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UNO, East-West Center Launch Young South Asian Leaders Initiative During UN General Assembly Meetings

UNO’s International Programs received a $2.65 million, 36-month grant to implement the initiative along with the East-West Center in Hawaii (EWC).

  • published: 2024/10/03
  • contact: Sam Peshek - UNO Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications
  • email: unonews@unomaha.edu
Left to right: Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, US Department of State Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Lee Satterfield, Director of the UNO Center for Afghanistan and Regional Studies Sher Jan Ahmadzai, and Abby Finkenaur, Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues at DoS.

Left to right: Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, US Department of State Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Lee Satterfield, Director of the UNO Center for Afghanistan and Regional Studies Sher Jan Ahmadzai, and Abby Finkenaur, Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues at DoS.

Highlights

  • UNO’s International Programs received a $2.65 million 36-month grant to implement the initiative along with the East-West Center in Hawaii (EWC).

  • UNO Interim Associate Vice Chancellor Jody Neathery-Castro, Ph.D.: “Engaging young people and equipping them with the knowledge and networks to be leaders is crucial to ensuring regional stability and addressing global challenges.”

  • Sher Jan Ahmadzai, Director of the UNO Center for Afghanistan and Regional Studies, will serve as principal investigator on the grant, with Associate Professor of Public Health Sofia Jawed-Wessel, Ph.D., serving as UNO Academic Director.


On Sept. 25, 2024, on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. Department of State Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Lee Satterfield and Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu launched the Young South Asian Leaders Initiative (YSALI), which will bring together youth from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka to address shared issues of importance, including economic opportunity, environmental resilience, and civic participation.

UNO’s International Programs received a $2.65 million 36-month grant to implement the initiative along with the East-West Center in Hawaii (EWC). The program launch on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly was attended by:

  • Jody Neathery-Castro, Ph.D., UNO Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement

  • Sher Jan Ahmadzai, Director of the UNO Center for Afghanistan and Regional Studies

  • Lance Boyd, EWC Senior Experiential Leadership Education Specialist.

Ahmadzai will serve as Principal Investigator on the grant, with Associate Professor of Public Health Sofia Jawed-Wessel, Ph.D, serving as UNO Academic Director.

The event, which began with an a cappella performance by South Asian university students, brought together government officials from across South Asia, partners from the private sector and civil society, and students, demonstrating the United States’ continued commitment to engage and empower young people globally by expanding the youth network model to South Asia.

“With over 420 million young people between the ages of 18 – 30 in South Asia, engaging young people and equipping them with the knowledge and networks to be leaders is crucial to ensuring regional stability and addressing global challenges,” noted Interim Associate Vice Chancellor Jody Neathery-Castro. “UNO is proud to team up with the US Department of State and our academic partner the East-West Center to develop such vital global leadership development initiatives.”

“The East-West Center is thrilled to be partnering with UNO on this historic initiative, building on our two institutions' areas of expertise and leveraging our Center's decades of experience in running international leadership exchanges sponsored by the State Department and others," said Ann Hartman, EWC's Dean of Education and Director of Professional Development.

Beginning in spring 2025, YSALI will join other regional youth networks from across the globe, including the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI). Both UNO and EWC have developed and led YSEALI programs. Since 2014 UNO has been a recipient of more than $12M in federal government grants to establish and implement the UNO YSEALI Institute for Civic Engagement and has hosted fall and spring cohorts of fellows each year and has led regional and alumni workshops in Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and next year in Cambodia.

EWC was one of the founding institutions when YSEALI was launched in 2013, and since then the Center has led YSEALI Institutes on Environmental Issues for more than 370 YSEALI participants from across Southeast Asia, in addition to leading YSEALI regional and alumni workshops in Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, and next year Laos.

UNO and EWC will host five workshops for YSALI participants in the South Asia region, partnering with local organizations on regional workshops to promote environmental resilience, civic engagement, and entrepreneurship. A two-week U.S. workshop will include a one-week residency at UNO focused on leadership and civic engagement plus a one-week study tour in Washington, D.C. investigating the American political and media landscape.