The Youth Ambassadors Program with Algeria is a U.S. Department of State youth exchange, funded by its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and run by World Learning. It brings Algerian high-school students and adult mentors together with U.S. high-school students to build leadership, civic engagement, and mutual understanding.
Each round opens with a five-week virtual course, moves to an in-person exchange in the United States, and closes with a follow-on period in which participants run a project in their home community. In 2026 the NEA cohorts spent three weeks in South Hadley (MA), Raleigh (NC) or Pensacola (FL), and Washington, D.C., with entrepreneurship and digital citizenship as themes. The 2025 Algeria round was based in Reno (NV) and Washington, D.C.
The program sits under World Learning’s Youth Ambassadors Middle East North Africa (NEA) award, which also runs the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program. That award period ends on 31 December 2026, and no 2027 round has been announced.
Benefits & funding
- Fully funded: the 2026 U.S. route was a full scholarship that included domestic travel, and the whole program is funded by the State Department’s Youth Programs Division; the Algerian flyers list no participant costs.
- A five-week virtual course, then an in-person U.S. exchange: three weeks in 2026 (3–23 July), four weeks in the 2025 Algeria round.
- A follow-on community project at home: five months for the 2026 U.S. route, six months in the 2025 Algeria round.
- Leadership training, workshops, volunteering, networking, and cultural activities; U.S. participants live with a host family in another city.
- Adult mentors receive youth-mentorship training and international travel.
- Alumni join the U.S. Department of State Exchange Alumni Network.
Eligibility
- Three routes: Algerian high-school students, Algerian adult mentors, and U.S. high-school students. The latest published Algerian terms are from the 2025 round; the U.S. terms are from 2026.
- Algerian students: aged 15–17 on 1 July of the exchange year; at least one year of high school completed and a graduation year of 2026 or later (2025 round); proficient in speaking, writing, and listening in English; Algerian citizenship and current residency in Algeria (dual U.S. citizens are not considered); an Algerian passport valid to the stated date (through March 2026 for the 2025 round); parent or guardian permission.
- Algerian adult mentors: aged 24 or older on 1 July of the exchange year; proven experience working with youth and active engagement with young people at a school or in the community; Algerian citizenship, current residency, and a valid Algerian passport; English proficiency; able to meet selected students periodically during the following school year.
- Both Algerian routes exclude anyone who, or whose parents, applied for permanent residency or refugee status outside Algeria; anyone who has been to the U.S. on a U.S. government-funded exchange (including IYLEP, MEPI, YES, Fulbright, and SUSI); and anyone with immediate family working for the U.S. embassy or any U.S. government agency.
- U.S. students (2026): U.S. citizenship and current U.S. residency; aged 15–17 on 1 July 2026; at least one year of high school completed with one year left after the exchange, and a graduation year of 2027 or later; parent or guardian permission; no ECA-funded program participation or travel within one academic year; not related to ECA Youth Programs Division staff or to an employee of an implementing organization.
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Eligible nationalities
Algeria · USA
Residence required
Algeria · USA
Appears to have an age limit “aged 15”
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Application process
- 1Pick your route (Algerian student, Algerian adult mentor, or U.S. student) and check its terms for the current round.
- 2Register or sign in on World Learning’s application portal, which serves both this program and IYLEP; applicants under 16 need a parent’s or guardian’s consent first.
- 3Complete and submit the online application by the deadline.
- 4In 2026, U.S. applicants needed no reference at first submission; semifinalists invited to interview were then asked for one.
- 5Selected participants take the virtual course, travel for the in-person exchange, then carry out their community project.
Program timeline
1 November 2024
2025 Algerian student and mentor applications open
9 December 2024
2025 Algerian applications close
11–30 July 2025
2025 exchange in Reno and Washington, D.C.
Online information sessions for U.S. applicants
9 and 23 January 2026
30 January 2026
2026 application deadline for U.S. students
11 May – 21 June 2026
2026 virtual course
3–23 July 2026
2026 in-person exchange in the United States
World Learning’s current YA-NEA award period ends
31 December 2026
Next round
dates not yet announced