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, particularly in the south. 

As I continued my first media tour as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations food and agriculture agencies in Rome I was excited to have two reporters from Malawi join the group of seven talented reporters traveling with me, five African and two European, to witness programs on the ground and help tell the Malawian story of increasing food security in Africa.

Despite the difficult situation in the south, it is an exciting time to visit Malawi because… more »

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 and Agriculture Agencies in Rome. Accompanying me was a group of talented reporters from five African countries — Malawi, Uganda, Ghana, Niger, and Tanzania — plus two Europeans from France and Italy.

The U.S. Mission I lead — to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the International… more »

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton holds a joint press conference with Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., October 12, 2012. [Go to http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/10/199009.htm for a text transcript.]

On May 18-19, 2012, the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the EU joined President Barack Obama at Camp David for the annual G8 Summit. The leaders met to address major global economic, political, and security challenges, including energy and climate change, food security and nutrition, Afghanistan’s economic transition and transitions taking place across the Middle East and North Africa.

In his remarks at the closing of the Summit, President Obama said, “For the past three years, our nations have worked together and with others first to rescue a global economy from freefall, then to wrestle it back to a path of recovery and growth. Our progress has been tested… more »

About the Author: Ambassador Eric Goosby serves as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator.

In last week’s post, I previewed the International AIDS Conference in Rome. This week I’d like to offer some brief reflections on the activity there, and what it means for our PEPFAR programs.

For those of us who have been working in this field for some time — which in my case is about 30 years — the mood in Rome was positive, with a palpable sense of encouragement. This was largely fueled by two things: new evidence of the long-term benefits of antiretroviral treatment efforts to date, and new scientific breakthroughs regarding the benefits of treatment for prevention. These developments are transforming the way we think about AIDS.

HIV/AIDS has had a devastating impact on life expectancy in many African countries, and in turn on their economic… more »

President Barack Obama joined other heads of state and government from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, Russia, and the European Union at the annual G-8 Leaders’ Summit in Deauville, France, on May 26-27. The President and his G-8 counterparts pledged solidarity with the people of Japan in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and offered continued assistance as needed to ensure a speedy and lasting recovery. During the two-day Summit, the leaders agreed to closely cooperate on a wide range of key global priorities. You can read more about the Summit here. The United States will host the G-8 Summit in 2012.

About the Author: Ambassador Ertharin Cousin serves as U.S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.

Interactive Travel Map | Trip Page

Today in Rome, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke to a prestigious international audience and reminded them, in no uncertain terms, of the United States’ commitment to fighting hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity around the world.

Secretary Clinton, on the kind invitation of the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on behalf of the other UN Food Agencies in Rome, addressed an audience of over 400 people, including the distinguished Permanent Representatives to the FAO from its 191 member states, as well as the leadership of the other UN Food Agencies in Rome and guests from… more »

Interactive Travel Map | Trip Page

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is visiting Rome, Italy, from May 4-6 to participate in a meeting of the Libya Contact Group. Today, Secretary Clinton held a bilateral meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Secretary and Foreign Minister discussed a broad range of issues, including the situations in Libya and Syria, our efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as the commercial, educational, and cultural ties between the United States and Italy.

Before discussing their meeting, Secretary Clinton first highlighted the strong friendship and partnership between the United… more »

Secretary of State Clinton will travel to Rome, Italy May 4-6 to participate in a meeting of the Libya Contact Group. The Rome meeting will build on the last Contact Group meeting held in Doha and will allow the United States to discuss with its international partners the ongoing implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973.

Secretary Clinton will also conduct a series of bilateral meetings, including Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, President Giorgio Napolitano, and Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. Assistant Secretary Philip H. Gordon and Assistant Secretary Jeffery Feltman will accompany the Secretary on this trip.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held a bilateral meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini at the Department of State on April 6, 2011. Secretary Clinton highlighted Italy’s contributions to NATO in Libya and Afghanistan, as well as Italy’s humanitarian support to the people of North Africa and the Middle East…