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Today, Ambassador Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir and Secretary-General for the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development Dato’ Dr. Junaidah binti Kamarruddin officiated the Malaysia launch of the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), a flagship U.S. government program under the White House-led Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.  Through AWE, women entrepreneurs around the globe are participating in a facilitated business development program.  AWE aims to help women reach their full economic potential and create conditions for increased stability, security, and prosperity for all.

In Malaysia, the U.S. Embassy is partnering with the Women Entrepreneur Network Association (WENA) to implement AWE.  Under this program, 30 aspiring women entrepreneurs were selected from among hundreds of applicants from four regional areas: Klang valley, Kedah, Kelantan and Sabah.  Over the course of the year-long program, AWE participants will take part in a facilitated online learning program, receive supplementary skills training from WENA, be assigned mentors and have access to micro-financing for their businesses.

The Academy of Women Entrepreneurs is part of the Embassy’s Wanita Empowered campaign to promote equality in opportunity, support growth and strengthen economic ties between the U.S. and Malaysia.  Investing in girls and women creates a ripple effect that yields multiple benefits, not only for individual women, but also for families, communities, and countries.

Quotes
Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, U.S. Ambassador: “Throughout the Wanita Empowered Campaign, the U.S. Embassy will be engaging in programs and initiatives at the grassroots level, including AWE, as a sign of our commitment.  Actions speak louder than words and the 30 women who are embarking on this journey with us through AWE are remarkable.  As individuals and collectively, they epitomize the potential of all women in our societies.”

Nuraizah Shamsul Baharin, WENA President: “WENA believes in promoting women of substance through entrepreneurship. With the recent pandemic causing unprecedented hardships especially for women businesses in the macro and informal sector, we see the immediate need to strengthen these businesses.  The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, supplemented by WENA’s business growth program is indeed timely and we hope that a year-long project will create sustainable growth and impact.  We are excited to embark on this journey with the US Embassy KL.”

AWE Participant Nur Hazian Ghazali, Founder BeeBudz: Started in 2016, BeeBudz was created with the idea to replace kids’ snacks into something much healthier than chocolates & candies. Founder and Managing Director Ms. Nur Hazian Ghazali strives to create awareness on the misconception of honey and bees and promote the health benefits of honey for children.  “I am so excited to be selected in the AWE. BeeBudz has been badly affected during the pandemic and this opportunity has helped boost my self-confidence to continue pursuing my dreams. Thank you WENA and US Embassy!”

Link to photos

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When Albania was struck by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake last year, 51 people were killed and more than 3,000 were injured. The disaster also damaged the ancient fortifications of Krujë, Durrës and Prezë.

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Two staff members at the U.S. Embassy in Albania, Lucija Straley and Mirela Cupi, described the importance of the fortifications.

Krujë

“The fortification of Krujë is among the top tourist attractions in Albania,” Straley said.

A short trip from Albania’s capital city, Tirana, the Krujë site has two museums and a historic bazaar that sells Albanian crafts. The site also offers panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. Within its walls, Krujë has a domed building known as the Tekke (mosque) of Dollmë, dedicated to a liberal Islamic Sufi order called Bektashism. The building and the mural adorning the interior of the mosque’s dome were damaged by the earthquake.

Durrës

The walled city of Durrës, along the Albanian coast, is known for its defensive fortification and castle. These were built primarily by the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I, who led from 491 to 518 C.E. The fortification includes a long wall that originally had four towers, three of which still stand.

Sections of the fortification date back to the late 5th and early 6th centuries C.E., although the city walls were destroyed, rebuilt and reinforced several times between the Middle Ages and the 17th century.

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Prezë

Prezë, located on a hilltop, has four towers, including a clock tower — one at each corner of its fortified walls. “It offers idyllic scenery and sweeping views of the Adriatic Sea,” Straley said. It was a stronghold for Albania’s national hero, nobleman Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, who defended his country against Ottoman invasions from 1444 to 1466.

The fortification of Prezë is a pentagon-shaped structure, built in the 14th and 15th centuries, and includes the ruins of its former watchtowers in four of its five corners. “According to legend,” Cupi said, “people used gigantic torches to communicate across long distances from these watchtowers during Skanderbeg’s battles against the Ottomans.”

U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim, in her June 23 remarks at the signing ceremony, said the project “demonstrates the value the United States places on Albania’s rich heritage, and my hope is that the completed work will stand as a testament to the deep friendship between our two peoples.”

Original article posted on ShareAmerica website.

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In September 2019, the Category 5 Atlantic hurricane — The Bahamas’ worst natural disaster on record — slammed the Abaco Islands and the Grand Bahama Islands and left them without electricity and running water, placing local museums’ collections in peril.

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The Smithsonian team brought some needed conservation supplies and taught conservation techniques to their Bahamian peers. Soon afterward, a $42,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) provided additional conservation supplies to two community museums on the Abaco Islands that suffered extensive damage to their structures and collections.

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The AFCP grant is providing HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) vacuums and brushes to gently remove mold spores, conservation-quality storage materials for rehousing objects, and personal protective gear for staffers while they work with moldy collections.

In addition, the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative will consult with local experts on conservation, as requested, and track the shipment of supplies to The Bahamas, where NAGB partners will take charge.

Since its creation in 2001, the AFCP has provided financial support to 1,000 projects in 125 countries around the world.

Original article posted on ShareAmerica website.

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Phase one of the AWE program started in July 2019 and concluded in July 2020.  WEAC Zambia and BongoHive implemented the program for 100 participants in Lusaka.  Phase two of AWE has expanded beyond Lusaka into Kitwe and Ndola.  WEAC Zambia will conduct business training sessions for women entrepreneurs in the three cities based on an online course called “DreamBuilder” with the facilitation of experienced business coaches.  Participants who successfully complete the training will qualify to compete for grant seed funding from the United States African Development Foundation.

Zambia is among 51 countries worldwide participating in the AWE program launched globally in March 2019 by U.S. Department of State.  The U.S. Embassy’s continued partnership with WEAC Zambia (formerly WECREATE Zambia) highlights the U.S. government’s commitment to promoting entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment to help Zambia create a better economic future.  This partnership helps to fulfill women’s economic potential, and in doing so, creates conditions for increased stability, security, and prosperity for all.

Due to the ongoing conflict, museums across Libya remain closed to protect their collections from looting and other damage.  As a result, many communities in Libya have lost a vital link to their country’s rich past that museums and public programming create. It has also left these communities susceptible to extremist ideologies that attempt to distort or erase historical memory and to devalue or destroy cultural objects, sites, and traditions. 

Thanks to a partnership started in 2018 between the American Schools of Oriental Research, the Libyan Department of Antiquities, and the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides of Libya, communities are once again able to connect with the rich cultural heritage of Libya through “Museums in a Suitcase.” These outreach toolkits help facilitate hands-on activities for the public including a mock excavation, the documentation of artifacts (replicas of vases and oil lamps), and the conservation of a broken (modern) clay jar.

With financial support from the U.S. Embassy in Libya through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and the Cultural Antiquities Task Force, the program expanded beginning in 2019 to participants in Ghadames, Sabratha, Leptis Magna, Bani Walid, Sirte, al Beidah, Cyrene, Sebha, Yefren, Nalut, Ghat, Germa, Zuwara, Janzour, Tripoli, and Benghazi. “Museum in a Suitcase” events have provided education and stewardship activities to over 430 teachers, K-12, and university students that promote cultural understanding and counteract violent extremism and the destruction of shared heritage.  There are now 23 suitcases in circulation and there have been more than 15 workshops since October 2019.

Along with the program partners, these outreach events have included local municipalities, universities, heritage groups, and the Libyan Tourist Police and Antiquities Protection Authority. Dr. Mofida Mohammed, Chair of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sabratha, used the “Museum in a Suitcase” to raise awareness about cultural heritage protection among grade-schoolers as well as local tourist police officers who are responsible for the physical protection of the archaeological site of Sabratha and its surroundings. Regarding the project, Dr. Mohammed noted, “Given the difficult circumstances that we currently face in Libya, and the lack of resources at our university, these suitcase activities help both our students and the instructors forget some of the depressing aspects of our lives and focus on something we all care about: protecting our culture.”

About the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation

The Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), created in 2001 at the direction of Congress, supports projects to preserve a wide range of cultural heritage in less developed countries, including historic buildings, archaeological sites, ethnographic objects, paintings, manuscripts, and indigenous languages and other forms of traditional cultural expression. Since its creation, AFCP has supported more than 1,000 cultural heritage projects around the world. 

About the Cultural Antiquities Task Force 

Created by the State Department in 2004 at the direction of Congress, the Cultural Antiquities Task Force (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 95 domestic and international cultural property training programs.

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SUVA – The United States Ambassador Joseph Cella welcomed over 70 Fijian women entrepreneurs today at the U.S. Embassy to celebrate the launch of the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), a program designed to further enhance their business prowess. Six groups of 16 women throughout Viti Levu, will start workshops on July 29th consisting of online training paired with mentor facilitation.

The U.S. Embassy is proud to partner with both the Women Entrepreneurs Business Council (WEBC), and Makoi Women’s Vocational Centre to manage the AWE program. U.S. State Department’s funding (US$17,360) will provide opportunities for women to learn skillsets that can be directly and immediately applied to their business.

Ambassador Cella said, “The AWE program supports an evolving and expanding network of women entrepreneurs. This program facilitates local businesswomen to enhance the economic potential of their communities through innovative ideas and improved business skills.”

The 96 selected participants come from diverse backgrounds and levels of business expertise. Beyond learning in the academy, they will continue to be mentored and encouraged to share, learn, and network with other members of their group. The continued support of women entrepreneurs fosters ideals supported by the U.S. government. The U.S. Embassy looks forward to seeing participants of this program flourish into successful business leaders and seeing them and their graduation.

This year ECA launched the Access for All campaign! The purpose of this campaign is to celebrate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 30th anniversary. ECA is committed to including persons with disabilities as exchange program participants and to advancing disability rights in the United States and abroad.

The Americans with Disabilities act was signed into law July 26, 1990 to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life including employment, education, transportation, and other public and private places open to the general public.

ECA is proud of its tradition and strong record of including persons with disabilities in its exchange programs—from its flagship Fulbright Programs to FLEX and YES high school students from abroad; from its valued IVLP participants to U.S. undergraduate Gilman award recipients; from Sports Diplomacy Programs to Programs in culture and the arts; and many more. Beyond that, the Bureau works with each individual disabled participant, as necessary, on a case-by-case basis, to provide “reasonable accommodations” that help participants have as successful and comprehensive exchange experience as possible.

Join us as we showcase how ECA programs empower participants to advance disability rights, challenge discriminatory policies in their countries, improve accessibility, promote mainstream education and employment, start a business, build capacity to advocate for the rights of other persons with disabilities, and enhance their own career paths.

Follow the campaign on Twitter @ECAatState, Instagram @Exchangeourworld and Facebook @ExchangeProgramsatState. Tweet us using the hashtag #AccessforAll. For press inquiries in the United States, contact ECA-Press@state.gov.