In 2020, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of International Visitors launched IVLP Virtual, the newest addition to the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).  Leveraging the latest tools in online collaboration, IVLP Virtual delivers a premier virtual exchange experience that preserves the unique character of the IVLP.  
 
Through digital meetings, IVLP Virtual enables current and emerging foreign leaders to foster lasting relationships with American counterparts, address topics of strategic interest, and develop greater familiarity and understanding of American values and communities.  This program draws on resources from a variety of sectors at the national, state, and local levels, including government, non-profit, corporate, education, and media.  IVLP Virtual projects include a broad spectrum of programming activities designed to immerse participants in American culture and deepen their engagement with Americans.  These include cultural activities, hospitality sessions with local families, salon series discussions, reunions with prior year groups, and individual or panel presentations.
 
IVLP Virtual projects are short-term exchanges that include a series of meetings with American counterparts in cities across the country occurring over the course of up to four weeks.  At the conclusion of an IVLP Virtual project, participants become members of the U.S. Department of State’s International Exchange Alumni network and remain eligible for future in-person IVLP exchanges. 
 
Like the traditional IVLP, there is no application for IVLP Virtual.  Participants are nominated and selected by staff at U.S. Embassies around the world.  
 
To learn more about the national network that helps implement IVLP Virtual projects, please visit the Global Ties U.S. website

In February 2020, agents practiced taking photos of cultural property to share with subject matter experts.

Cultural property, art, and antiquities are vulnerable to looting, theft, and trafficking by criminal and terrorist groups around the world.  To address this threat, the U.S. Department of State’s Cultural Antiquities Task Force (CATF) and the Smithsonian Institution held its 17th training program for U.S. federal law enforcement personnel.  The four-day training, “Preventing Trafficking and Protecting Cultural Heritage,” was held virtually and served as a refresher and update for 25 seasoned agents from across the United States and around the world who work on cultural property cases.  The training was organized in partnership with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Conservation Institute and Office of International Relations.  

Training participants engaged with cultural heritage experts and other experienced art crime investigators on a wide range of topics.  These included the legal frameworks for cultural property protection, such as new bilateral cultural property agreements and import restrictions, the art market and provenance research, and financial art crimes, including money laundering and the illicit use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).  Agents also learned advanced care, handling, and photography techniques for cultural property.  Speakers included representatives from the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center, Smithsonian Institution, HSI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Justice, INTERPOL, and the private sector.  

This program has now trained over 387 law enforcement personnel since 2009.  In 2021, the CATF and Smithsonian Institution also organized a virtual cultural property anti-trafficking workshop series that covered ancient coinsmanuscripts, and fakes and forgeries.  Collectively, member agencies of the CATF have successfully repatriated more than 20,000 pieces of cultural property to more than 45 countries since the Task Force was established in 2004. 

About the Cultural Antiquities Task Force  

Created by the State Department in 2004 at the direction of Congress, the CATF comprises federal agencies that share a common mission to disrupt cultural property trafficking in the United States and abroad. Since its creation, the CATF has supported more than 100 domestic and international cultural property training programs. CATF is a law enforcement focused working group of the Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee.  Both are managed by the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center.  

Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Matthew Lussenhop and Albanian’s Minister of Culture Elva Margariti concluded a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding that protects Albanian cultural property on August 23, 2021. This agreement solidifies the shared commitment between the United States and Albania to counter looting and trafficking of cultural objects, to guarantee a clean art and antiquities market in the United States, and to increase opportunities for the U.S. public, museums, and researchers to appreciate Albania’s history and culture.

The agreement allows the United States to establish import restrictions on certain categories of Albania’s cultural property, thus reducing the incentive to loot archaeological and historical sites in Albania. The agreement also gives U.S. law enforcement the ability to repatriate trafficked cultural objects back to Albania and it will foster interchange of Albanian cultural heritage with U.S. institutions. 

The United States is unwavering in its commitment to protect and preserve cultural heritage around the world and to prevent trafficking, which is often used to fund terrorist and criminal networks. The cultural property agreement was negotiated by the Department of State under the U.S. law implementing the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The United States has cultural property agreements with countries around the world, as well as emergency import restrictions on cultural property from Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. 

WASHINGTON, DC — Hundreds of young African leaders convened for the virtual  2021 Mandela Washington Fellowship Summit. Selected from a pool of more than 35,000 applicants, the 700 leaders strengthened leadership skills and exchanged ideas with leaders from 49 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and the United States.

“You've just begun to engage with this network. You've just begun to use the new tools you've acquired. This is the beginning of your journey as a Mandela Washington Fellow,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Fellows in his welcome message.

Held August 3 and 4 and hosted by the U.S. Department of State and IREX, the Summit marked the culmination of six weeks of virtual leadership training with 26 U.S. educational institutions. Throughout the program, Fellows developed lasting connections with Americans and forged networks with other young leaders across Africa.

“Since 2014, the Mandela Washington Fellowship has helped shape the next generation of African leaders across government, business, and civil society, and this year, I’m so glad that all of you have had this tremendous opportunity to forge long-term relationships and collaboratively tackle challenges in both the United States and Africa,” Senator Joni Ernst said.

During the Summit’s Partnership Expo, U.S. companies and organizations highlighted their work and connected with the next generation of African decision-makers. Author and Chief Executive Officer of The Africa Center Dr. Uzodinma Iweala delivered the keynote address. Fellows also heard from Mebrahtom ‘Meb’ Keflezighi, an Eritrean-American long-distance runner and Founder of the MEB Foundation.

“You are now part of a vast network of motivated young leaders – friends, allies, and mentors to work with toward a better future,” Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Fellows.  “After all, you represent not just Africa's future, but the future of the world.”

Following the Summit, 70 competitively selected Fellows will participate in six weeks of virtual professional development with U.S. non-governmental organizations, private companies, and government agencies.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).  YALI is the U.S. government's signature effort to invest in young African leaders, and it offers four continent-based Regional Leadership Centers and an online YALI Network with more than 700,000 members.   Videos of the Summit are available online.

 


 

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX.

This month, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ (ECA) Sports Diplomacy Division, in conjunction with FHI 360, kicked off its Virtual Sports Visitor Youth Alumni Summit with participation from approximately 40 youth athlete alumni representing 18 countries around the world. The Summit provides an opportunity for youth to connect on sports related issues that are relevant in today’s world. The summit included seminars on diversity and inclusion, mindfulness and mental health, leadership and teamwork, adaptive sports, and sports nutrition and health.

Given the complexities around social issues, the session on diversity and inclusion was particularly impactful. A facilitator with RISE, a non-profit organization working to improve race relations in the sports community, guided the participants through an interactive session focused on effective methods for community building with the goal of promoting racial equity and cultural competence.

At the beginning of the session, participants were separated into groups and asked to build a virtual trophy. Once the exercise was done, the facilitator solicited feedback on the process. While they were ultimately successful, a few participants mentioned at times it was challenging to work together due to differing opinions on how to complete the task. The facilitator used the discussion as a starting point to describe the concept of community building. He explained that within a community, everyone has a role to play. There are many types of communities in which people belong including family, race, religion, and sports but everyone must all acknowledge the contributions that each person as an individual brings to the table regardless of their differences.

Participants were encouraged to think about the roles they play and how they can contribute to the development of communities they care most about. A student attendee said, “I think a sense of community is important because it allows us to feel like one whole and it puts on us some responsibility, so we are more inclusive. If we feel left outside, we don’t feel any responsibility for our community, and I think that it's actually leaders and everybody in the group’s responsibility to make others feel welcome in the group.”

This session, like others in the three-week Virtual Sports Visitor Youth Alumni Summit, furthers ECA goals. Sport has the ability to increase dialogue and cultural understanding between people around the world. The Sports Diplomacy Division uses sports as a platform to expose foreign participants to American culture while providing them with an opportunity to establish links with U.S. sports professionals and peers. In turn, Americans learn about foreign cultures and the challenges young people from other countries face today.

Striving to reflect the diversity of the United States and global society, ECA programs, funding, and other activities encourage the involvement of American and international participants from traditionally underrepresented groups, including women, racial and ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities.

To learn more about ECA’s Sports Diplomacy Division, follow them on Twitter @SportsDiplomacy.

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Does this painting look like a Henri Matisse? That's the point! It was actually painted by a convicted art forger. Photo courtesy of the FBI Art Crime Team.
Trafficking in stolen, looted, or forged art, antiquities, and other cultural objects benefits criminal organizations and terrorist groups, erodes the legal art market, and harms our relationships with foreign partners and allies. To counter trafficking, U.S. law enforcement personnel received specialized training on trends in illicit trade. 

In July 2021, the Cultural Antiquities Task Force (CATF) held a virtual training workshop for federal law enforcement to build best practices and enhance their knowledge about fakes and forgeries in the cultural property market.  The training brought together over 60 participants from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),  the State Department, the Smithsonian Institution, international partners, and representatives from universities, museums, and the private sector.  Federal investigators and customs officers also learned how to identify fake documentation and clues that an object may be a forgery. 

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This purported Clementine Hunter painting is actually the work of a convicted art forger. Photo courtesy of the FBI Art Crime Team.
This training was the third in a series of virtual anti-trafficking workshops supported by the CATF and organized by the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Conservation Institute, HSI, and FBI.  The workshops provided U.S. law enforcement with knowledge and capabilities to help identify, investigate, and prosecute activities related to some of the most-trafficked categories of cultural property.  

This workshop supplemented the CATF’s annual training program that, in partnership with HSI and the Smithsonian, has now trained over 360 law enforcement personnel since 2009. Collectively, members of the CATF have successfully repatriated more than 20,000 pieces of cultural property to more than 45 countries since 2004. 

 

About the Cultural Antiquities Task Force  

Created by the State Department in 2004 at the direction of Congress, the CATF comprises federal agencies that share a common mission to combat cultural property trafficking in the United States and abroad. Since its creation, the CATF has supported more than 100 domestic and international cultural property training programs. CATF is a law enforcement focused working group of the Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee.  Both are managed by the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center.

Human Trafficking is not exclusive to one singular region; it occurs in every country. Traffickers often exploit the most vulnerable and marginalized. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments to divert resources to pandemic response efforts, has increased the number of individuals at risk to human trafficking, and has allowed traffickers to capitalize on competing crises. This confluence of factors has resulted in an ideal environment for human trafficking to flourish and evolve. It has never been more important for the international community to commit to combating and ending human trafficking. The Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report) is the U.S. government’s principal diplomatic and diagnostic tool to guide engagement with foreign governments on human trafficking. Through the Report, the Department of State assess countries based on their governments’ efforts to meet the “minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking” found in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Globally, the TIP Report has prompted legislation, national action plans, and implementation of anti-trafficking policies and programs. 

Each year, the U.S. Department of State honors outstanding individuals around the world who are fighting to end human trafficking. These Heroes have devoted their lives to combating the crime. These individuals have included NGO workers, lawmakers, government officials, individuals with lived experience of human trafficking, and concerned citizens. They are recognized for their tireless efforts – despite some working in challenging environments where human trafficking concerns remain pervasive and facing resistance, opposition, or threats to their lives – to protect victims, punish offenders, and mitigate the underlying factors that cause vulnerabilities traffickers often target. Despite the new challenges brought on by a global pandemic, these TIP Report Heroes have gone above and beyond to elevate human trafficking as an urgent priority for governments and communities to work together to address.  

The TIP Report Heroes were honored this year at a virtual ceremony during the release of the 2021 TIP Report. ,They will soon embark on a virtual Department of State  International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) to network and collaborate with U.S. government officials and human trafficking advocates. Together with the local leaders in the United States, they will collaborate on best practices, lessons learned, and further anti-trafficking responses in their respective home countries. The TIP Report Heroes will be virtually visiting with partners in Minnesota and Miami.  

Learn more about the TIP Report Heroes here: https://www.tipheroes.org   

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Ancient ceramic vessel from El Caño, Panama. Objects like these are often looted and trafficked. (Source: Carlos Mayo, Parque Arqueológico de El Caño)
Trafficking stolen, looted, or forged art, antiquities, and other cultural objects benefits criminal organizations and terrorist groups, erodes the legal art market, and harms our relationships with foreign partners and allies. The Cultural Antiquities Task Force (CATF) supports training for international law enforcement officials, heritage site managers, museum personnel, and others to counter cultural property trafficking and protect sites and collections.

Latin America continues to be a hot spot for trafficking in cultural property in addition to drugs, counterfeit goods and other contraband. To help Panama protect its heritage and the heritage of the wider region, the CATF supported a recent virtual training for Panamanian customs officer by the Container Control Program (CCP) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Customs Organization (WCO). The CCP builds capacity in countries seeking to improve risk management, supply chain security, and trade facilitation in seaports, airports, and land border crossings to prevent the cross-border movement of illicit goods.

The WCO delivered its specialized Preventing Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Heritage (PITCH) training online from May 31 to June 4, 2021 for 32 customs officers from the Air Cargo Unit at Tocumen International Airport and the Port Control Units in Panama. Trainers included experts from the Ministry of Culture of Panama, the Ministry of Culture of Peru, Spanish National Police, UK Border Force, and INTERPOL. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a CATF interagency partner, also provided training support. The PITCH training included modules on the identification and documentation of cultural objects, the use of international and national databases, interagency cooperation, and customs techniques for smuggling identification and prevention.

This training is part of a larger initiative supported by the CATF through the U.S. Embassy Panama and in coordination with UNODC, WCO, and the Government of Panama to enhance law enforcement capabilities to detect and suppress illicit trade in cultural property that contributes to the revenues of organized crime groups. There will be an additional training in the near future.

 

About the Cultural Antiquities Task Force

Created by the State Department in 2004 at the direction of Congress, the CATF comprises federal agencies that share a common mission to combat antiquities trafficking in the United States and abroad. Since its creation, the CATF has supported more than 100 domestic and international cultural property training programs. CATF is a law enforcement focused working group of the Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee. Both are managed by the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center.

The trafficking in stolen, looted, or forged art, antiquities, and other cultural objects benefits criminal organizations and terrorist groups, erodes the legal art market, and harms our relationships with foreign partners and allies.  To combat trafficking, U.S. law enforcement personnel received specialize training on trends in illicit trade.The trafficking in stolen, looted, or forged art, antiquities, and other cultural objects benefits criminal organizations and terrorist groups, erodes the legal art market, and harms our relationships with foreign partners and allies.  To combat trafficking, U.S. law enforcement personnel received specialize training on trends in illicit trade.

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14th Century Illuminated Manuscript repatriated to Italy in 2016 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection
In June 2021, the U.S. Department of State’s Cultural Antiquities Task Force (CATF) held a virtual training workshop for federal law enforcement to enhance their knowledge about ancient and historic manuscripts such as handwritten books, letters, or other documents.  The training brought together over 100 participants from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Internal Revenue Service, Library of Congress, the State Department, the Smithsonian Institution, international partners, and representatives from U.S. universities and the private sector.  Federal investigators and customs officers learned how to identify potentially looted or stolen manuscripts, how to work with manuscript experts, and how to properly photograph and handle manuscripts.

This training was the second in a series of virtual anti-trafficking workshops supported by the CATF and organized by the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Conservation Institute, HSI, and FBI.  The workshops provided U.S. law enforcement with knowledge and capabilities to help identify, investigate, and prosecute activities related to some of the most-trafficked categories of cultural property.

This workshop supplemented the CATF’s annual training program that, in partnership with HSI and Smithsonian, has now trained over 360 law enforcement personnel since 2009. Collectively, members of the CATF have successfully repatriated more than 20,000 pieces of cultural property to more than 45 countries since 2004.

About the Cultural Antiquities Task Force

Created by the State Department in 2004 at the direction of Congress, the CATF comprises federal agencies that share a common mission to combat antiquities trafficking in the United States and abroad. Since its creation, the CATF has supported more than 100 domestic and international cultural property training programs. CATF is a law enforcement focused working group of the Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee.  Both are managed by the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center.

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