Blog Post

I visited Nepal recently to learn more about local governance and civil society in order to assess the development context and possible opportunities for IREX. While relatively stable since a 2006 peace agreement, the country has many political tests ahead: passing a new constitution, reintegrating former Maoist combatants, and addressing widespread corruption, among others.

On this day in 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Executive Order establishing Peace Corps. On behalf of IREX, I would like to extend our congratulations to Peace Corps on its 50^th Anniversary of promoting peace and friendship around the world. We share common values and goals in our work to make a better world. IREX benefits greatly from the experience and enthusiasm of more than two dozen returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) on our staff.

There is an old Moldavian proverb that says: your life has been worthwhile if you have built a house, raised a son, planted a tree, and dug a well. I cited this proverb at the closing conference for the Moldova Civic Participation Program (CPP) last Friday because for me, it encapsulates the industrious spirit of the program.

Teresa Janevic, a 2010-11 Individual Advanced Research Opportunities (IARO) fellow, writes about her experience researching prenatal and maternity care among women in Serbia and Macedonia. The following is part of a series of blog pieces from our US scholars, who are conducting research in the field.

Suzi McClear serves as the IREX Chief of Party for the Egypt Media Development Program. Below she offers her thoughts on the early days of the protests in Egypt, written prior to Mubarak’s resignation.

Last Wednesday evening I had the opportunity to personally thank Bill Gates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation support for the Global Libraries programs that IREX implements in Romania and Ukraine.

On January 24 2011, terrorists attacked Moscow’s largest airport killing more than 30 people and injuring over 100. This tragic event yet again showed that Russia is still not a safe country. But it also became an example of how the Russian media environment is being reshaped by blogs and social media.

In 2010, IREX started the first Tech Age Girls (TAG) project in Kyrgyzstan with 90 participants selected from 246 applications of young girls ages ranging from 14 to 17.  For over six months they attended Information Technology (IT) and leadership trainings, designed and implemented community projects, and documented their experience via blogs. The 27 most active girls had an opportunity to attend a two-week summer conference.  I recently interviewed alumna, Zhanara Asizova about her experience.

Jesse Horner, Program Officer/Budget Analyst at IREX is currently on a trip in Nepal where he is meeting with civic leaders and locals to explore different ways IREX can collaborate with local nonprofits. We will hear his thoughts from the journey later, but in the meantime, here are some photos from his adventure.   

I recently returned from a very intense strategy meeting in Istanbul, where the BOTA Project team met to articulate a targeted approach for supporting child welfare in Kazakhstan.  The team includes IREX and Save the Children, with oversight by the World Bank.  For three days, IREX and Save the Children worked together to develop strategies to achieve common program goals with the greatest effectiveness.&nbs