IREX receives grant from USIA for fellowships in contemporary issues (09/27/98)

IREX receives grant from USIA for fellowships in contemporary issues

WASHINGTON - The International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) has received a $955,000 grant from the United States Information Agency to continue to support research into contemporary issues that affect transition countries in the former Soviet region. The grant funds the Freedom Support Act Fellowships in Contemporary Issues (FSA/CI), which awards merit-based, competitive fellowships to public officials, leaders of non-governmental, non-commercial organizations and private-sector professionals such as journalists, managers, publishers and lawyers from any of the 12 countries of the new independent states (NIS).

Approximately 75 fellowships will be awarded to support three-month-long exchanges to the U.S. during which fellows will conduct research, network with U.S. counterparts and participate in internships in U.S. organizations. The exchanges will help fellows gain the knowledge, skills and insights they need to play active roles in sustaining the transition to democracy, free markets and civil society in their home countries. Special emphasis will be placed on recruiting fellows working on issues of trade and investment, crime and corruption, intellectual property rights, political and military security, human rights and foreign policy.

IREX is a Washington-based international non-profit organization that manages academic exchange and professional training programs in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first academic exchange between the U.S. and the former Soviet region, sponsored by the Inter-University Committee on Travel Grants, IREX's predecessor organization.

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