Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

INTERNATIONAL VISITOR LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
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Projects

The International Visitor Leadership Program includes individual and group projects. Individual Projects are tailored for the visitor's professional interests. Group Projects are designed before the visitors arrive in the United States and focus on the common professional interests of the group. Whenever a group travels throughout the United States it is accompanied by professional escort-interpreters. All International Visitor projects are designed to present diverse experiences and discussion topics for their participants. U.S. Department of State desires participation in this program to be a lively and stimulating learning experience. The emphasis is not only on professionally-oriented meetings. It is an important aspect of the program for the visitors to gain an appreciation not only of the geographic size and variety of the U.S., but also its ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic diversity.

Projects for Individuals

Individual Projects are designed taking into account the participant's suggestions which are sent to Washington D.C. before he/she leaves his/her country. These suggestions are discussed among those responsible for developing the participant's program, and a preliminary plan is developed. After the participant arrives in the U.S., this plan is discussed with the participant and final arrangements are made.

Projects for Groups

For each Multi-Regional and Regional Group Project, an outline is prepared summarizing the goals of the project, characteristics of the foreign participants, the project themes and the types of activities that may be helpful in meeting the major goals of the project. The summaries are sent to programming institutions and the U.S. embassies abroad. The programming agencies use the outlines as the basis for preparing their project proposals. The embassies use them to assist in determining their nominees for the project.

Projects for Voluntary Visitors

Voluntary Visitors usually travel either as individuals or as single-country groups self-formed to examine a particular subject. Although combining some aspects of both individual and group projects for grantees, Voluntary Visitor projects are primarily designed around the participants' particular interests and with their active involvement. Suggestions provided by the visitors are sent to Washington, D.C. in advance of their departure for the U.S. and, through constant dialogue with the visitors and Public Affairs Offices overseas, are developed directly by the Voluntary Visitors programming staff, or in conjunction with cooperating programming agencies, into a completed national program. The relatively shorter duration of Voluntary Visitor programs dictates a greater degree of pre-planning, although additional fine-tuning is still possible once the visitors have arrived in the U.S.

There are three general types of Group Projects:

• Multi-Regional Projects (MRPs) — are conducted for English-speaking visitors from all countries of the world and are designed around themes of global interest.
• Regional Projects (RPs) — tend to focus on topics of specific interest to one geographic region. They may be conducted in English or in a foreign language such as French, Spanish, or Arabic.
• Single Country/Small Group Projects — focus on topics of concern to a particular country or small number of countries such as a sub-regional grouping.

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