Youth in Des Moines, Iowa have more in common with students in Tunisia than they thought. In particular, a passion for social justice. While participating in Youth for Understanding’s (YFU) Virtual Exchange Initiative, a program that digitally connects students in different countries for moderated, in-depth discussion, a group of students in Iowa brought up the Black Lives Matter movement.

The group will cement their bond today at a ceremony in Council Bluffs formalizing a friendship between Afghanistan’s third-largest city, Herat, and the Bluffs. The two cities will become “sister cities” as part of a decades-old citizen diplomacy program called Sister Cities International. The program pairs up cities from different countries to promote mutual understanding. 

The Kosovo-Iowa partnership should be a proud collaboration for both citizens of Kosovo and the denizens of Iowa. Given Kosovo’s short lifespan as an independent country, it is remarkable to see such a small nation establish links across trans-continental borders. To understand the monumental leap Iowa has made, one first has to understand a little about the state of Iowa itself. Iowa is not a state teaming with diversity.