HUNTSVILLE – The Open World Leadership Center, an agency of the U.S. Congress, will send a delegation to Huntsville on Jan. 24 through Feb. 1.

The delegation consists of five professionals with the Tajikistan Government Ministry, along with a bicultural facilitator and an interpreter. Tajikistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia. While in Huntsville, Global Ties Alabama will host the Open World participants.

The Tajikistan delegates include the Division Head and Second Secretary with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Third Secretary with Department of Information, Director General of Diplomatic Services and Attache of the Department of Commonwealth Independent States.

While in Huntsville, Hoover, Birmingham and Montgomery, delegates will collaborate on best practices for government management in the United States. Delegates are scheduled to meet with the staff of Sen. Doug Jones, U.S. Congressman Robert Aderholt and State Rep. Mike Ball.

Other scheduled meetings include time with Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, City Council of Hoover, Madison County Commission members, Destination Hoover International and Madison County Courthouse administrators and judiciary.

Delegates will tour U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Rosa Parks Museum and Alabama Forestry Commission.The delegation will stay in the homes of local residents who serve as hospitality hosts.

Hosts from Madison and Huntsville are Deb Adelsperger, John and Ona Hamilton, Pat and Melissa Lewallen and Drew and Lynne Reynolds.

More than 27,000 current and future leaders from post-Soviet era countries have participated in the Open World program. Open World offers one of the most effective U.S. exchange programs to promote mutually beneficial options for depolarized engagement between future national leaders, Suzanne Roten said. Roten works as Operations Associate with Global Ties Alabama.

Established in Huntsville in 1965, Global Ties Alabama originally helped international military trainees at Redstone Arsenal to acclimate to North Alabama. More than 50 years ago, Global Ties Alabama was designated to host international visitors traveling to Alabama under auspices of the U. S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, which is the State Department’s flagship for citizen diplomacy.

For more information, visit globaltiesalabama.org.

In 1999, the U.S. Congress founded the Open World Leadership Center, which maintains a vast network of more than 28,000 alumni in strategic countries including Russia and Ukraine and countries in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Open World supports legislative diplomacy for Congress by conducting exchanges that establish lasting professional relationships among emerging leaders.

For information about Open World, visit openworld.gov.