February 2013
23 posts
4 tags
U.S. and Afghanistan Announce $18.2 Million in...
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC February 13, 2013
On February 12, 2013, Afghanistan’s Minister for Counter Narcotics Zarar Moqbel Osmani and U.S. Embassy’s Coordinating Director for Rule of Law and Law Enforcement Ambassador Stephen G. McFarland announced $18.2 million in Good Performers Initiative (GPI) awards. GPI awards are given to provinces that achieved or retained...
4 tags
6 tags
A Diverse and Socially Inclusive America Needs to...
About the Author: Tara D. Sonenshine serves as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
Diversity is our strength, and everyone, including persons with disabilities, has important contributions to make. That was one of the overarching messages at the 10th Special Olympics 2013 World Winter Games in South Korea this month, where athletes Tae Hemsath and Henry Meece...
6 tags
American Athletes Promote Life Skills for Indian...
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC February 12, 2013
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin and Olympian Natasha Watley will travel as sports envoys to India from February 12-18. Working with Major League Baseball and USA Softball, this trip marks the Department’s first joint...
4 tags
International Writing Program Sends Former U.S....
About the Author: Ann Stock serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs.
For centuries, great writers have opened windows into other worlds, and allowed countries — often for the very first time — a glimpse into a different culture and a different way of living. Through their work, writers connect cultures on a people-to-people level. The art of...
2 tags
Resignation of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
Press Statement John Kerry Secretary of State Washington, DC February 11, 2013
The United States is grateful to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for his leadership of and ministry to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. He has been a man of action and principle, working to promote human rights and dignity in places around the globe where they are too often denied, and a voice of clarity and...
6 tags
Breaking Down the Numbers of the Syrian Refugee...
About the Author: Caroline Raclin is a Special Assistant in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) at the U.S. Department of State. She traveled with a joint State Department-USAID delegation to Turkey, Jordan, and Kuwait January 22-31, 2013.
It was near midnight. We were driving in the desert with no headlights, and Syria was 20 feet to my left. To the right was a mass of...
5 tags
Small Grants: Huge Impact
About the Author: Roberta S. Jacobson serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Small grants: huge impact. That was the recurring theme of an inspiring event Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer hosted earlier this week at the Department of State. As part of the WEAmericas initiative to support economic empowerment for women-owned...
2 tags
5 tags
International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM:...
About the Author: Melanne Verveer serves as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.
On February 6, 2013, in observance of the tenth anniversary of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, I had the privilege of leading a panel discussion at the State Department to help bring global attention to a harmful traditional practice that risks the lives,...
1 tag
Behind the Scenes at Secretary Kerry’s Swearing-In...
About the Author: Luke Forgerson serves as DipNote’s Managing Editor.
The audio technician conducts one last sound test, and my public affairs colleagues prepare to stream the event live on www.state.gov. The press officers escort the media to the Benjamin Franklin Room, where many State Department events take place. Everything is occurring according to a process, one of which we’ve...
1 tag
2 tags
8 tags
Taking the Lessons of Title IX Global—On the Court...
About the Author: Ann Stock serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs.
February 6 marks the 27th National Day of Women and Girls in Sports. Today in Esteli, Nicaragua, girls from under-served areas are on the softball diamond, fielding grounders, running out base hits, and learning how sports can improve their health and their performance in the classroom. In...
3 tags
6 tags
Afghan Music Students Begin U.S. Tour
About the Author: James B. Cunningham serves as Ambassador to Afghanistan.
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Winter Academy Gala Concert of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM). Students ranging in age from 10 to 20 played Chopin and Ravel, as well as Afghan traditional songs and collaborative fusion pieces. In a historic tour that began February 3, 2013, ANIM...
4 tags
1 tag
2 tags
Coming Home: A Day of Milestones
About the Author: John Kerry serves as the 68th Secretary of State of the United States.
A day of milestones — here at what I’m learning now to call “the Mothership,” they tell me this is the 5,000th blog entry on this page, and it’s the first of what I hope will be many opportunities to share thoughts and occasional observations on the challenges ahead. It’s...
With Gratitude and Best Wishes
About the Author: Hillary Rodham Clinton serves as the 67th Secretary of State of the United States.
Thank you. That’s what I want to say one last time before I finish my tenure as Secretary. Thank you for four wonderful years. When President Obama asked me to serve as Secretary of State, I was determined to restore America’s leadership and to elevate diplomacy and development...
3 tags
President Obama Signs Memorandum...
About the Author: Melanne Verveer serves as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.
I am happy to share some very good news. On Wednesday, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum (“the Memorandum”) that will help ensure that advancing the rights of women and girls remains central to U.S. diplomacy and development around the world — and that these efforts...
January 2013
83 posts
2 tags
5 tags
Brazilians Glean Lessons From Super Bowl Planning
About the Author: Reta Jo Lewis serves as the Secretary of State’s Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs.
As many Americans are preparing for this weekend’s Super Bowl — arguably the biggest annual sporting event in the United States — Brazilians are looking ahead to 2014, and 2016, when they’ll host the World Cup and the Olympic and...
6 tags
3 tags
3 tags
U.S.-Africa Partnership: The Last Four Years and...
About the Author: Johnnie Carson serves as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.
After more than 40 years of experience in Africa — and the ebbs and flows of hope and conflict — I’ve become ever more optimistic about Africa’s future. As those of you who know me are aware, I like to base my conclusions on analysis and factual observations. Here, too, my...
5 tags
4 tags
3 tags
Global Town Hall with Secretary of State Hillary... →
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will hold a Global Townterview on January 29, 2013, and engage with young people around the world in advance of her last day as Secretary of State on Friday, February 1st. The event will be streamed live on YouTube and www.state.gov. Post your photos and comments for Secretary Clinton here and submit your questions for Secretary Clinton via Twitter using...
5 tags
4 tags
Secretary Clinton To Hold Global Town Hall
More: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube On Tuesday, January 29, 2013, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will hold a Global Townterview at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. A “Townterview” is a mix of a town hall and a television interview. The concept was first introduced by the Secretary when she entered office as a way to broaden people-to-people engagement. This will be her 59th...
4 tags
4 tags
Visiting the Islahiye Refugee Camp for Syrians
About the Author: Luke Forgerson serves as DipNote’s Managing Editor.
Our “Photo of the Week” comes to us from Laurens Vermeire, a public affairs colleague accompanying a State Department and USAID delegation to Turkey and Jordan. The delegation includes U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford; Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Anne Richard;...
6 tags
In Malawi, the Future Belongs to the Organized
About the Author: David Lane serves as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome.
After an early morning departure from Tanzania, we arrived in the Malawian capital of Lilongwe in a steady rain. The rain is not always favorable for travel, but it was very welcome in Malawi after a drought during the 2012 rainy season impacted the maize crop and food security,...
5 tags
Burma: Hoops for Change
About the Author: Tara Sonenshine serves as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
They came off the bus in front of the Verizon Center in their white SportsUnited T-shirts. They were 12 Burmese basketball players — six girls, six boys and two coaches — participating in a sports exchange program that started last summer in Rangoon. Their excitement grew as...
3 tags
5 tags
Smallholder Farmers Go Commercial in Tanzania
About the Author: David Lane serves as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome.
With the seven journalists accompanying me on our media tour, we said goodbye to Augustino, Fortunata, and the other farmers we had met around Arusha, and flew south to the humid, coastal climate of Dar es Salaam. We were eager to hear how the projects we had seen, along with many...
3 tags
5 tags
Closing the Internet Gender Gap
About the Authors: Melanne Verveer serves as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. Ambassador Verveer co-authored this entry with Shelly Esque. This entry appeared first on The Huffington Post. There is no doubt that over the last decade, the Internet has created a revolution. Never before has information been so widely available or people better connected to one another. The...
3 tags
12 tags
Reporting on the U.S. Fight Against World Hunger
About the Author: David Lane serves as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome.
Our journey started with an early morning flight into the Tanzanian city of Arusha, where we were greeted by the impressive sight of Mount Kilimanjaro, whose snow covered peak dominates the landscape. I was on my first media tour as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Food...
5 tags
5 tags
Helping the Syrian People in Difficult...
About the Author: Robert S. Ford serves as U.S. Ambassador to Syria.
I am pleased to announce that I’ll be visiting the region this week with colleagues from the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. We’ll visit Turkey and Jordan to see the conditions of Syrian refugees. At the same time, we’ll sit with governments, international...
2 tags
United States Celebrates 57th Presidential...
More: The 57th Presidential Inauguration — Be Part of History Today, President of the United States Barack Obama was sworn in at a ceremony marking the beginning of his second term and delivered his inaugural address from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. During his speech, President Obama said, “America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe. And...
2 tags
A National Day of Service
About the Author: Doris Robinson serves as a program officer at the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Press Center.
As a program officer with the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Press Center, I help make sure foreign journalists reporting on the United States have access to U.S. government officials and receive information on U.S. foreign policy. Today, I had the opportunity to...
2 tags
How To Build a ‘Happy Memory’—Volunteerism at Work...
About the Author: Sharon Hudson-Dean serves as Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Americans of all ages, backgrounds, and interests come to Zimbabwe. They come to see the rhinos, elephants, and Victoria Falls; they come as part of church mission groups to build health clinics and schools; and they come to share their expertise and learn from Zimbabweans at all...
3 tags
Photo of the Week: U.S. Recognizes the Government...
About the Author: Luke Forgerson serves as DipNote’s Managing Editor.
On January 17, 2013, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Washington, D.C., and announced that the United States is recognizing the Government of Somalia for the first time since 1991. Secretary Clinton said, “Today is a milestone. It’s not the end...