EMBASSY NEWSCENTRE

Media Advisories

Opening of the American Corner Yamoussoukro

DATE: May 25, 2005/25 Mai 2005

SUBJECT: Opening of the American Corner in Yamoussoukro

The American Embassy in Cote d'Ivoire will be opening the newest and largest American Corner in Africa on Saturday, May 28, 2005 at 3PM in the Institute National Ploytechnique - Houphouet Boigny (INP-HB) in Yamoussoukro. This significant event, hosted by American Ambassador Aubrey Hooks, will be attended by many high ranking dignitaries from the Ivorian government and civil society.

The American Embassy in Cote d'Ivoire will be opening the newest and largest American Corner in Africa on Saturday, May 28, 2005 at 3PM in the Institute National Ploytechnique - Houphouet Boigny (INP-HB) in Yamoussoukro. This significant event, hosted by American Ambassador Aubrey Hooks, will be attended by many high ranking dignitaries from the Ivorian government and civil society.

The American Corner in Yamoussoukro is the second of its kind to be opened in Cote d'Ivoire. The first American Corner was opened in April of 2003, at Centre Ivoirien de Researche Economique et Sociale(CIRES), in Abidjan. American Corners are multi-functional platforms that are developed in partnership with local host institutions. They are designed to promote mutual understanding through exchanges of information and ideas. In order to foster these exchanges, the American Corners offer speakers, organize activities, present video conferences, and provide access to volumes of electronic and print resources.

The Yamoussoukro American Corner will foster dialogue among students, teachers, and academics with their counterparts in the United States. In so doing, the corner will serve as a crucial link between universities in the US, the INP-HB, and other educational institutions in Cote d'Ivoire. The American Corner will enable parliamentarians, government officials, diplomats, and representatives of regional and international institutions to learn how the American federal, state, and local governments function. To that end, the corner will thereby become a center for studies and research on democracy, good governance, and the rule of law.

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