled around China to celebrate the 1949 founding of the People’s Republic of China, these 24 Chinese visitors spent  this “Golden Week” in the classroom at UPMC for training sessions on hospital administrative finance, information technology, handling the media and U.S. insurance. In addition, they had the opportunity to tour several top facilities such as the Children’s Hospital of...

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Soft Power: The Monthly Roundup (January edition)

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This Soft Power post covers cultural diplomacy events from January.

Happy 2016! While you might have already broken your New Year’s resolution, we are starting off fresh with a new edition of Soft Power: The Monthly Roundup to show you what is going on in arts and culture around the world. The New Year may only be a few weeks old, but we can already look back at a great amount of events and festivals celebrating and promoting international exchange through film, food, sports, and dance.

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