February 2013
33 posts
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Photo of the Week: Visit to the State Department...
About the Author: Hannah Johnson serves as an Assistant Editor for DipNote.
Today’s “Photo of the Week” comes from the Department of State’s official photographer, Michael Gross, and shows Secretary Kerry visiting the gift shop in the basement (fondly nicknamed “Foggy Bottom”) of the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on February 15, 2013. ...
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Waste Less To Feed More
About the Author: Robert D. Hormats serves as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment.
I recently spoke at the 13th annual Delhi Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi, India. My remarks focused largely on the importance of creating a good environment for investment in the agricultural sector. I emphasized the particular need to improve food supply chains...
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TechWomen Collaborate, Code, and Connect in Jordan
About the Author: Lee Satterfield serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Cultural and Professional Exchanges in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Last week in Jordan, 50 women from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, Yemen and the United States came together to map out ways in which they could use the TechWomen network to encourage...
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Food Security and Minimizing Postharvest Loss
About the Author: Jose W. Fernandez serves as Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
On February 19, the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs along with the Office of Global Food Security and the Foreign Service Institute will host the conference “Food Security and Minimizing Postharvest Loss.” Government officials, representatives from the private...
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One Billion Rising
About the Author: Ambassador Luis CdeBaca serves as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State and directs the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Today all over the world people — men and women — will rise in solidarity and call for an end to violence against women. Why is this happening? The rising started with a handful of advocates seeking...
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President Obama Delivers the 2013 State of the...
More: White House Blog — President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union President Barack Obama delivered the State of the Union address in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on February 12, 2013. In his remarks, President Obama addressed a number of foreign policy issues. President Obama said, “Tonight, we stand united in saluting the troops and civilians who...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...