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Senior State Department Official Welcomes Youth Leaders to U.S. August 9, 2012 by Kaia Benson Ann Stock, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, welcomed more than 150 international youth leaders to the U.S. to begin academic and cultural programs at more than 80 universities and colleges across the U.S.country as part of the Global UGRAD-Pakistan and Global UGRAD in Eurasia and Central Asia programs. Ms. Stock reminded the students that they are citizen ambassadors for their countries, who “will leave a remarkable impact” on their host communities, building relationships “that can and should last.”	Building Institutions to Build Civil Society: Interview with a Muskie Leader July 18, 2012 Muskie Alumna Ainur Nurtay is the CEO of a non-profit organization based in Kazakhstan, the Central Asian Center for Civil Society Research and Development (RDC). With a degree in public administration from Grand Valley State University, Nurtay contributes to civil society development and accountability across Central Asia. She recently took time to reflect on her fellowship, and how her work benefits from the experience.
Pakistani Student Takes Culture to the Airwaves July 9, 2012 by Sarah Bushman Students at Minnesota State University-Moorhead got an unexpected ‘Journey to Pakistan’ this past semester, thanks to a young Pakistani woman, Zahra, who found her public voice after coming to the U.S. Though students had never before enjoyed a program hosted by an international student, Zahra quickly gained followers through what became a popular campus radio show.	Waiting My Turn in Mongolia July 5, 2012 by Lawrence D. Weiss The lady at the Khan-Uul District Citizen’s Hall, a “Senior Specialist Citizen’s Representative,” was supposed to be showing us around the building. We had an appointment all set up and we were on time. She, however, was blabbing with some locals while we cooled our heels on hard chairs in the Hall for maybe half an hour. I was annoyed -- until I understood what was really happening -- but I am getting way ahead of the story.
A Cultural University July 2, 2012 by Don Allan Mitchell Don Allan Mitchell is an assistant professor of English at Delta State University. The article below was an opinion column originally edited by Jordan Thomas and published in May 2012 in the Cleveland Current and the Delta Business Journal. Recently at Delta State, we said farewell to our friends from the Global UGRAD program: Sirojiddin, Ecaterina, Susanna, David, and Akzer. The U.S. State Department sponsors global UGRAD in Cleveland, Mississippi and similar college towns like Kearney, Nebraska and Troy, Alabama. The highly selective exchange invites university students from Eurasia, to spend a year in residence at U.S. colleges, where they serve as ambassadors for their home countries and learn about American history, culture, and government. I, for one, have learned a lot from these five students.	Announcing the Winners of the 2012 Make a Better World Photo Contest June 29, 2012 IREX is pleased to announce the winners of its Make a Better World Photo Contest. The contest received 2,400 submissions from over 120 countries in an effort to best capture IREX’s tagline, “Make a Better World.” A panel of expert judges selected winning photos based on both artistic merit and their demonstration of one or more of IREX’s seven focus areas; IREX’s friends and followers on social media also helped select the “People’s Choice” winner.
UN Public Service Day: Using IT to Promote Transparency in Governance in Kyrgyzstan June 22, 2012 by Amy Bernath Among the nearly fifty recipients of the CAPS award over the last five years, Omurbek Ibraev of Kyrgyzstan stands out as an innovative leader promoting effective use of technology in the public sector. In his work at Kyrgyzstan’s National Statistics Committee (NSC), Ibraev is coordinating a country-wide effort to promote open access to information through the digitization of local government statistics.	Georgian Women Honored by U.S. State Department June 18, 2012 IREX congratulates Lia Putkaradze, a 2009 Global UGRAD student, on being honored as the June 2012 State Alumni Member of the Month. Putkaradze, one of more than a million State Department alumni, is currently serving as one of Georgia’s first young Corporate Social Responsibility professionals at the Alliance Group Holding company.
In Rural Romania, Youth Educate Their Peers on Public Health Issues June 18, 2012 by Ana-Maria Sinitean Even in this day and age, in a country as developed as Romania, misinformation about HIV/AIDS continues to exist in the rural areas. A group of Roma and non-Roma youth took it upon themselves to shed light on the issue for their peers. Roma and non-Roma youth, aged 14-18, organized a training on the social and biological aspects of the disease for other youth in their school in a new series of workshops on community issues.	From the Stage to the Street: Youth in Kyrgyzstan Speak up about Conflict June 18, 2012 by Anne Johnson “Strangers used to scare me, and it usually took quite awhile before I would talk to new people,” explains Jarkynay Yrysbek kyzy, a high school student from Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan, a city that experienced violent ethnic clashes during the country’s 2010 coup. “But a year has passed since I joined YTP,” she notes, “and I can hardly recognize myself!”