Diaspora Program to Show Children of Hungarian Descent “Home”

The Diaspora Program 2023 was presented by Árpád János Potápi, State Secretary for National Policy and Csongor Csáky, President of the Rákóczi Association on 6 February 2023.

The Rákóczi Association – based on the request of the Hungarian Diaspora Council and with the support of the Hungarian Government – is re-launching its highly successful Diaspora Program. During 2023, the program will offer young Hungarians aged between 10 and 25 living in the diaspora and teachers working in diaspora communities the opportunity to study in Hungary. Applications are still open for the Rákóczi Association’s diaspora program, which is supported by the Hungarian government, János Árpád Potápi, Minister of State for National Policy of the Prime Minister’s Office, said at a press conference in Budapest on Monday.

The State Secretary recalled that the diaspora program was launched in 2016 in cooperation with the Rákóczi Association. The essence of the program, he said, is to bring Hungarian young people from the diaspora back home to Hungary and the Carpathian Basin to learn about Hungarian history, culture and landscape. He stressed that the program could significantly strengthen young people’s Hungarian identity, their love of their homeland and their attachment to Hungarian identity.
The State Secretary for National Policy said that since the launch of the program, 2,300-2,400 young people have taken part in various events. The program had to be suspended due to the Covid epidemic, but was relaunched last year.  János Árpád Potápi expressed the hope that more people would apply for the program and that the announced quota of 1,000 would be filled.
Csongor Csáky, president of the Rákóczi Association, said that young people aged 10-25 living in the diaspora can apply electronically from 6 February to 15 March via the organization’s website. Those interested can choose from ten programs, the first of which is the Csíksomlyó (Transylvania, Romania) pilgrimage, which will take 300 Hungarian youth from Hungary and abroad to the pilgrimage. In addition, young people are welcome to summer camps in Sátoraljaújhely, North-East Hungary.

This year, the program will again offer the opportunity for teachers and trainers working in Hungarian schools and Hungarian communities to participate in the All-Hungarian Teachers’ Camp in July. Csongor Csáky recalled that the Hungarian Diaspora Council had asked the Hungarian government to launch a program specifically targeting the diaspora, following the example of the “Without Borders!” program.
Last year, almost 500 people took part in the events, and the feedback shows that the program is having a big impact on the lives of young people, who will be even more important to their home communities when they return home,” he said.

“Diaspora” refers to the Hungarian community living outside the historic borders of the country, mostly in Western Europe or the United States. According to the State Secretary, they number between 2.2 and 2.5 million. In contrast, the term “Hungarian minority” refers to indigenous communities living in territories of historic Hungary, those surrounding the mainland in countries such as Romania, Slovakia or Ukraine.

The Program is open to young Hungarians aged 10-25 living in the diaspora who have been actively involved in the work of weekend schools, traditional and cultural associations and religious communities in local Hungarian communities for at least 1 year.

The call for applications and further information are available here. Application deadline is 15 March 2023.

Via MTI. Featured Photo: Hungary Today.