community leaders

"These people are fighting for survival in societies that are hostile to their very existence," said Dr. Chloe Schwenke, who described LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people as being "embattled." She, along with three other global LGBT experts -- Urooj Arshad, Victor Mukasa, and Ryan Ubuntu Olson -- spoke at a recent IREX event on how the international development community could best work with LGBT populations globally.

As the vulnerability of LGBT people around the world has been well-documented by organizations such as the UN and Human Rights Watch, the experts offered these key recommendations for those working with LGBT groups abroad: 

When I think about what I want exchange students to experience during their time in the United States, grocery shopping has never made the list. Visit Washington D.C. and view the Declaration of Independence? Check. Attend a baseball game? Sure. Debate the merits of fruits and vegetables found at the local grocery store? Not really one I'd considered.

I have been managing IREX’s Tech Age Girls (TAG) project for several years and the transformation that happens in the participants in the short period of 5-6 month continues to inspire me. TAG is a unique project because it uses technology as a means of developing leadership, sense of volunteerism, and confidence in high school girls.

Youth were marginalized for years in the Arab countries. Considered a source of instability, they were ignored by governments and excluded from the decision-making processes that affected their lives. But something has happened in the last year. Aware that if they don’t initiate change themselves for a better future, then no one will, they took the lead in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Morocco, and other Arab states. But it seems that revolutions are the easiest part. The transitional period and the establishment of a sustainable democracy is another tremendous challenge for youth. The regime collapsed … and so what?

Forty-three years ago today, IREX was created to help advance exchanges, not just of people, but of ideas. As we celebrate IREX’s founding, we honor its original charge by continuing to bring people together, to link institutions both within and across countries and regions, and to host events where the latest thinking and research is shared with the world.