Project Updates

Each year hundreds of youth, teachers, students, and professionals from around the Muslim world participate in IREX training programs in the U.S. Observing Ramadan in the U.S. can be both a challenge and an opportunity for many of these participants. In honor of Eid, we asked current and past students of the Global UGRAD-Pakistan program about their experiences of Ramadan in the U.S.

On the eve of Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s recent visit to Georgia, IREX alumna Dr. Julie George gave a briefing on Georgia’s current state and political reforms to analysts and officials at the U.S. Department of State. Issues concerning the transparency of Georgia’s upcoming elections, both parliamentary and presidential, were also discussed.

A high-level advisor to Russia's Presidents recently worked with IREX and media lawyers to help discern a new set of Internet laws. In a country that Freedom House rates as one with no free press, the meeting was a significant event for all involved.

A group of prominent journalists, judges, police and politicians recently urged authorities to put an end to voilations of press freedom in Kurdistan. Iraqi journalists have long faced intimidation and harassment from security forces. The country is still considered one of the most dangerous places on earth for those in the profession.

IREX is pleased to announce the winners of the 2011-2012 Cultural Passport to America Competition for the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Eurasia and Central Asia (Global UGRAD). Throughout the year, the Global UGRAD Fellows collected stamps for their cultural passport and blogged about their experiences. Anzor (Kazakhstan; Graceland University), Khayyomjon (Tajikistan; Southeast Community College), and Yuliya (Ukraine; SUNY Plattsburgh) were recognized as exemplary cultural ambassadors. They participated in a wide range of cultural events and blogged regularly about their experiences, sharing them with a broader audience.

Recently, Iraqi Members of Parliament from different blocs participated in an intensive two-day media training course in Erbil, organized by IREX in Iraq. Aimed at further developing the media skills of Iraqi MPs, IREX partnered with the Global Partners and Associates Meetings to hold the training.
 

IREX recently participated in the 17^th Annual Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN) Convention, hosted by the Harriman Institute at Columbia University in New York City. ASN is the only scholarly association devoted to the study of ethnicity and nationalism in the regions of Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Each year, ASN brings together scholars, policy analysts, regional specialists, and NGO professionals from all over the world to engage in discussion of regional issues. This year, 618 panelists participated from 42 different countries, presenting 425 papers and screening 13 documentaries.

Carolyn Coolidge at University of Arizona’s law school sums up the impact that LEAD fellow Alisher Khuchakov has had on campus in one word: “Wow.” Throughout his studies at the James E. Rogers College of Law, Alisher Khuchakov, a Legal Education and Development Program for Tajikistan fellow from Dushanbe, brings academic excellence and a unique cultural perspective to the campus and community.

Serving the Community: Building Religious Tolerance

More than 40 religious leaders, activists and journalists in Lebanon recently came together to exchange best practices and to support one another with their recently started community projects to promote religious tolerance. IREX is pleased to give a sneak peek of three of these projects and look forward to sharing their success once the projects are completed.

When 88 master educators from every region of the world came together last week at a four-day workshop in Washington, D.C., they shared more than the teaching methodologies they had cultivated over the course of the six-week program: they shared a new sense of mutual understanding gained from the partnerships they had forged with schools across America.