The Office of Citizen Exchanges of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces an open competition for cooperative agreements for the FY 2022 Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program Placement Components.
The YES program advances the U.S. foreign policy goals of engaging youth populations and building civil society by providing physical, academic-year exchanges, and building lasting ties between foreign high school students and the communities that host them.
Purpose: The YES program annually provides approximately 800 high school students (aged 15 to 18.5 at the start of the program) from countries with significant Muslim populations an opportunity to live with an American family, attend high school, engage in community service, and participate in school and community activities. Funding through the Placement Components awards is also intended to allow Placement Organizations to sponsor local activities that will enhance students’ understanding of American style democracy and civil society. YES students are recruited from Albania, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Egypt, Gaza, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel (Arab Communities), Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, and the West Bank.
Goals
The overall goals of the YES program are as follows:
Promote better understanding by youth from the United States and participating countries about host society, people, institutions, values, and culture;
Foster lasting personal and professional ties;
Advance mutual understanding, respect for diversity, leadership skills, and understanding of civil society during the exchange experience and beyond; and
Enhance understanding of other countries and cultures and increase accurate understanding of American values in communities abroad.
Funding Information
Award Ceiling: $9,196,600
Award Floor: $130,000
YES Program Participants: YES participants are 15 to 18.5 years old at the start of their program. They travel to the United States on J-1 Visas, issued by the U.S. Department of State. Under the terms of their visas, they must return to their home countries following the conclusion of their exchange program in the United States. POs are expected to assist the State Department in enforcing this regulation.
Eligibility Criteria
U.S. public and private academic and cultural institutions, exchange of-persons, and other not-for-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3) may submit applications for this competition.
Applicants must have nonprofit status with the IRS at the time of application.
All applicants must also have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number and be registered in SAM.gov.
Deadline: May 20, 2022
Donor: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
Grant: More than $1 million
Category: Grant
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
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