GCIV recently hosted five members of the Ugandan Parliament who came to Atlanta to learn about the role of elected representatives in a democracy. While participating in the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, the group met with government, media, and NGO officials to discuss the American political system. All were recently elected to Uganda's parliament, and three had defeated sitting Cabinet ministers. The group had the opportunity to meet with a wide variety of professionals in Atlanta from July 3 - 7, 2007.

Following the group’s Tuesday evening arrival in Atlanta from Milwaukee, their first activity was an Independence Day picnic, where they were the guests of GCIV members Jason and Sabrina DeJoannis. They enjoyed a picnic in Springvale Park followed by fireworks in Decatur. Thanks to the DeJoannis' hospitality, the visitors had the chance to experience this uniquely American holiday.

On Thursday morning, the visitors traveled to Athens to meet with Mayor Heidi Davison. Mayor Davison discussed public participation in government as well as her Partners for a Prosperous Athens program. While in Athens, the delegation also visited the International Center for Democratic Governance at the University of Georgia. There, they met with Dr. Peter Gess to discuss democratic systems and the work ICDG does to promote democracy in emerging governments.

On Friday, the visitors began their day with a breakfast meeting with Mr. Tom Baxter, a National Editor and Political Analyst for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Mr. Baxter told the group of his experiences in political reporting and the media’s role as a political watchdog. Next, the group met with Mr. Derreck Kayongo, an Advocacy Field Coordinator for CARE International. Mr. Kayongo and his colleagues discussed CARE’s work to fight global poverty as well as their foreign assistance programs. For their last appointment of the visit, the delegation attended Friday prayer at Al Farooq Masjid. After the prayer service, they met with Dr. Khalid Siddiq, the Director of the Al Farooq Masjid, to discuss his advocacy work with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR is America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group. The group returned home to Uganda the next day.

GCIV was honored to have these distinguished visitors come to Georgia and meet with our many valuable professional resources. Their experiences here gave them a first-hand view of democracy in the United States and some new ideas on being effective legislators. We look forward to hearing of their continued progress.