About the Author: Robert Blake serves as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs.

Rabia Mariam is a businesswoman who employs an all-women workforce to manufacture scarves and rugs from silk, cotton-silk blend, and wool in Mazar-e-Sharif, in northern Afghanistan. Working with the USAID IDEA-NEW program, she employs nearly 1,000 women — many of them widows. Many of these Afghan women raise silkworms at home and boil cocoons, and go to weaving centers to weave the scarves and other handicrafts. Rabia’s work is bringing economic opportunity and hope to Afghan women.

I had the privilege of meeting Rabia and learning about her work at the South Asia Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium, which was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh last month. The event exemplifies several of our bureau’s highest priorities… more »

Media Note
Washington, DC
December 4, 2012

Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake, Jr. is traveling to Ireland, Bangladesh, and Bhutan December 4 through December 13.

In Dublin, Assistant Secretary Blake will participate in meetings at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial. Assistant Secretary Blake will meet with OSCE interlocutors on human rights, elections, border security and anti-corruption, and hold bilateral meetings with the heads of delegations of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and the Kyrgyz Republic.

From Dublin, Assistant Secretary Blake will travel to Dhaka, Bangladesh, on December 8. Assistant Secretary Blake will address the Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium. The Symposium supports the New Silk Road vision of enhancing regional economic integration and advancing economic growth, peace, and stability, by empowering women through entrepreneurship and trade. Please click here for more information on the Symposium.

While in Dhaka, Assistant Secretary Blake will also meet with Bangladeshi officials, civil society leaders, and private sector representatives to discuss a wide range of bilateral and regional issues on labor, development, governance, and trade. He will also record an episode of the television program “A Conversation with Bangladesh.”

On December 11 Assistant Secretary Blake will travel from Bangladesh to the Kingdom of Bhutan, where he will meet with officials from the Government of Bhutan to discuss issues of mutual interest, including our support for the advancement of women and girls in South Asia.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake, Jr. Delivers Remarks at a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) discussion on “The Role of Central Asia in Afghanistan” on July 12, 2012. [Go to http://video.state.gov for more video and text transcript.]

Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake, Jr. delivers remarks on “Readout of the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue” at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, D.C. on June 14, 2012. [Go tohttp://video.state.gov for more video and text transcript.]