Yali fellowship growing—US
President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (Yali) fellowship, which enables youthful Africans with leadership potential to fellowship in United States of America (USA), has doubled its beneficiary numbers since its inception in 2014.
The initiative, which started with 500 beneficiaries in 2014 and had the same number last year, has doubled to 1 000 this year.
This development, according to Todd Haskell, deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs under the US Department of State, is a sign that the programme is making positive strides.
Haskell spoke on Wednesday in Lilongwe during a sendoff reception of 16 Malawians who have been awarded the fellowship and would leave the country soon.
He further said the fellowship is an opportunity for the young Africans to network with fellow Africans and widen their knowledge and skills.
Said Haskell: “The US government is delighted to play a role in your ongoing development as a leader of your country and continent. This is an incredible opportunity to enhance your professional skills, grow as a leader and network with other like-minded young leaders from across Africa.”
Each of the 16 Malawians has done something which has positively affected other people in their communities.
US Ambassador Virginia Palmer, at whose residence the reception was hosted, said the fellows are going to do their six-week leadership development programme in university campuses across USA between June and July.
One of the beneficiaries, James Kumwenda, said he was looking forward to learning from the fellowship so that he can impact more on people’s lives when he comes back.n
