NGO Receives $14,000 Grant to Promote American-Style Volunteerism in Côte d’Ivoire

Ambassador Aubrey Hooks announced that the United States would provide 7 million FCFA to support the creation of a new Ivoirian NGO to promote American-style volunteerism in Cote d’Ivoire The new organization is an inter-NGO network – Bénévolat USA-CI, was created following a video conference which took place at the American Embassy in December of 2005. The topic of video discussion was on volunteerism in the United States. Inspired by this example and encouraged by the Embassy, through group set about the task of creating a mechanism to promote community activism among members of civil society, helping to professionalize sister NGOs, and promote American-style community service and volunteerism. Three of the organization’s members had previously participated in American Government-sponsored trips to visit the United States. They applied for a special grant offered by the United States Department of State to former participants of its programs. The new group will begin their work in four cities across Cote d’Ivoire. During the press conference, the Ambassador spoke about the importance of volunteerism in building a strong society and how it can help Cote d’Ivoire emerge from the present conflict it is facing.