Tag Archives: Australia

Australian PM in the U.S. / Progress in Afghanistan / A Report on Hunger

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While in the U.S., Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard met with President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and will address a joint session of the U.S. Congress. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sees progress in Afghanistan, but challenges remain.  Leaen how female farmers in the developing world could help feed up to 150 million more hungry people.  Clinton discusses International Women’s Day in an op-ed.

Australia’s Prime Minister Visits the U.S.
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Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s meetings with President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton focus upon shared efforts to transition the security control of Afghanistan to Afghan forces as well as expanding trade in the Pacific region. Gillard will also be addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress March 9, which Obama says is “a high honor that is reserved for only our closest friends.”

Gates Sees Progress in Afghanistan
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that security gains achieved by Afghan and coalition forces across Afghanistan are significant, but the momentum must be maintained to begin a formal security transition later this year. “The gains we are seeing across the country are significant,” he says at a joint press conference in Kabul with President Hamid Karzai.

Secretary Clinton’s Op-Ed on International Women’s Day
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You’ve heard about the opportunities opening up in countries like China, regions like Asia and industries like green technology. But one major emerging market hasn’t received the attention it deserves: women. Today, there are more than 200 million women entrepreneurs worldwide. Women earn more than $10 trillion every year, which is expected to grow by $5 trillion over the next several years. In many developing countries, women’s incomes are growing faster than men’s.

A Report on Feeding the Hungry
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 With a little bit of help, female farmers in the developing world could help feed up to 150 million more hungry people in the world, according to a report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Farming women in the rural areas of the world have lesser productivity than men currently, the report finds, but if they were given improved access to land, fuel, fertilizer, and seeds, they would have greater yields.

New U.S. Aid to the Palestinian Authority / Obama in Indonesia / A Young Indonesian Entrepreneur

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announces new aid to the Palestinian Authority. President Obama delivers remarks in Indonesia.  Australia and the U.S. are teaming up to meet green goals. The USAID is borrowing a page from the private sector’s play book in funding high-risk projects. It takes international cooperation to go after sophisticated criminal syndicates. And, finally, meet Goris Mustaqim a young Indonesian entrepreneur in a hurry.

$150 Million in New U.S. Aid to Palestinians
The United States has provided an additional $150 million in direct assistance to the Palestinian Authority, part of nearly $600 million in overall U.S. support for services and security in the West Bank and Gaza territories this year. “This figure underscores the strong determination of the American people and this administration to stand with our Palestinian friends even during difficult economic times,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says.

Obama Reaches Out to Muslim World
President Obama says that since becoming president he has worked to repair relations between the United States and Muslim communities around the world that have been frayed over many years by mistrust and suspicion. “We can choose to be defined by our differences, and give in to a future of suspicion and mistrust. Or we can choose to do the hard work of forging common ground, and commit ourselves to the steady pursuit of progress,” he says.

Obama Questions New Israeli Construction
President Obama says Israel’s plan to build 1,300 new apartments in East Jerusalem is not helping the ongoing peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Speaking in Jakarta, Obama says he has not yet had a full briefing concerning Israel’s intentions in the announcement of the new construction, but said “this kind of activity is never helpful.”

PEPFAR Succeeding Against AIDS
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is having an “extraordinary impact” on the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, with data showing that more than 2.5 million people have been directly supported by its treatments through 2009.

Green Teamwork
The United States and Australia are working together to meet their respective renewable energy goals. Australia wants 20 percent of its energy needs to be met by renewable power sources a decade from now. President Obama has said he wants one-quarter of all electricity consumed in the United States in 2025 to come from renewables.

Fast Track for Development Aid
The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Development Innovation Ventures uses a venture-capital model of private-sector innovation to invest resources in high-risk, high-return projects that are often difficult to undertake through traditional agency structures.

Cooperation on Crime
The Obama administration is developing innovative global partnerships across the Pacific and Atlantic to fight increasingly sophisticated transnational criminal enterprises.

A Young Indonesian Entrepreneur
Goris Mustaqim of Bandung, Indonesia, is the founder of PT Resultan Nusantara, a technology firm that employs 35 people and has 10 billion rupiah — $1.1 million USD — in revenue. But the 27-year-old Mustaqim, right, has still bigger ambitions, including expanding his Asgar Muda Foundation to work with youth in half of Indonesia’s provinces, creating more businesses and landing on the list of Indonesia’s most wealthy. He also wants to enter politics.

Obama in Indonesia / A U.S.-Indonesian Partnership on Water / The Hispanic Vote in America

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President Obama delivers remarks in Indonesia. The U.S. and Indonesia team up to improve water services. It takes international cooperation to go after sophisticated criminal syndicates. The U.S. sets conditions that could lead to Sudan’s removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. In Australia, ministers meet. And, finally, the Hispanic vote flexes its muscle in U.S. elections.

Obama Reaches Out to Muslim World
President Obama says that since becoming president he has worked to repair relations between the United States and Muslim communities around the world that have been frayed over many years by mistrust and suspicion. “We can choose to be defined by our differences, and give in to a future of suspicion and mistrust. Or we can choose to do the hard work of forging common ground, and commit ourselves to the steady pursuit of progress,” he says. Above, Obama talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta.

Obama Questions New Israeli Construction
President Obama says Israel’s plan to build 1,300 new apartments in East Jerusalem is not helping the ongoing peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Speaking in Jakarta, Obama says he had not yet had a full briefing concerning Israel’s intentions in the announcement of the new construction, but said “this kind of activity is never helpful.”

Obama’s Return to Indonesia
Barack Obama said it felt “wonderful” to return to Indonesia as President of the United States many years after he had lived in the country for four years as a boy. “The sights and the sounds and the memories all feel very familiar and it’s wonderful to be able to come back as president and hopefully contribute to further understanding between the United States and Indonesia,” Obama said November 9 in a press conference with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

A Water Partnership for Indonesia
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is continuing its partnership with Indonesian organizations to help 2 million people gain access to improved water supplies and 200,000 people gain access to adequate sanitation facilities. The effort builds on 66 months of programs across Indonesia through the USAID-funded Environmental Services Program.

Cooperation on Crime
The Obama administration is developing innovative global partnerships across the Pacific and Atlantic to fight increasingly sophisticated transnational criminal enterprises.

U.S. Makes Offer to Remove Sudan from Terror List
The United States has conditioned its willingness to accelerate the process of removing Sudan from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism provided that Sudan fully implements its obligations under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including preparing and conducting a January 9, 2011 referendum in southern Sudan and respecting the referendum results.

U.S.-Australia Talks
Women’s empowerment and military cooperation topped the agenda as the defense and foreign ministers of Australia and the United States met in Melbourne. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the session “a broad, far-reaching and extremely valuable set of consultations.”

The Hispanic Vote in America
The 2010 midterm elections in the United States demonstrated the growing importance of the Hispanic vote across party lines, according to election analysts. Hispanics generally favored Democratic candidates over Republicans, and some analysts credit them with keeping the Senate in Democratic hands. At right, Nevada Democrat Harry Reid greets Hispanic supporters at an October rally.

Obama in India / Clinton in Australia / Dengue Fever

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President Obama says the United States will support India in its bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. He also addresses the flawed vote in Burma, trade, terrorism and relations between India and Pakistan, during his three-day visit to India. At the same time, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in Australia as her trip to the Asia-Pacific region continues. There are few treatments for Dengue fever, but researchers from the United States and Indonesia are seeking ways to control the painful, sometimes deadly, disease.

U.S. Backs India Security Council Bid
President Obama says the United States would support India’s bid for a permanent seat on a reformed United Nations Security Council. Speaking to a joint session of the Indian parliament in New Delhi, Obama says the United States “not only welcomes India as a rising global power, we fervently support it, and we have worked to help make it a reality.”

Obama Condemns Burma Vote
President Obama says that Burma’s parliamentary elections on November 7 were neither free nor fair and failed to meet any internationally accepted standards. “The elections…demonstrated the regime’s continued preference for repression and restriction over inclusion and transparency,” Obama said in a statement.

Obama on India-Pakistan Relations
President Obama tells Indian college students that their country is taking “its rightful place” in the world and urges India to work toward a peace settlement with neighboring Pakistan. “I am absolutely convinced that the country that has the biggest stake in Pakistan’s success is India,” Obama, at right with students, says during a town hall meeting at St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai.

India’s Resolve Against Terror
President Obama pays tribute to terror victims and the resilience of Indian society, during a visit to the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel buildings in Mumbai which were attacked by terrorists in 2008. Since the attacks, the governments of India and the United States have worked together more closely “sharing intelligence, preventing more attacks, and demanding that the perpetrators be brought to justice,” Obama says.

Obama Promotes U.S.-India Trade
President Obama says increased trade will be a “win-win proposition” for the United States and India and welcomed India’s rapid economic rise as “one of the most stunning achievements in human history.” He says trade ties are “a dynamic, two-way relationship that is creating jobs, growth, and higher living standards in both our countries.”

Clinton on U.S.-Australia Trade
Trade between the United States and Australia is vital to generating jobs, creating economic opportunities, and improving lives and livelihoods, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says. “Done right, free trade and open markets are powerful tools to improve living standards far and wide,” Clinton says during a speech at the Port of Melbourne Education Center.

Enhancing U.S., Australia Ties
The United States and Australia pledge to strengthen military and defense cooperation as the two nations celebrate more than 70 years of close diplomatic relations. “Our relationship continues to be a strategic anchor of security and prosperity in this region and beyond, and our countries are working closely together,” Secretary Clinton says.

Controlling Dengue Fever
Indonesian and U.S. universities, government agencies and nonprofit organizations are working together to control dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease that can be fatal. Dengue affects 50 million people annually worldwide, and drug treatment and vaccinations are currently not available. Right, investigators from Indonesia and the United States examine a well in Yogjakarta.