Deadline: 29 November 2016
The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Youth Programs Division, of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has announced an open competition for the FY 2017 Southeast Asia Youth Leadership Program.
SEAYLP aims to create and foster relationships among young people of ASEAN countries and the United States, instill an awareness of shared values to enable youth in the region to face global challenges together, and underscore the U.S. foreign policy pivot toward Asia as a priority for the United States.
The program directly supports the strategic goals of strengthening people-to-people ties between the United States and Southeast Asia, engaging young leaders, and cultivating a more cohesive community identity in the region.
Since 2009, the Southeast Asia Youth Leadership Program (SEAYLP) has provided hundreds of high school students and adult mentors from member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) the opportunity to travel to the United States to explore the shared challenges the United States and ASEAN nations face in the 21st Century as viewed through the three pillars of the ASEAN community: political and security cooperation, economic cooperation, and socio-cultural cooperation and inclusion.
Goals
- Instill a sense of civic responsibility, respect for diversity, and a commitment to cooperation;
- Foster lasting bonds between youth from different ethnic, religious, and national groups;
- Promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and ASEAN countries;
- Develop a cadre of young leaders in the region who will share their knowledge and skills with peers through positive action.
Funding Information
The Fiscal years fund is as follows and will depend upon pending successful performance and availability of funds.
- FY 2017 (base year) – $500,000;
- FY 2018 (Non-Competitive Continuation year one) – $500,000;
- FY 2019 (Non-Competitive Continuation year two) – $500,000
Benefits
During a successful program participants will:
- Demonstrate an increased understanding of the shared challenges their nations face in the 21st Century;
- Work together to identify and overcome misunderstandings and preconceptions;
- Develop leadership skills that empower them to become effective advocates in their home communities; and
- Learn and apply the skills needed to effectively organize their follow-on projects. Learn to network as program alumni.
Participants
- The U.S. Embassy in each of the ten ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) will recruit and select six participants for the program, including young leaders from disability and other diversity groups, resulting in 60 participants from the region.
- They may select six youth, aged 15-17, or five youth and one adult mentor; although, an adult participant is not required.
- Between four and ten adult mentors will participate.
- ECA reserves the right to adjust student participant ages based on the needs of the program, cultural considerations, and U.S. foreign policy objectives.
- The U.S. recipient will recruit and select 10 or more American high school students to participate in portions of SEAYLP.
Eligibility Criteria
Applications may be submitted by U.S. public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3).
How to Apply
Interested applicants can download the application packages via given website.
Eligible Country: United States, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam
For more information, please visit Southeast Asia Youth Leadership Program.