Youth from Africa Join Others To Attend World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
April 17, 2012

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ (ECA) Youth Programs Division is working with organizers of the 12th World Summit of Nobel Laureates in Chicago to empower the next generation of young activists for peace. ECA’s Youth Leadership Peace Program is bringing a global youth voice to the summit, both in person and virtually.

The Youth Leadership Peace Program, the first of a new type of on-demand U.S. Department of State youth exchange programs, will bring 16 talented secondary school students and four educators from Bangladesh, Liberia, Timor-Leste, and Yemen for a three-week exchange program focused on peace building, community service, and leadership.

The exchange program starts this week in Brattleboro, Vermont where youth participants will be introduced to the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Center’s “Speak Truth to Power” curriculum. Later, students will be paired with Nobel Peace laureates to visit Chicago public high schools, where they will engage with their American counterparts in discussions around the theme of human rights. The students will be active participants in the World Summit of Nobel Laureates, taking place from April 23 to 25, where they will meet Nobel laureates and other world leaders. The students wrap up with a dynamic five-day program in Washington, DC, where the youth leaders will develop community service projects to begin upon their return home.

In addition to the in-person exchange, the U.S. Department of State is working to bring a virtual global audience to the World Summit of Nobel Laureates. Through video conferencing, the U.S. Department of State will link youth from Chicago’s Lincoln Park High School with youth groups in Ghana, Zimbabwe, Algeria, and Peru. These young people will participate in virtual conversations focused on human rights and social justice. These virtual programs and a livestream of the Summit itself will be available at http://conx.state.gov/digital-diplomacy/ for anyone to join the conversation.

To join the conversation, tune in for the livestream; follow Assistant Secretary Ann Stock on twitter at @AnnatState or the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, @ConnectStateGov, using the hashtag #Nobel.

For further information, please visit: http://conx.state.gov/event/world-summit-of-nobel-peace-laureates-2012/