leadership

I’ve just returned from a series of meetings in New York. With the UN General Assembly  and the annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) conference taking place, the energy in the international development community was palpable.

I was especially excited to learn about the new Girls Not Brides initiative launched at CGI by The Elders in partnership with the Ford and Nike Foundations, as gender is one of IREX’s core focus areas.

Thirty years ago, I arrived in China as a young American diplomat after the normalization of relations between the two countries. This summer, I returned to China to witness the vast changes that have taken place.

I had the opportunity to attend the expansion ceremony for IREX’s China Student Journalism Program and the second annual journalism camp held in the remote northwestern province of Gansu. Walking into an auditorium filled with Chinese and American youth, I could feel the energy and excitement in the room. Students and their teachers were proud of the newspapers displayed on the walls of this large auditorium. Their eagerness and commitment to serving as voices for their peers and community were inspiring.

A recent report from News Group International analyzed trends in social media around the Arab Spring, specifically looking at the footprint and characteristics of online discussions immediately before and during the political uprising in Egypt. It highlighted a trend in the online discussions that demonstrated the inter-connected nature of economic frustration and political upheaval, even highlighting a tipping point in January 2011 when the demands of political defiance overtook the discussion of economic frustration.

The UN’s International Year of Youth reminds all of us in the development community of the value of youth contributions to a vibrant civil society, to good policy development, and to bringing our world closer together.  In addition, the Year reminds us that youth also will be the entrepreneurs for tomorrow; their creativity, with our help, must assure employment for a large percentage of the world’s population.

Twelve University Administrators from Armenia, Georgia, Ghana, Russia and Ukraine arrived at IREX on September 27^th to begin their University Administration Support Program Fellowship.