Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote an opinion piece that appeared today on Global, Health, and Diplomacy. The text of the article follows below.
America and our partners have more than doubled the number of people who get AIDS drugs. We'll soon cut maternal mortality by a quarter. How? The answer may surprise you.
When I became Secretary of State, I asked our diplomats and development experts: "How can we do better?" I could see our strengths, including tens of thousands of public servants who get up every day thinking about how to advance America's interests and promote our values around the world. At the same time,… more »
Today at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, Secretary Clinton spoke of the shared responsibility of the world to defeat HIV/AIDS. At an event organized by African Union President Yayi of Benin, she highlighted growing African leadership against the disease -- an encouraging development as we pursue the goal of an AIDS-free generation.
Secretary Clinton saluted African countries that are leading the way in meeting this shared responsibility. Some examples:
· Namibia now funds 50 percent of its national AIDS response, and is paying and overseeing a growing number of health workers formerly supported by the United States through our PEPFAR program.
· Under the Partnership Framework Implementation Plan it recently signed with the United… more »
This week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, world leaders are coming together to move the world's health and development agenda forward.
Among the key agenda items is securing a better future for children -- which is also a central focus of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Meeting the needs of children, including both children living with HIV and those affected by the disease in other ways, is not peripheral to PEPFAR's mission -- it is central.
The reality is that PEPFAR is the largest contributor to the global response to the needs of vulnerable children affected by AIDS. It's a responsibility, and an opportunity as part of our push toward an AIDS-free generation.
In Kenya, a group of young women are working collaboratively to put to use their knowledge of food and nutrition. The group is turning a profit while feeding themselves and their children by cultivating a shared urban farm in Mombasa.
The young mothers who make up the group knew from the staff at the local health clinic that consuming vegetables and legumes would improve their health and that of their infants. These foods, along with fruits, nuts, fish, dairy products, and whole grains are all excellent sources of key nutrients for breastfeeding mothers.
"You must eat nutritious foods if you want your child to have enough milk, the doctor would always say," says Mary Were.
However, like so many young urban Kenyans, Mary and these mothers lacked both the money to purchase such nutritious foods and the land to grow it themselves.
Today we mark the fourth annual World Humanitarian Day. The United Nations created this day to honor those who have lost their lives in humanitarian service or serve in risky humanitarian endeavors. Earlier this year, I visited the UN offices in Baghdad and saw the memorial to the 22 people who lost their lives in an attack… more »
On Friday August 10, the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) released the first ever U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally, including their implementation plans. An accompanying Executive Order issued by President Obama was also released, directing all relevant agencies to implement this strategy. These efforts highlight the United States' commitment to preventing and responding to gender-based violence around the world.
On August 6, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to South Africa, where she met with former South African President Nelson Mandela and participated in the U.S.-South Africa Business Partnership Summit. In Johannesburg on August 7, Secretary Clinton held a bilateral meeting with South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and participated in the U.S.-South Africa Strategic Dialogue.
On August 3, 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Kampala, Uganda where she met with President Museveni to encourage strengthening of democratic institutions and human rights, while also reinforcing Uganda as a key U.S. partner in promoting regional security, particularly in regard to Somalia and in regional efforts to counter the Lord's Resistance Army. She also presented the State Department's 2011 Human Rights Defenders Award to a coalition of civil society groups and highlighted… more »
The International AIDS Conference, AIDS 2012, brought more than 23,000 medical professionals, advocates, policy makers, and people living with HIV/AIDS to Washington, D.C., from July 22-27 from more than 180 countries. The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs organized a roundtable on the margins of the event with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists from the Western Hemisphere on July 23 to hear how AIDS is affecting LGBT persons in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Activists noted the stigma, discrimination, and violence their communities face on a daily basis because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. According to participants, transgender individuals are especially at risk of violence and discrimination. In most cases identification documents do not reflect their gender identity, which can make voting a difficult or even dangerous… more »
I don't think it's an overstatement to say that Secretary Clinton electrified the AIDS 2012 audience with her keynote address yesterday. Her speech was a perfect combination of substance and inspiration, and the enthusiastic reception made it clear that she had hit all the right notes.
Last November, of course, she articulated the goal, made possible by recent scientific advances, of an AIDS-free generation. This laid the groundwork for Presiden Obama's pathbreaking announcement on World AIDS Day of ambitious new combination prevention goals for PEPFAR, including a 50 percent increase in our treatment goal, to 6 million by the end of fiscal year 2013.
Thank you, Jonathan, for this insightful post on World Food Day and the importance of strengthening our efforts as an international community to end world hunger…
more »
Spokesperson Nuland (Oct. 17): "Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Michael Posner, led a 22-member interagency delegation from the U.S. to discuss the full range of human rights issues affecting the country." more »
Oct. 16: Judith Heumann, Special Advisor for International Disability Rights, held a conversation with Ann Cody, Director of Policy and Global Outreach, BlazeSports; and Kirk Bauer, Executive Director of Disabled Sports USA. more »
![U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks with participants of the Lower Mekong Initiative Women's event in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on July 13, 2012. [State Department photo by Paul Watzlavick/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019001032im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0720_clinton_women_m.jpg)
![U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks at the UNAIDS Shared Responsibility Event at the United Nations in New York, New York on September 26, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019001032im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0926_clinton_unaids_m.jpg)
![Children stand depicting the ribbon, the symbol of AIDS, during a candlelight rally to mark World AIDS Orphans' Day in Gauhati, India, May 7, 2007. [AP File Photo]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019001032im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0925_youth_pepfar_m.jpg)
![Balcony gardening, done on a health clinic compound, provides urban young mothers the opportunity to grow nutrious vegetables and beans in Mombasa, Kenya, 2012. [USAID photo]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019001032im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0827_usaid_kenya_women_m.jpg)
![School girls walk past a graffiti on a wall depicting UN humanitarian aid supplies, in Gaza City, Oct. 31, 2011. [AP File Photo]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019001032im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0819_un_aid_school_m.jpg)
![Card signed by nearly 650 women and girls from around the United States and around the world thanking the U.S. government for prioritizing the response and prevention of gender-based violence globally. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019001032im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0814_gbv_sign_m.jpg)
![U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks with a mother at the Reach Out Mbuya Clinic in Kampala, Uganda on August 3, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019001032im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0803_clinton_uganda_clinic_m.JPG)
![Members from the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs pose for a photo with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists from the Western Hemisphere at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on July 23, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019001032im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0801_wha_activists_m.jpg)
