Date:

April 10, 2008

For More Information Contact:

Diane Gonzolas, Citizen Information Center, 441-7831

Dolores Mather, MCIF, 488-4228

Carmelee Tuma, MCIF, 471-1969

The Mayor’s Committee for International Friendship announced today that a group of eight Governors from Afghanistan will visit Nebraska April 14 through 16 to study governance and rural development issues. The Governors were invited to the U.S. under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program.

Included in their schedule are meetings with Mayor Chris Beutler, Governor Dave Heineman, Lancaster County Commissioner Ray Stevens, Lincoln Police Captain Dennis Duckworth and Dr. Susan Fritz, Associate Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at UNL. The group will meet with Lincoln City Council members and observe the City Council meeting April 14. They also will travel to Grand Island for a day of agricultural visits and a meeting with Secretary of State John Gale.

The objectives of their visit to the U. S. are:

• To gain insight into the relationship and functions of state and local governments;
• To learn about tangible value of large-scale legal agricultural production and methods to achieve commercial economies of scale; and
• To gain insight on increasing development and legal agricultural exports while decreasing dependence on illegal narcotics production.

The participants are:

• Mr. Bahloul Bahij, Governor, Panjshir Province
• Mr. Enayatullah Enayat, Governor, Samangan Province
• Dr. Assadullah Hamdam, Governor, Uruzgan Province
• Mr. Arsallah Jamal, Governor, Khost Province
• Mr. Mohammad Akram Khpolwak, Governor, Paktika Province
• Mr. Sultan Ali Orzgani, Governor, Dai Kundi Province
• Mr. Abdul Haq Shafaq, Governor, Faryab Province
• Mr. Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi, Governor, Kunar Province

The group met with President Bush April 8 while in Washington, D.C. (See release.)

The Mayor’s Committee for International Friendship is a volunteer organization which hosts visitors from around the world. The committee sets up visits with professional counterparts and plans cultural exchanges and learning experiences to promote international understanding among the visitors and citizens in the Lincoln area. Participants are established or potential foreign leaders in government, politics, media, education, science, labor relations and other key fields. They are selected by American Embassies overseas to visit the United States to experience this country firsthand.