About the Author: Thomas C. Adams serves as Haiti Special Coordinator at the U.S. Department of State.
Whenever I tell a friend that I work on Haiti for the Department of State, the reaction is invariably the same. "That poor country... How much more can they take, and what are we doing to help them?" I understand that reaction, as it speaks to the serious problems that too often confront that small island nation. Before the earthquake,… more »
About the Author: Ambassador Eric Goosby serves as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator.
When the tragic earthquake hit Haiti nearly one year ago, the United States government was able to immediately respond thanks in part to the existing health infrastructure. This infrastructure was in place from our years of working with the Haitian government to address Haiti's HIV/AIDS epidemic. Since 2004, the U.S. has been a strong supporter of Haiti's fight against HIV/AIDS through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In a country with a weak health care system -- even before the earthquake -- these PEPFAR investments have not only supported HIV prevention, treatment, and care, but… more »
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson and Ambassador Princeton Lyman held a special press briefing today at the State Department on the Southern Sudan referendum.
Assistant Secretary Carson said, "...The referendum on Southern Sudan's independence is going extremely well, and we are pleased with the cooperation that we have seen from the leaders on both sides. The polling process is scheduled to last seven days and end on January 15th. Thus far, we are pleased with the high level of turnout and the cooperation of officials in both North and South Sudan.
"The process has been peaceful with only a handful of reported disturbances in Abyei and north of the 1956 North-South border. There is no reported conflict in the areas of Southern Sudan other than in Abyei. Officials from the North and South should be commended for their collaboration… more »
During a ceremony held today, January 11, 2011, in Peshawar, officials from the government of Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KPk) and the United States marked the success of their partnership in providing high-quality wheat seeds to flood-affected farmers across the nation. The $62 million Agricultural Recovery Program includes $21 million dollars for KPk alone to help the province's farmers recover from the floods of last summer.
The program distributed seed packages to households throughout the country just in time for planting the Rabi crop. If the farmers had not received seeds this fall, there would have been no wheat crop in 2011, depriving rural communities… more »
As we bid farewell to 2010 and usher in 2011 with a renewed sense of purpose, I'm proud of all the hard work that has been done by the Office of Global Women's Issues, our State Department colleagues in Washington and around the world to advance progress for women and girls across the globe. Just a year ago, Secretary Clinton announced that the United States was taking steps to put women and girls front and center in our development work. So it was most fitting that she closed 2010 with the release of the Quadrennial Diplomacy… more »
About the Author: Caitlin Hayden serves as Spokesperson at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.
On December 16, U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry and a team from the U.S. Embassy visited Mes Aynak in Logar Province to take a first-hand look at the work taking place at this historical site. Mes Aynak is one of the largest Buddhist archaeological sites in Afghanistan and is co-located with the world's second largest known copper deposit.
Mining operations will begin at Mes Aynak roughly three years from now, but before that occurs the recovery and preservation of the cultural heritage at Mes Aynak must be completed so that valuable Afghan history is not lost.
"It is vital for the Afghan people to benefit from the mineral resources at Mes Aynak, but it is equally important to preserve these remarkable artifacts of Afghanistan's… more »
Polling for the Southern Sudan Referendum started on January 9, 2011. This represents a historic step towards completion of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Speaking to reporters, Barrie Walkley, the U.S. Consul General in Juba, said, "As you may know the referendum...last[s] seven days. We probably expect that it will take another fourteen days to get all the results back in and to have them certified."
Walkley explains, "It is an area the size of France. It is larger then Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi combined and yet there are only fifty kilometres of paved road in the entire area, and all of those are inside of towns. There are no paved roads outside of towns, so getting the polling materials out to the sites is remarkably difficult. It will be achieved by helicopter, by motorcycle, people carrying things to remote areas."
Speaking at the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates today, Secretary Clinton said:
"…We believe that the work that is being done here at Masdar has the potential to solve some of the most urgent challenges facing our planet. How do we develop sustainable energy sources that can power our cities without contributing to climate change? How do we create technologies that are scalable and both use less power and are widely affordable? How do we supply water for drinking and farming in places where fresh water sources are decreasing? How do we achieve economic growth without relying so heavily on fossil fuels where they're drilling for them, selling them, buying them, or burning them?
"Now, these challenges are pressing across the world, but they are especially significant here in the Gulf. We know that oil supplies are shrinking,… more »
U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth H. Merten published an Op-Ed in The Washington Post. Ambassador Merten discusses progress in the commitment to build a more prosperous and stable Haiti. The text of his Op-Ed appears below.
"Progress in Haiti is Slow, but Real" By Kenneth H. Merten January 9, 2011
When I arrived in Haiti as ambassador, unemployment was rampant, the government could not provide basic services such as education and health care, and only 12 percent of the population had access to electricity. And that was in August 2009 - months before the devastating earthquake that struck the country almost one year ago.
The 35 seconds of terror that Haiti suffered on Tuesday, Jan. 12, resulted in 230,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands… more »
DipNote is the official blog of the U.S. Department of State —a place to share stories, discuss experiences, and inspire new ideas on the important foreign policy issues of the day. more »
Dear Madame Secretary and Mister President! While it's great to see people of Southern Sudan exercise their right to freely vote and run their own land, the…
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wow that is wonderful,,,it is an important place ...we appreciate the work of Mr.Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry and all those people who are working on cultural…
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So the people of Haiti were already used to getting help from relief efforts before the earthquake.The problems with clean water were persisted.In fact these…
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Jan. 11: The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is pleased to announce the winners of its ExchangesConnect online Photo Contest, "Postcards from Home: Show Us Where You're From." more »
Assistant Secretary Crowley (Jan. 11): "We use a variety of media to communicate to governments and people around the worldâformal briefings that are covered by traditional media, as well as social media to bypass governments and communicate directly with people. more »
![Construction crews rebuild a street in Haiti, 2010. [USAID Photo/ Kendra Helmer]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110112064338im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0111_haiti_rebuilding_m.jpg)
![Amb. Goosby at the GHESKIO Center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Undated. [State Dept./Public]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110112064338im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_1_11_goosby_m.jpg)
![Farmer prepares wheat seeds near Peshawar, Pakistan, Nov. 3, 2010. [AP File Photo]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110112064338im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0111_pakistan_seeds_m.jpg)
![Amb. Verveer at the 2010 International Women of Courage Awards March 10, 2010 in DC. [State /Public]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110112064338im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_1_11_sgwi_review_m.jpg)
![Secretary Clinton in front of solar research project at Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, Jan. 10, 2011. [AP]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110112064338im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0110_clinton_masdarcity_m.jpg)
![Man works on housing repairs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Dec. 16, 2010. [USAID Photo]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110112064338im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0110_haiti_progress_m.jpg)
