| Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC February 14, 2006 Council for International Visitors Annual Meeting in Washington To Focus on International Understanding through Citizen Diplomacy, February 16-18, 2006Representatives from more than ninety communities across the United States who coordinate local programming for the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) will convene in Washington, DC, at the National Council for International Visitors (NCIV) annual meeting, February 16-18. The theme for the meeting is "International Understanding through Citizen Diplomacy," and the meeting will take place at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes will address the conference on Thursday, February 16 at 9:30am and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns will address the conference on Thursday, February 16 at 12:30pm. The NCIV network, which includes program agencies and over 90 community-based organizations, will focus on its important role in furthering America's foreign policy goals in partnership through the IVLP. The national meeting is an opportunity for program partners to deepen their understanding of U.S. public diplomacy and U.S. foreign policy, strengthen International Visitor Leadership programming skills, discuss best practices, and meet some of the thousands of dedicated individuals promoting citizen diplomacy across the country. Managed by the Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), the IVLP brings over 4000 potential or established opinion makers in government, media, public policy, education and other field to the United States each year for professional programs that address the visitors’ professional interests. Alumni of the program include such distinguished leaders as Tony Blair, Hamid Karzai, Anwar Sadat, Indira Gandhi, and F.W. deKlerk. International Visitor Leadership Program alumni H.E. Helgi Agustsson, Ambassador of Iceland, and H.E. Abdoulaye Diop, Ambassador of the Republic of Mali, will be guest participants at the national meeting. Agustsson came to the United States under the program in 1978 and Diop came in 2001. Approximately 300 International Visitor Leadership Program participants are currently in the United States on over 50 IVLP projects. The over 4000 visitors who travel to the United States annually through the IVLP are among the more than 30,000 annual exchanges managed by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. For more information about this conference, or other ECA exchanges, please contact Nicole Deaner, (202)-203-7613 or Adam Meier, (202)-203-7026 2006/183 |
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