Secretary Blinken’s Video Remarks at the Global Ties National Meeting

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining this year’s Global Ties National Meeting. All of you play a vital role in American diplomacy as citizen diplomats. Through the International Visitor Leadership Program, you welcomed 4,000 people from around the world to the United States last year – building bonds of friendship with more than 100 other countries. 

Your programs help generate millions of dollars in economic activity in your states. By fostering connections between local leaders, you also make it possible for communities from around the world – including here in America – to learn from one another and collaborate on critical challenges affecting us all. 

You’ve supported environmental conservation efforts by bringing together researchers who are protecting mangrove trees in Florida and in several African countries… made our computer systems less vulnerable to attacks by helping cybersecurity experts from Utah and the country of Georgia share their approaches… bolstered the free press, and its ability to hold governments accountable, by connecting journalists from North Carolina and Pakistan… and so much more.

Many of the biggest challenges we face today – from preventing the next pandemic, to stopping the flow of illegal synthetic drugs, to halting rising temperatures – don’t stop at any country’s borders. Our solutions can’t stop at borders either. 

Around the world, experts are on the front lines of developing those solutions. By helping them work together and learn from one another, we can make more progress more quickly on the issues that matter most to our people. We need everyone’s perspectives, talent, and good ideas. 

So, at the State Department, we’re also working to ensure opportunities to learn and collaborate across borders are more inclusive and more accessible. We’re teaming up with partners like you to identify and knock down barriers to our International Visitor Leadership Program, whether that means providing accommodations for people with disabilities, or coordinating virtual exchanges for those who can’t travel to the United States. 

So many of you are also finding ways for international visitors to experience more of the United States, and hear from a broader range of American voices – reflecting the diversity that is one of our nation’s greatest strengths. Over the next few days of this conference, you’ll have the chance to learn new strategies for building more inclusive exchange programs.  

You’ll also get to attend workshops on every part of the IVLP process – from designing creative projects, to navigating cultural protocol – and you’ll be invited to briefings by our leading diplomats on various aspects of U.S. foreign policy. 

At the State Department, we know how much work these exchanges take – and we’re grateful for all you put into them. Because even though these programs only last a few weeks, the connections they create reverberate long after our visitors return home. 

Nazmus Sakib is a disability rights activist who’s spent years working to increase young people’s participation in politics. Last year, he traveled to the United States from Bangladesh through IVLP. In Baltimore, Nazmus met with leaders from a community-based organization that registers Black women to vote. 

In Charlotte, he got to know a local leader who helps people with disabilities access medical care, education, and social services. These experiences inspired Nazmus to start his own initiative in Bangladesh to help young people with disabilities get involved in politics. 

Now, that initiative is hosting workshops on disability rights, engaging student political parties, and conducting field assessments to identify and address obstacles to participation. There are so many other stories like his – and they only happen because of your leadership and partnership. Thank you for all you do. Keep it up. And have a great conference.