Some 55 young ‪Kosovars currently studying in the United States gathered January 11-13 for a for a two-day retreat in Washington, DC. The annual conference brings the students together for discussions on leadership development, their plans and ideas or the future, and how they will both contribute to Kosovo society upon returning home.

During the retreat these talented young people visited the U.S. Congress and met with Representative Eliot Engel, chair of the House Albanian Caucus.  They also met with the Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo ‪Vlora Citaku and USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Thomas Melia.

The students are pursuing their degrees through USAID’s ‪‎Transformational Leadership Program – Scholarships and Partnerships , a program jointly funded with the Government of Kosovo and administered by World Learning. TLP provides opportunities for Kosovars to attend U.S. universities in areas critical to Kosovo’s development such as information technology (IT), business and financial consulting, law, and banking. The purpose of the program is to increase the number of educated professionals in Kosovo that practice participatory democracy values such as personal responsibility, accountability, entrepreneurship, and public action.