*THE LAUNCH FOR THE CENTERS FOR YOUTH DIALOGUE PROGRAM IN ZANZIBAR

 "The U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Virginia Blaser (Second from the left) and Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Sharon Cromer (Fourth on the right) met with Major Catherine Mwamunyange (Third from the right)  and Major Neema Semwenda (Fourth on the Left)  from the Tanzania People's Defence Forces (TPDF) prior to their attendance at a conference sponsored by the African Center for Strategic Studies, part of the U.S. National Defense University in Washington, D.C., from 21 October - 8 November.  

The conference entitled "The Next Generation of Female African Security Sector Leaders," will allow participants to engage with their peers from across Africa to discuss issues facing their militaries and to enable them to develop strategies to address those issues. 

 Mrs. Blaser spoke to Majors Mwamunyange and Semwenda about the importance of being strong mentors for young women entering a profession that is traditionally dominated by men, such as the military, and urged them to explore ways to increase the role of women as mentors within the TPDF."

From left to right front row are: Abdulla Mwinyi - Regional Commissioner for Zanzibar Urban West Region (2^nd); Jefferson Smith - Zanzibar Affairs Officer (3^rd);  Nassor Mazrui - Minister of Trade and Industry (and Guest of Honor) (4^th); Mussa Ali Mussa - Commissioner of Police Zanzibar (5^th), and Sterling Roop - Director of the International Law and Policy Institute (ILPI) (6^th). 

The launch for the Centers for Youth Dialogue program took place in Zanzibar recently and was also attended by youth groups from Stone Town and Kikwajuni in addition to youth from other parts of Zanzibar town, MP Hamad Masauni (Kikwajuni), Zanzibar Representative Ismail Jussa (Stone Town), and regional police commanders. The American people have provided $150,000 to ILPI to run programs at two youth centers in Stone Town and Kikwajuni.  

The goals of the project include: to build trust between communities, police, and the government, with a focus on youth;  to provide training for youth on entrepreneurship and job acquisition; to provide training for youth and police on human rights, social and economic issues, tolerance, duties of citizens and government in a democracy; to strengthen the cooperation of communities in reporting crimes and illicit activities to the police; and to strengthen the capacity of police to receive and act on reports from the community.