About the Author: Stephanie Grosser serves as a Program Analyst with the USAID Development Credit Authority.
Last week, the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Mission in Uganda and the USAID Development Credit Authority released a video that will make you rethink development. The video tells the story of a private infrastructure project on a remote island in Uganda, where a USAID co-guarantee spurred private sector investment.
In the 1960s, during USAID's founding decade, official development assistance represented 70 percent of all capital flows to developing countries. Today, foreign aid makes up just 13 percent, having been replaced over time by trade, investment, and other sources of private capital.
About the Author: Hannah Johnson serves as an Assistant Editor for DipNote.
Our "Photo of the Week" shows Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Colombian Vice Foreign Minister Patti Londono signing a memorandum of understanding on the Small Business Network of the Americas in Cali, Colombia, October 23, 2012.
Deputy Secretary Burns and Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobsontraveled to Cali for the fifth Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas ministerial. The government of Colombia hosted the event, attended by high-level government officials, policy makers, business leaders, academics, and representatives from international organizations throughout the… more »
Ten years ago, in the federal courthouse in Honolulu, I was among a small group of civil rights prosecutors who had just started trial in the largest slavery prosecution in U.S. history, in which over 300 Chinese and Vietnamese workers had been enslaved in a garment factory in American Samoa. But on the third day of trial, a hammer blow fell on our prosecution team: Paul and Sheila Wellstone's airplane had gone down in northeastern Minnesota, taking their lives as well as that of their daughter and several aides. Senator Wellstone was not just the conscience of the Senate, a voice for the dispossessed and an inspiration to so many, he was the sponsor of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. He was not only a fellow Midwestern wrestler, but had been… more »
About the Author: Tom Genton is a Senior Advisor in the Bureau of African Affairs, Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
It's a whirlwind of energy inside the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. I'm surrounded by innovators, investors, and media from around the world at the first-ever DEMO Africa forum. Over the next few days, more than 40 African innovators and technology start-ups will get the chance to unveil their products to the world for the first time. In cooperation with Appfrica International, the U.S. State Department will be announcing the launch of the third annual Apps4Africa contest -- Apps4Africa 2012: Business Challenge -- which we hope will inspire African innovators to develop mobile, web, and desktop applications… more »
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson will hold a conversation with Diana Villiers Negroponte, Senior Fellow, Latin America Initiative, Brookings Institution and Michael Shifter, President, Inter-American Dialogue, on the U.S. government's foreign policy agenda in the Western Hemisphere. The discussion will be moderated by Cheryl Benton, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, and will… more »
DipNote is the official blog of the U.S. Department of State —a place to share stories, discuss experiences, and inspire new ideas on the important foreign policy issues of the day. more »
In 2011, the eastern Horn of Africa was reeling from the region’s most severe drought in 60 years. Progress has been made over the last year, yet some 9 million people are still in need of assistance in the Horn of Africa. Learn more about the crisis, and how you can help.
Director Luna (Oct. 26): "It is a great pleasure to join some of the world's 'thought leaders' here today as we expose the harms of illicit trade and the illegal economy to international peace and security, social cohesion, and economic growth and development. more »
Oct. 26: Through Global Connections 2.0, teachers and students in the Middle East and North Africa will expand their computer literacy skills, gain a deeper understanding of other countries' cultures, and develop their leadership skills. more »
![Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Colombian Vice Foreign Minister Patti Londono sign a memorandum of understanding on the Small Business Network of the Americas on the sidelines of the Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas ministerial in Cali, Colombia, October 23, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121027031120im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1026_burns_colombia_m.jpg)
![U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., speaks during an interview in Manchester, N.H., April 24, 1998. [AP File Photo]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121027031120im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1025_wellstone_tip_m.jpg)
![Participants pose for a photograph at the DEMO Africa Forum in the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, October 25, 2012. From left to right: Tom Genton, Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of State Bureau of African Affairs; Jon Gosier, CEO of Appfrica; Bahiyah Robinson, Appfrica; Barbara Birungi, Appfrica; Emmanuel Owusu Addai, Farmerline (Ghana), Apps4Africa 2011 West Africa regional winner; Marieme Jamme, Appfrica; Eric Mutta, Mini Shop Tanzania, Apps4Africa 2011 East Africa regional winner; and Thomas DeBass, Director of the Secretary of State's Office of Global Partnership Initiatives. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121027031120im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1025_demo_africa_m.jpg)
![Conversations With America -- The Hemispheric Agenda: Democracy, Prosperity, and Social Inclusion [State Department image/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121027031120im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1025_cwa_americas_m.jpg)
