Open World Program Participants Hosted by FFNHS

Post date: Oct 9, 2014 9:45:33 PM

UKRAINIAN YOUNG PROFESSIONALS EXAMINE

STATE, COUNTY & MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT

DOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

            October 4, 2014: Five Ukrainian young professionals participating in the Open World Program will spend October 24 – November 1, 2014 in Dover and Concord examining the U.S. government at three levels, citizen participation and political organization. Friendship Force of the New Hampshire Seacoast has organized the intensive program. Members of the local club will house the five delegates, their facilitator and an interpreter. 

Managed by the Open World Leadership Center, Open World is the only exchange program in the U.S. legislative branch. Our five delegates are all involved in local and regional government in their home communities. Delegates will get an inside look at U.S. governmental jurisdictions and political organization while developing ties with the Friendship Force members who host them. They will also gain insight into how the free press operates relative go government and politics.

While in New Hampshire, the visiting Ukrainian delegates jurists will tour the State House in Concord and meet with legislators; attend a county commissioners meeting, be briefed by county personnel and tour county facilities; meet with municipal officials and elected leaders; participate in political campaign activities; and meet with international students and international student staff at the University of New Hampshire.

            The visiting delegates are:

Lukov, Vitaliy Dmitrovych, Mayor, Voznesensk, Ukraine

Lyska, Oleksiy Hryhorovych, Department Head, Kharkiv Regional Administration

Nyzhnyk, Volodymyr Valeriyovych, Executive Director, Kirovohrad Regional Assn.

Rudenko, Nataliya Anatoliyivna, Leading Specialist, Kyiv City Council

Tkachuk, Ihor Mykolayovych, Deputy Head of Administration,

Odessa Regional Administration

Bobyk, Yevhen Dmytrovych, Group Facilitator, Legal Counsel, AstraZeneca LLC

            The Open World Leadership Center has awarded a grant to Friendship Force International to administer this and similar exchanges in 2014. 

            The Open World Program is a unique, nonpartisan initiative of the U.S. Congress that builds mutual understanding between the emerging political and civic leaders of participating countries and their U.S. counterparts. It also exposes delegates to ideas and practices they can adapt for use in their own work. Founded in 1999 with a focus on Russia, the program has also in recent years hosted delegations from Lithuania, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Delegates range from first-time mayors to experienced journalists, from nonprofit directors to small-business advocates, and from political activists to high-court judges. Nearly 11,000 Open World participants have been hosted in all 50 U.S. states.  The program’s administering agency, the Open World Leadership Center, is a legislative branch entity with offices at the Library of Congress. 

            For more information, please contact Jim Verschueren, President, Friendship Force of the Greater Seacoast or Elena McCarty, Friendship Force International at 404.965.4354.  For more information on Open World, please visit http://www.openworld.gov.