OIA Funds Close Up Youth Program for Fiscal Year 2025

WASHINGTON – The Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) has awarded $1.1 million from OIA’s Technical Assistance Program to fund the 2025 Insular Area Close Up Program for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as the freely associated states which are the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen G. Cantor today presented Close Up Director Mia Charity with the grant award to support experiential civic education programs for nearly 500 students and educators from the U.S. territories and the freely associated states.

“This important program provides life-changing experiences for youth and educators from the Insular Areas through opportunities to visit Washington, D.C. and other historical locations critical to the founding of our nation and the democratic processes that support our freedoms,” said Carmen G. Cantor, Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs. “Many leaders in the Insular Areas have been influenced by this program to become future public servants.”

Funded through the Office of Insular Affairs Technical Assistance Program since 1987, the Close Up Insular Areas Program provides civic education opportunities for students and educators from the Insular Areas both at the local and federal level and continues to be supported every year by Congress.

The Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs and the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, OIA administers several discretionary grant funding programs to the Insular Areas and oversees federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

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