BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – Building strong people-to-people ties and fostering long-lasting collaboration with current and future global leaders is possible through the U.S. Department of State’s exchange programs.
Eswatini is going to be part of the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP).
Bongani Dlamini, the Sales and Marketing Manager for MTN Bushfire International Festival of the Arts departs for the United States of America today to participate in an International Visitors leadership Program (IVLP) on Social Entrepreneurs.
The objectives of the three weeks program are to examine the role of social entrepreneurship in the United States and what makes social ventures sustainable, self-sufficient, and scalable, and give Dlamini an opportunity to network with U.S. counterparts to discuss best practices and innovative approaches to social change in areas such as poverty alleviation, education, public health, and the environment.
The news were announced by the United States of America (USA) Embassy Communication department through their social media platforms.
“The program also aims to assess the impact of strategic collaborations, youth initiatives, corporate social responsibility, and hybrid nonprofit/for-profit enterprises. We wish him well and trust he will return to Eswatini ready to serve his community and country,” read the communique.
Worth mentioning is that In 2021, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) launched a special initiative to provide follow-on support to alumni of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the Department’s premier professional exchange program.
This special initiative, the IVLP Impact Awards, enables recent IVLP alumni to build on their exchange experience and implement innovative and meaningful projects to address challenges in their home communities.
Through grants of up to $5,000 USD, alumni may leverage the knowledge and connections gained from their IVLP exchanges to design projects that are creative, impactful, and engaging.
Although a new initiative, more than 220 IVLP alumni from over 100 countries have already implemented IVLP Impact Award projects.
These community projects focused on a variety of foreign policy priorities, including countering disinformation and fake news, advancing climate solutions, addressing challenges facing democracy, peace, and security, and more.
Several projects also focused on responding to current global crises.
In 2022, more than 20 IVLP Impact Award projects focused specifically on addressing issues related to the war against Ukraine.
The objectives of these projects ranged from assisting with refugee integration and inclusion to documenting the stories of the people affected by this crisis.
