GlobalPittsburgh Hosting Leaders from Kyrgyzstan Studying Accountable Governance in Pittsburgh & Harrisburg

Five members of Parliament from the Kyrgyz Republic participating in the Open World Program will spend six days in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg examining Accountable Governance, arriving June 24, 2011.

GlobalPittsburgh is hosting the delegation for the Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress, which enables emerging Eurasian political and civic leaders to work with their U.S. counterparts and experience American-style democracy at the local level.

While in Pittsburgh, the delegates will meet with representatives of several elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, Gov. Tom Corbett, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, and Pa. Rep. Dan Frankel, as well as Evelyn R. Stypula, advocate for people with disabilities, and Professor John M. Burkoff, University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

While in Harrisburg, the delegates will meet with Pete Tartline, Executive Deputy Secretary of Budget, John Guyer, Director of Budget Analysis, and Nicholas Cammauf, Senior Case Worker, Office of U.S. Representative Joe Pitts.

“We are honored to host this distinguished group of leaders from the Kyrgyz Republic and to connect them with leaders here in Pennsylvania,” said Roger O. Cranville, President of GlobalPittsburgh. “This ongoing process of exchange and communication between our country and other countries leads to important future opportunities and greater understanding and cooperation between us all.”

Homestays with local GlobalPittsburgh host families will allow the delegates to experience American family life. They will also take part in several cultural and community activities, including a visit to the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History, a Bach, Beethoven & Brunch performance by the Freya String Quartet, and a tour of the State Capitol.

For more than 50 years, GlobalPittsburgh, formerly known as the Pittsburgh Council for International Visitors, has forged relationships between the Greater Pittsburgh Region and the global community through citizen diplomacy – connecting people and institutions in the region with audiences around the world through a wide range of hosting, training, networking, educational and outreach programs and services.

GlobalPittsburgh engages international delegations, groups and individuals by creating itineraries and facilitating introductions through the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program and other international programming agencies in many fields, including energy and environment, life sciences and medicine, education, business and technology, clean/green design, advanced manufacturing, arts and culture, government and finance, social services and law, and other areas.

GlobalPittsburgh welcomes individuals and families to engage in citizen diplomacy as dinner and home stay hosts, tour guides, office and event volunteers, and greeters for visiting delegations and individuals.

The Open World Program is a unique, nonpartisan initiative of the U.S. Congress designed to build mutual understanding between the United States and Eurasia. Over 16,000 Open World participants have been hosted in all 50 U.S. states since the program’s inception in 1999. Delegates range from members of parliament to mayors, from innovative nonprofit directors to experienced journalists, and from political party activists to regional administrators.

The Open World Leadership Center has awarded a grant to AED, the Academy for Educational Development, to administer this and similar exchanges in 2011.

The visiting delegates are Mr. Almazbek Baatyrbekovich Baatyrbekov, member of Parliament and Deputy of the Republican Party; Mr. Dastan Dalabayevich Bekeshev, member of Parliament, Chair of the Committee on Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and NGOs, member of the Ar-Namys Party; Ms. Elmira Sansyzbayevna Imanaliyeva, member of Parliament and the Ata Jurt Party; Mr. Baktybek Orozaliyevich Kalmamatov, member of Parliament and Deputy of the Ata Meken Party; Mr. Daniyar Omurzakovich Terbishaliyev, member of Parliament, Chairman of the Voluntary Police Union and member of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan; Mr. Akhmadkhon Yusupkhanovich Yusupkhanov, consultant to a member of Parliament; and Mr. Kyialbek Toksonbaev, Press Secretary, Ministry of Labor, Employment and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic.

For more information about GlobalPittsburgh, please contact Gail Shrott, Vice-President of Program Services, at 412-392-4513. For more information on GlobalPittsburgh, visit www.globalpittsburgh.org. For more information on Open World, visit www.openworld.gov.