Project Updates

The wide-ranging impacts of the financial crisis have been felt around the world. As citizens and businesses suffer, so too do the media who cover them. Advertising dollars have fallen dramatically, print media are hard-pressed to maintain subscribers, and investment in media suddenly seems even less appealing. At the same time, reporters are faced with reporting on complex global financial systems and their impacts locally.

The isolated mountain village of Bediani, home to a community of 18 former street children, is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Tbilisi along poorly maintained, winding roads. It’s an unlikely destination for young people from Georgia’s capital city; however, thanks to an Alumni Small Grant organized by Muskie alumnus Koba Grdzelishvili, Bediani has become the setting for a unique youth-to-youth development project that builds ties between rural and urban children and teens.

Cairo University’s 100-year history as an educational institution has taken a new turn with a new venture—operating a successful media training center with the help of the USAID-funded Egypt Media Development Program (MDP).

On April 23, as part of the celebration of Romania’s National Library Day, Romania’s new Biblionet program was officially launched. The event was held at the Central University Library in Bucharest, Romania, and included remarks from national stakeholders and program partners, a roundtable with participants from the yearlong pilot program, and a workshop session for Romanian librarians to learn about participation in the first year of the program. Librarians from across Romania attended the event.

Two young men running more than 600 miles in 41 days across the largest country inside Europe is not just impressive, it was enough to raise over $50,000 for premature babies in Ukraine.

Residents of Karak, in southern Jordan, have had little local media to provide news and information. Now, however, they hear the sounds of Sawt Al-Karak FM (the Voice of Karak), a new community radio station at Mutah University. Sawt Al-Karak includes a radio production unit at the Princess Basma Youth Resources Center at the university, where HRH Princess Basma bin Talal and US Ambassador to Jordan Robert Stephen Beecroft helped recognize the student trainees and others who have contributed to the station’s early success.

Closer to the Pacific Ocean than the Volga River, the Russian Far East is home to astounding natural beauty, but local unemployment and the region’s proximity to international borders put job-seekers at risk for human trafficking. Determined to raise awareness of the issue, UGRAD alumnus Ivan Pechorin organized a series of training workshops for over 75 university students and faculty in the Russian Far East.

In Iraq’s transitioning landscape, developing a solid foundation for governance is vital to the stability and success of Iraqi society. Government representatives now have the opportunity to build productive relationships with all members of society, to ensure that the emerging government can respond to the needs of its citizens.

The teenage years are rocky for most people, male or female, with self-esteem decreasing for both sexes after elementary school. However, the drop is more dramatic for girls, and in a male-dominated society, a lack of strong female role models and opportunities for women can exacerbate the problem.

Ira Glass, host of Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life, spoke to more than 200 Russian regional radio journalists in Moscow during the Together Radio Festival this summer. Glass spoke about the importance of public service and the use of personal stories to highlight social issues, as his syndicated radio program does.