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| Nelson Mandela - File Photo |
WASHINGTON (AP) — A program designed to
foster a new generation of young African leaders will be renamed after former
South African President Nelson Mandela.
President Barack Obama, who has said he
was one of the untold millions of people around the world who were inspired by
Mandela's life, is set to announce the name change at a town hall-style event
Monday in Washington with several hundred young leaders from across sub-Saharan
Africa.
The youngsters are participating in the
inaugural Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, part of the broader
Young African Leaders Initiative that Obama launched in 2010 to support a new
generation of leadership there. The fellowship is being renamed as a tribute to
Mandela, who died last December at age 95.
Obama announced the fellowship during a stop
in South Africa last summer. It connects young African leaders to leadership
training opportunities at top U.S. universities.
In remarks at Monday's event, Obama also
was announcing new public-private partnerships to create more programs for
young African leaders, including four regional leadership centers across
Africa, online classes and other resources, the White House said.
Mandela spent 27 years in jail under
apartheid, South Africa's former system of white minority rule, before
eventually leading his country through a difficult transition to democracy. In
1994, he became the first democratically elected leader of a post-apartheid
South Africa.
Mandela spent 27 years in jail under
apartheid, South Africa's former system of white minority rule, before
eventually leading his country through a difficult transition to democracy. In
1994, he became the first democratically elected leader of a post-apartheid
South Africa.
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