We now know there are more than 11.5 million people -- primarily in Ethiopia, Kenya, and especially Somalia -- in need of emergency assistance.
Given the rapidly evolving humanitarian emergency in the region, I was encouraged to see so many countries convene so quickly in Rome for the ministerial-level meeting. There is no time to lose -- and meetings such as these must continue to bring the world's attention to… more »
In a video message, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer encourages Americans -- who are underrepresented on the United Nation's staff -- to learn more about the UN 2011 Young Professionals Program (YPP) Examination and to explore the possibility of working for the United Nations. The YPP examination targets specific occupational fields. This year those fields are administration, humanitarian affairs, public information, and statistics. Applicants must meet age, education, and language criteria. The application period runs until September 10, and the examination will be held on December 7. You can learn more about the requirements and the application process by visiting the UN Careers website at careers.un.org. more »
About the Author: Alberto Rodriguez serves as Spokesperson at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Ambassador Cameron Munter joined officials and residents of communities in FATA and Malakand today to mark the completion of a U.S. program to improve education in Northwest Pakistan. The event celebrated the success of the three-year ED-LINKS project which assisted more than 450,000 students in over 700 schools in the region.
"Our shared efforts to improve education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and FATA are a symbol of Pakistani and U.S. friendship. More important, our work will build a better tomorrow for future generations of Pakistanis," said Ambassador Munter.
Education Minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Babak Hussain, U.S. Agency for International Development Mission Director Andrew Sisson, and residents of FATA and Malakand also attended the ceremony. This project was funded by USAID.
"There could be no better way to help Pashtuns… more »
Over the course of the last two years, the United States and the Russian Federation negotiated, signed, and ratified the New START Treaty. The Treaty entered into force on February 5, 2011, and the implementation of that Treaty is now well underway.
The pace of activity has been impressive. We have already exchanged 1,000 notifications on our strategic nuclear facilities and forces. This information forms the foundation of the Treaty's database, which is continuously updated by both countries through the notification process and will be exchanged every six months throughout the life of the Treaty. You can find the New START Treaty aggregate numbers of strategic offensive arms here, as of February 5, 2011, as drawn from the initial exchange of data by the Parties.
U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker presented his diplomatic credentials to Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 24, 2011. Prior to this appointment, Ambassador Crocker served as Dean, Executive Professor, and Edward and Howard Kruse Endowed Chair at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M; University. He retired from the Foreign Service in April 2009 after a career of over 37 years. Ryan Crocker served as Ambassador to Iraq (2007-2009) and Ambassador to Pakistan (2004-2007). He has also served as the International Affairs Advisor at the National War College, where he joined the faculty in 2003.
Ambassador Crocker delivered remarks at a swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ambassador Crocker said, "I wanted to take this oath here to stand before… more »
With more than 100,000 Indian students studying in the United States each year, young people in India tend to know a fair amount about U.S. cities, culture and businesses. But fewer than 3,000 U.S. students study in India annually. It's been one of my goals as Senior Advisor for Education in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs to see the number of U.S. students going to India increase. During the Secretary's recent trip to India, she announced an exciting new initiative that I hope will help American young people get to know India better: Passport to India.
Passport to India will promote internships for American high school and college students in India. Funded entirely by private companies,… more »
About the Author: Courtney Beale serves as Acting Spokesperson at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Ambassador Cameron Munter inaugurated a new U.S.-funded mango processing line at Lutfabad Farm while visiting Multan on July 24, 2011. As a result of U.S-provided infrastructure upgrades, 13 farms in Southern Punjab will be able to export delicious Pakistani mangos to foreign markets.
Speaking at the event, Ambassador Munter said, "Just one year ago, Secretary Clinton pledged U.S. support to developing the export capacities of mango farmers. What we are seeing here today are tangible results of this pledge."
The mango project is designed to support economic growth, fuel job creation, and improve living standards. The U.S. partnership with mango producers is expected to yield a 30 million dollar increase in mango export revenue in the next two years, three million dollars of new investment, and 6,000 new jobs in Punjab and Sindh.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton participated in a live webcast to discuss "Principles for Prosperity in the Asia Pacific" in Hong Kong on July 25, 2011. Secretary Clinton said, "...I have come here today to talk about how the nations of this region and the United States can intensify our economic partnership on behalf of ourselves, each other, and the world, and how together we can work toward a future of prosperity and opportunity for people everywhere.
"But before I talk about where we need to go together, let's consider how far we've come. The economic rise of the Asia Pacific region is an astonishing historic achievement that is reshaping our world today and into the future. In Hanoi, bicycles and water buffalo have given way to motorcycles and internet cafes. Small Chinese fishing villages like Shenzhen have become megacities with their own stock exchanges.… more »
About the Author: Luke Forgerson serves as DipNote's Managing Editor.
Across the eastern Horn of Africa, more than 11 million people -- a number greater than the populations of Houston and New York City combined -- are currently in need of emergency assistance to survive. On July 20, 2011, the United Nations declared a state of famine in southern Somalia. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said:
"The United States is deeply concerned by the humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa and today's announcement by the United Nations that a famine is underway in parts of Somalia. The United States is the largest bilateral donor of emergency assistance to the eastern Horn of Africa. We have already responded with over $431 million in food and non-food emergency assistance… more »
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa today in Bali, Indonesia. After their meeting, Secretary Clinton said:
"...I want to express my appreciation to the Foreign Minister and the delegation from Indonesia for not only welcoming us today, but preparing the opportunity for such a productive second meeting of our joint commission. As the foreign minister said, we covered a lot of ground. I want to just touch on a few of the highlights.
"First, we discussed how to increase trade and investment between our countries. Because while Indonesia is the largest economy in ASEAN, trade between our two countries still lags between others in the region. For example, our trade this year with Indonesia was $20 billion, but our trade with Malaysia was $40 billion. So we want to look at what are the impediments and… 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 »
Across the eastern Horn of Africa, more than 11 million people -- a number greater than the populations of Houston and New York City combined -- are now in need of emergency assistance to survive. Learn more about the current crisis, including how you can help.
Acting Deputy Spokesperson Fulton (July 26): "The United States strongly condemns the attack on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The attack wounded several French peacekeepers on patrol outside the southern port city of Sidon." more »
July 26: The State Department will host an Exchange 2.0 Meetup during the United Nations High Level Meeting on Youth on Wednesday, July 27. Tune in to the livestream starting at 10 am. more »
![Somalis fleeing hunger in their drought-stricken nation walk along the main road leading from the Somalian border to the refugee camps around Dadaab, Kenya, July 13, 2011. [AP File Photo]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110727141719im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0726_somalia_famine_m.jpg)
![U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter, USAID Mission Director Andrew Sisson, and KP Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak talk to students from six districts of Malakand and 13 regions and agencies of FATA who benefited from the USAID ED-LINKS project in Islamabad, Pakistan, July 26, 2011. [U.S. Embassy photo/ Public Domain]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110727141719im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0726_pakistan_education_m.jpg)
![Joint portrait of the U.S. and Russian START follow-on delegations standing on the steps of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in Geneva, April 6, 2010. Standing at the center are heads of delegation Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation, and Ambassador Anatoly Antonov, Director of the Department of Security and Disarmament Affairs, Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation, to the U.S. Mission for the closing plenary of the new START negotiations. [U.S. Mission Geneva Photo by Eric Bridiers/ Public Domain]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110727141719im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0725_new_start_delegation_m.jpg)
![U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers a speech at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai, India, on July 20, 2011. [AP Photo]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110727141719im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0725_s_india_m.jpg)
![After inaugurating a new U.S.-funded mango processing line, U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter picks a mango at a farm located outside Multan, Pakistan, July 24, 2011. [U.S. Embassy photo/ Public Domain]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110727141719im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0724_munter_mango_m.jpg)
![Somalis fleeing hunger in their drought-stricken nation walk along the main road leading from the Somalian border to the refugee camps around Dadaab, Kenya, July 13, 2011. [AP File Photo]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110727141719im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0724_refugees_somalia_m.jpg)
![Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shake hands after their joint press conference during a Joint Commission meeting between the two countries at the Ayodhya Hotel in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, July 24, 2011. [AP Photo]](https://web.archive.org/web/20110727141719im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0724_clinton_indonesia_m.jpg)
