About Us
Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity. Since 1958, we have been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world. EDC promotes equity and access to high quality education and health services and products that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. We support an inclusive workplace culture that embraces many perspectives and broadens our understanding of the communities we serve, enhancing and enriching our work. EDC is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Project Description USAID’s Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative–Mekong Program will strengthen the leadership capacities and networks of youth leaders in Southeast Asia, empowering them to lead with confidence and to claim their right to a sustainable and just future. The leadership development program will provide the knowledge, training, and exposure to empower Southeast Asian youth to act on environmental issues, help integrate them into the web of climate, biodiversity, and sustainability actors in the region in order to contribute to the sustainable development of the Mekong region. The program will Build the leadership capabilities of youth in Southeast Asia with focus themes of climate change, environment, and biodiversity within the Mekong sub-region countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, Strengthen ties among Mekong sub-region countries, other ASEAN countries (plus Timor-Leste), and the United States, and Nurture a community of leaders who work locally and across borders to address shared issues relating to the focus themes. Focus themes of the program are: Climate change – advance equitable and ambitious actions to confront the climate crisis with dual climate change priorities of mitigation (reducing emissions) and adaptation (improving resilience to climate impacts) Environment - Ensure that the environment and the natural resources upon which human lives and livelihoods depend are managed in ways that sustain productivity growth, a healthy population, as well as the intrinsic spiritual and cultural value of the environment. Biodiversity - Conserve biodiversity and manage natural resources in ways that maintain their long-term viability and preserve their potential to meet the needs of present and future generations. YSEALI-Mekong will be hosted by the Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM), and will partner with local, regional, and international relevant stakeholders.