Accidental activist will tell her story of life in Saudi Arabia on June 15

MANAL AL-SHARIF: DARING TO DRIVE

Presented by The Music Hall in partnership with the World Affairs Council of NH & NH Women's Foundation 

Thursday, June 15 at 7 PM - The Music Hall Loft, Portsmouth

Providing a rare glimpse into the day-to-day life of the typical Saudi woman, Manal Al-Sharif tells the remarkable story of how she became the accidental leader of the Women2Drive movement; and brought global attention to her country’s tyrannical male guardianship system and its oppression of women. She is the author of the new book, Daring to Drive.

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An important update on the national budget

Tim Horgan, WACNH Associate Director (back row, far left), joined other members of the Alliance for International Exchange for a visit to the office of Senator Jeanne Shaheen last month to advocate for congressional support of international exchange opportunities.

An important update from the Alliance for International Exchange: "The budget released last month by President Donald Trump proposes an unprecedented cut of 32 percent to the International Affairs budget, and a 55 percent cut to the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs specifically. 

'If adopted, these cuts would greatly harm our nation’s public diplomacy efforts,' said Ilir Zherka, Executive Director of the Alliance for International Exchange. 'As Defense Secretary James Mattis has suggested, the way to reduce the possibility of war is to increase people-to-people diplomacy – which is at the heart of cultural and educational exchanges.

'Fortunately, Congress has consistently demonstrated a strong, bipartisan commitment to exchange programs, even as recently as last month. Gutting exchange programs isn’t a win for the taxpayer, because the investment in America’s national security is immense. Over 90 percent of ECA funding is spent in the United States or on Americans implementing these programs. Because of that investment, 1 in 3 world leaders today have been on a U.S. exchange program.'

Exchange programs enhance U.S. national security and prosperity by building productive partnerships, mutual understanding, and personal connections that help us address critical global issues including strengthening the world economy and combating terrorism. They also create a welcoming environment for over a million international students to study in the U.S. In 2015, these students added more than $32 billion dollars to our economy and supported over 400,000 U.S. jobs."

Here at the World Affairs Council of NH, we host 300 international visitors (from 88 different countries), and 90 interpreters, annually, leveraging about $83,000 of grant funding into $500,000 in economic activity stregthening the state. More than 400 people volunteered their time to exchange ideas with the visitors. We hope you'll join us in speaking up in support of international exchange programs!

Seacoast Speaker Series Wraps up TOMORROW!

There's just one speaker left in our spring World Affairs @ the Library series presented in partnership with the Portsmouth Public Library. The final program will take place on Wednesday, June 7 at 7 PM,featuring Mary Thompson-Jones speaking about international diplomacy. Thompson-Jones is a professor at Northeastern University and previously was a career diplomat and served in embassies and consulates in Madrid, Prague, Quebec, Guatemala, and Sarajevo. She is the author of To The Secretary: Leaked Embassy Cables and America's Foreign Policy Disconnect.

Mission Moments: Bringing the World to NH!

"The plight of journalists has never been more dangerous." - Diane Foley (right), President of the James Foley Legacy Foundation said at our screening of "Jim: the James Foley Story" on May 16 at Red River Theatres. The Concord Insider reported on the program here.

International visitors Martha Mwangonde (Malawi), Sylvester Bayowo (Ghana), Bassey Udo (Nigeria) and Andrew Karamagi (Uganda) listen to Todd Selig explain his work to promote transparency and openness as town administrator of Durham, NH. The group also volunteered for the NH Food Bank (below).

ARE YOU A MEMBER? JOIN WITH US TO STAND IN SUPPORT OF GLOBAL EDUCATION & UNDERSTANDING!

World Affairs Council of New Hampshire              
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