January 2013
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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;...
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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,...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Advancing Community Cooperation on Environmental...
About the Author: Krystle Norman serves as Economic/ Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic.
On a blazing hot day, eager exhibitors hurried across the fairgrounds, where they were adding the final touches to the myriad of booths and displays. Flocks of anxious kids arrived proudly swinging their bag of recyclables in one hand and...
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Building on a Strong Foundation of Historic Ties...
About the Author: Kurt Campbell serves as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Economic issues were also at the forefront of our engagement with the Asia-Pacific region in 2012, particularly fostering economic integration and open markets. On March 15, the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement — the largest U.S. FTA in nearly two decades — entered into force....
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Multilateral Organizations Play Increasingly...
About the Author: Kurt Campbell serves as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Regional multilateral organizations play an increasingly important role in the Asia-Pacific and the United States further strengthened its engagement with these institutions. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), East Asia Summit (EAS), and...
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Secretary Clinton Delivers Remarks With President...
Remarks Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Treaty Room Washington, DC January 17, 2013
SECRETARY CLINTON: I am delighted to announce that for the first time since 1991, the United States is recognizing the Government of Somalia.
Now before I talk about what comes next for this partnership, it is worth taking a moment to remember how we got here and how far we have come together. When...
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Technology Advances U.S. Diplomacy Goals
About the Author: Tara Sonenshine serves as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
When we apply technology at its best to public service at its most critical, we can make powerful differences in the lives and well-being of people. Advances in communications and information technology are allowing us to do just that, whether we are using crowd-sourcing or Twitter, or...
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Nomination of Poverty Point State Historic Site to...
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC January 17, 2013
The United States is pleased to announce the nomination of Poverty Point State Historic Site and National Monument in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana for inclusion on the World Heritage List. This unique site features a vast, integrated complex of earthen monuments constructed more than 3,000 years ago by a vanished people...
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The Power of Partnerships
About the Author: Thomas Debass serves as Deputy Special Representative for Global Partnerships.
On our final day of this multi-blog series on partnerships, I’d like to highlight other ways in which the Global Partnership Initiative helped advance a number of other meaningful partnership activities. These partnership “wins” include: - Liberalizing Innovation Opportunity...
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Demonstrating U.S. Commitment to the Asia-Pacific...
About the Author: Kurt Campbell serves as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
This was an historic and consequential year for U.S. diplomatic relations with the Asia-Pacific region. Following Secretary Clinton’s announcement of a “pivot” to Asia in late 2011, the United States substantially increased efforts to refocus and strengthen its...
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Disappearance of Lao Civil Society Leader Sombath...
Press Statement Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Washington, DC January 16, 2013
We are deeply concerned about the well-being of Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone, who disappeared one month ago. Reports indicate that Mr. Sombath went missing on December 15, 2012 after being stopped at a police checkpoint in the capital city of Vientiane. We call upon the Lao government to...
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The U.S.-Europe Relationship
About the Author: Philip H. Gordon serves as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Looking back at the busy and productive year we’ve had, I would say that the United States and Europe have never been more closely aligned, both in overall goals as well as tactics to achieve those goals. From the beginning of the Obama Administration we’ve made a deliberate...
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Two Women, Two Countries, Two People: A Growing...
About the Author: Tara Sonenshine serves as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
There is no more effective form of engagement than face-to-face communication. That’s a fundamental principle of our public diplomacy. And thanks to a strong friendship and understanding between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf , we...
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Statement by President Obama on Enhanced State...
The White House Office of the Press Secretary January 15, 2013
Today I signed into law S. 2318, the Department of State Rewards Program Update and Technical Corrections Act of 2012. This legislation will enhance the ability of the U.S. Government to offer monetary rewards for information that leads to the arrest or conviction of foreign nationals accused by international criminal tribunals of...
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Global Partnerships Enhance Diplomacy and...
About the Author: Connie Tzioumis and Robert Haynie serve as Senior Advisors in the Office of the Secretary’s Global Partnerships Initiative.
Continuing our series on global partnerships, today’s entry highlights major achievements for diaspora engagement in 2012. We also spotlight a brand-new flagship — the culmination of three years of work — that is now being piloted...
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A New Generation of FLEX Arrives in the United...
About the Author: Amy Schulz serves as a Program Officer in the Youth Programs Division of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) began 20 years ago as a way to introduce high-school students from Eurasia to American society and in turn, expose U.S. citizens to the culture, traditions, and lifestyles of the people of Eurasia. As a sign of its...
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Flagship Partnerships Reach Key Milestones
About the Author: Jacob Moss serves as Director of the U.S. Cookstoves Initiative, and Dr. Joshua Walker serves as Senior Advisor for Office of the Secretary’s Global Partnerships Initiative.
In Saturday’s blog posting, Special Representative Kris Balderston announced we would be launching a multi-day blog series highlighting the Global Partnership Initiative’s successes this...