2009 Global Undergraduate Exchange Program Announced

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Seeking Participants for Ambasovishcha 2009

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U.S. Embassy Announces Youth Cultural Opportunity (YCO) Program

English Language Youth Poetry Slam Competition (ELYPS)

The U.S Embassy invites young Belarusians (15-25 years old) to participate in the country’s first English Language Poetry Slam competition (ELYPS).  In this hybrid between literature and entertainment, rather than simply reading their poems, poets will combine personality and performance to elicit direct reactions from the audience.  Twenty selected entrants will take part in a reading and Grand Finale on December 10, 2008, and five winners will receive special awards from the Embassy. (full text)

Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery - 2010

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Belarus: Parliamentary Elections

Press Statement by State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack
Washington, DC
September 29, 2008

The United States is disappointed that the September 28 parliamentary elections in Belarus fell significantly short of international standards, and that the Government of Belarus failed to uphold pledges for a transparent vote count.  According to the preliminary report of the OSCE’s election monitoring mission, the conduct of the parliamentary elections in Belarus did not meet OSCE standards despite minor improvements.  The vote count in particular was judged negatively at nearly one-half of the precincts where OSCE observers were present.  Problems included election monitors being denied access to the vote count process, discrepancies between the number of voters observed and the number of votes recorded and outright falsification of votes. (full text)

Charge d’Affaires Jonathan Moore presents the grant certificate to Valentina Kirillova, Director of the Vitebsk Center of Contemporary Art.

Vitebsk Art Center Receives Cultural Preservation Award

On September 17, 2008, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Jonathan Moore
presented the Vitebsk Center of Contemporary Art with a $30,000 grant
supported by the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation. 
An arts school that fostered the talents of such renowned artists as
Kazimir Malevich and Marc Chagall during the 1920s, the building is
currently in disrepair. Towards conserving this historical building, an
architectural monument of local and international importance,
the AFCP grant will cover the installation of new windows, window frames
and openings, thereby creating the climate–control conditions for a new
museum of contemporary art.

Worldwide Contest of Short Videos on Democracy