IRIS hosts Serbian group for anti-corruption, Conflict of Interest Law project

Tue, 4 May 2010 13:05:05 -0500

This month, IRIS will host a group of 10 professionals from Serbia, a country in Eastern Europe, through the Community Connections program.
The group of six women and four men will focus on topics relating to conflict of interest law and investigative journalism.
Highlights of their program, which takes place May 5-26, include:
• Meetings with the Iowa Supreme Court and Attorney General, the Iowa Legislative Ethics Committees, the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, and the Iowa Freedom of Information Council;
• Conflict of interest and ethics-related training through the Municipal Leadership Academy;
• A trip to Chicago, where the group will meet with the Whistleblower Action Network, the City of Chicago Ethics Board, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and the managing news editor of the Chicago Sun-Times;
• A panel discussion with reporters from the Des Moines Register, WHO-TV and Iowa Public Radio;
And three action planning sessions, where the participants will focus on ways to effectively implement the ideas they've learned once returning to Serbia.

Program Participants
This group’s program participants include journalists as well as officials from Serbian anti-corruption agencies:
Ms. Danka Aksentijevic Council Member, National Audit Institution
Ms. Natasa Bojic Senior Advisor, Dept. for Conflict of Interest Resolution, Anti-Corruption Agency
Ms. Zlata Djordjevic News Editor, Beta Press News Agency
Ms. Dragana Granic Dept. Head, Strategy & Regulations Implementation, Anti-Corruption Agency
Mr. Vladimir Jankovic Deputy Director, Anti-Corruption Agency
Mr. Nedad Portic NGO Assistant, Transparency Serbia
Mr. Zoran Novakovic News Program Editor, Radio Zrenjanin
Mr. Nebojsa Tasic Manager, Training Programs Group, Anti-Corruption Agency
Ms. Valentina Sestovic Senior Advisor, Office of the Board, Anti-Corruption Agency
Ms. Jana Jelic Project Manager, Standing Conference of Cities and Municipalities

Six YES7 students chosen to take part in World Food Prize essay competition

Thu, 1 Oct 2009 23:30:15 -0500

On Oct. 15-17, six high school exchange students from Nigeria and Tanzania attended the World Food Prize Foundation’s Global Youth Institute, a three-day event in Des Moines, Iowa, United States.
At the event, the students joined over 200 high school students and teachers from across the U.S. and around the world and more than 600 global leaders from 65 countries to discuss pressing food security and agricultural issues with international experts.
The Tanzanian students were David Lemery of Kilimanjaro, John Keto of Tanga, Miriam Laizer of Dar es Salaam and Ndeenga Shamata of Arusha. The Nigerian students were Suleiman Ameh of Benue State and Sunday Ishaya of Bauchi State. The students are studying in the U.S. until May 2010 through the State Department’s Youth Exchange and Study Program.
Following the symposium luncheon, the students were able to briefly speak with H.E. Ombeni Sefue, Tanzania’s ambassador to the United States.
“I was so happy to meet with the ambassador,” John said. “We talked about our exchange program, and he was very glad to know that there are such products of the relationship between Tanzania and the USA.”
Program includes one-of-a-kind opportunities
As part of the program, the students toured cutting-edge industrial and research facilities, took part in symposium discussions with global leaders in science, industry and policy, and packaged food aid for vulnerable and food-insecure populations in Tanzania.
“Packaging food made me feel so happy to know I was helping to serve their life!” Miriam said. “I was able to write a message in my language on the boxes, so that was special!”
In addition, the student delegates presented papers they had researched and written on a critical aspect of food security and discussed their findings with international experts and their peers in roundtable discussions.
“I am very excited because I was able to present my views on world food insecurity issues and some of the solutions to individuals who will actually be able to take action on the solutions I presented,” said John.
David was able to use his personal experiences with gender discrimination and urbanization in Tanzania for his essay. “I selected my topic because it dealt with the problems facing my country right now,” said David. “The essay was difficult, but I experience many things in my everyday life in Tanzania.”
“The essay was an opportunity to enlighten the Americans about the condition of economy in my country,” Suleiman said. “Plus, the aim of the YES program is to share cultural and economic ideas with the African countries.”
Sunday took a different route and chose to write about a country other than his own. “I looked at several countries and found that Guinea-Bissau had many interesting things that I did not know about,” he said. “I spent many hours of reading and researching on the computer. It was not easy - and almost too difficult - but I worked hard and was so glad when I got it all done!”
Students learn valuable lessons
In addition to the opportunity to simply attend the Global Youth Institute, the experience benefitted the students in several other areas, from writing skills to public speaking.
“This experience helped improve my English and my time management because I had to do the essay and still continue to do all of my school homework,” said Ndeenga “I learned how to be confident in front of people and some methods that may help Africans to fight hunger.”
“I had a fear of talking in public,” said Suleiman. “Writing this essay really helped to increase my skill of writing because I had never written such a long essay, but I managed to do it. I also talked in public, which was a great battle for me, but I tried and did it.”
The students also left the event with some new ideas about the world and helping others.
“Since I was young, I knew that people in the world suffer from poverty and hunger, but I never knew how severe the situation was,” John said. “This event gave me a chance to view the situation from another perspective hence broadening my understanding and awareness of poverty and hunger and making me think of what I can do for these people.”
“One of the most important things I learned from the conference was that no matter where you come from and no matter what your religion, we all need to love one another and also share things with those who don’t have what they need,” Sunday said.
The idea that stayed with Miriam was something the 2009 World Food Prize Laureate, Dr. Gebisa Ejeta of Ethiopia said: “Education is not the matter of serving yourself – it’s the matter of serving the whole world.”
The World Food Prize is awarded annually to an individual or individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
More about the program
The YES program is locally coordinated by Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS), a nonprofit, non-religious organization that aims to promote international understanding, development and peace. This year, 60 high school students from Nigeria and Tanzania are studying in Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois through IRIS and the YES Program.
In order to be chosen to attend the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute, students submitted a summary to IRIS, and the six most compelling summaries were chosen to be researched and developed into full essays.

Delegation from Turkmenistan visits Iowa, studies renewable energy and sustainability

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:47:22 -0500

A delegation of businessmen from Turkmenistan recently visited Iowa to take part in a three-week renewable energy project through World Learning and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Community Connections program.
The ten men, who included government officials, scientific researchers and industry experts from Turkmenistan, traveled throughout Iowa from July 22-August 12 – visiting Iowa businesses and living with volunteer host families.
“Our goal is to get experience – to learn from our American counterparts,” said Aleksandr Jumayey, head of the Department of Research and Analysis of Manufacturing Technologies at the Sun Institute in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. “When working in science, you can’t work alone – in isolation – and hope to learn.”
Some highlights of their trip included visiting:
PowerFilm, Inc., a flexible solar panel manufacturer, in Ames
The Iowa State Capitol – met with officials from the Iowa Office of Energy Independence and toured the building with Sen. Daryl Beall
Biomass Energy Conversion (BECON) Facility in Nevada
Iowa Lakes Community College’s Wind Energy and Turbine Technology Program in Estherville
Top of Iowa and IBERDROLA wind farms in Joice
Iowa Renewable Energy Association (I-RENEW) and the Oakdale Renewable Energy Plant in Iowa City
ACCIONA Windpower Turbine Technology Assembly Plant in West Branch
Abundance Ecovillage in Fairfield
Alliant Energy’s Second Nature Program in Cedar Rapids

Many in the group had never previously been to the U.S. and said their opinions of Americans changed after visiting Iowa.
“I was surprised that every Iowan wants to do something to protect the environment,” said Serdar Yovbagsheyyey, director of the Ashgabat State Power Plant. “And not just that they want to do it at their home, but that they will even pay for it themselves.”
The delegation also participated in several cultural activities and three action-planning sessions in Iowa before concluding their trip Chicago and departing for Turkmenistan on Aug. 12.

More on the Community Connections program and the local host organization
The Community Connections program is managed by World Learning. The program is designed to promote public diplomacy through the exchange of cultural ideas and values between international participants and U.S. organizations and host families.
All participants are recruited through an open competition and selected by local USAID Missions.
Host families are coordinated through a local host organization, in this case, Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS). These organizations work closely with local businesses and public and private organizations, which volunteer their time and resources to develop and implement programs for Community Connections visitors.