This post is the first entry in a new blog series that will detail the itineraries of both current and former Heads of State that participated in the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) through Meridian International Center. The entry below summarizes the IVLP itinerary of recently elected U.N. Secretary-General António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres.
The world is at an inflection point. Throughout both the developing and developed world, people are unsure about their future and have lost faith in their leaders and their institutions. We are seeing this in the rise of populism and xenophobia – from the rise of ISIS to Brexit and the rhetoric of America’s presidential election. While the tendency in this environment is to look towards nationalism, the world is too globalized and interconnected for countries to solve domestic and international issues alone. Moreover, neither governments nor the private sector or civil society will be able to overcome these...
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In October 248 fellows met in Dallas Texas to kick of the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Professional Fellows Program, which brings entrepreneurs and civil society leaders to the United States for a five-week program. This U.S. Department of State-sponsored program empowers young entrepreneurs to strengthen their capacity to launch and advance their entrepreneurial ideas and to effectively contribute to social and economic development in their communities. Last week these 248 fellows gathered again in Washington, DC for the closing summit after spending four months in 21 different city hubs around the country were they were placed...
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First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama invited 22 Moroccan girls and 22 Liberian girls to the White House for the premiere of the CNN documentary We Will Rise on October 11, the International Day of the Girl. I was one of the Moroccan girls invited to Washington D.C. as part of First Lady Obama’s “Let Girls Learn” initiative. The White House visit was a follow-up to First Lady Obama’s visit to Liberia and Morocco in June 2016, during which we Moroccan girls participated in a roundtable discussion on the challenges young girls face in order to continue...
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Each year U.S. missions nominate leading women entrepreneurs from sub-Saharan Africa to participate in the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) as part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). AWEP was launched in 2010 to bolster the economic impact on women entrepreneurs during the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum. This post was written by Elizabeth Barry and Mark Rebstock. Continue
