Building on the White House’s Summit for Democracy, which took place in December 2021, this year-long initiative of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) brings together mayors and municipal leaders from five continents on several virtual and in-person exchanges to meet with American counterparts and address the three pillars of the summit: strengthening democracy and defending against authoritarianism; fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights.
Objectives of the Exchange Visits:
- Gain new knowledge, ideas, tools, and practices to help advance democratic practices, combat corruption, and protect human rights in the participants' home communities.
- Develop professional relationships and networks with local government officials, technical specialists, organizations, and programs in the U.S. to facilitate future collaboration and innovation.
- Provide a platform for sharing best practices and generating innovative ideas on subnational leadership between the international participants and their counterparts in the United States.
Initiative Details:
On December 9-10, 2021, President Biden hosted the Summit for Democracy, a virtual summit for leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector. The summit focused on challenges and opportunities facing democracies and provided a platform for leaders to announce both individual and collective commitments, reforms, and initiatives to defend democracy and human rights at home and abroad. In partnership with USAID, the follow-on IVLP program will engage approximately 15 mayors and municipal leaders and include both virtual and in-person components. Participants will share ideas; network with peers, organizations, and technical specialists in U.S. cities; and raise the public profile of democratic innovation at home and abroad. They will develop Action Plans for proposed reform commitments with quarterly reviews leading up to the December 2022 Summit. The implementing partner for this project is Meridian International Center.