Building U.S.-Russia Ties Through Hockey

Posted by Michael McFaul / October 23, 2012

About the Author: Michael McFaul serves as U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation.

Earlier this month, a group of 20 enthusiastic young American ice hockey players and four coaches came to Moscow as Youth Sports Envoys to build stronger ties between the United States and Russia, both on and off the ice. Over the past four years, both countries have sent and hosted high school swimmers, basketball, beach volleyball, and ice hockey players, and coaches in a series of eight exchanges under the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission.

We kept this group of ice hockey players very busy during their week-long exchange. At our reception in their honor, I loved hearing about their master classes conducted by Igor Tuzik, Vice President of the Russian Hockey Federation, and by Olympic Gold Medal winners Vladimir Myshkin and Vitaliy… more »

Travel Diary: Secretary Clinton Travels to Haiti

Posted by DipNote Bloggers / October 22, 2012

More: Trip Page | Interactive Travel Map

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton travels to northern Haiti on October 22. This marks the Secretary's first trip to the North of Haiti. She will highlight leveraging of diplomacy by the Department in support of innovative USAID development models, which focus on partnering with the Government of Haiti, international partners, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations to catalyze economic development.

The Secretary will deliver remarks on "A New Day in Haiti" at the formal opening of Caracol Industrial Park, showcasing the region's achievements in agri-business, energy, light manufacturing, tourism, and artisan crafts. She… more »

A Conservationist, Woman Leader, and Peacemaker

Posted by Wenchi Yu / October 21, 2012

About the Author: Wenchi Yu serves in the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues.

Since 2008, the drought-induced food crisis that affected many countries in the Horn of Africa not only cost the regional economy billions of dollars, but also exacerbated regional instability, insecurity in distressed communities, and tribal competition for scarce resources.

Josephine Ekiru, a 26-year-old conservationist from the Turkana tribe near Shaba in Kenya, was determined to do something for her community after witnessing the devastating impact of frequent conflict on both the region's people and wildlife. She started by talking to the women in her community, hearing about their common concern of losing husbands and sons in the conflicts. She also reached out to women of the other major tribe, the Borana, with which the Turkanas were in conflict. After years of work, she gained trust from both groups. In May 2010, Josephine's work helped unite the two tribes… more »

Senegal Plays Host to Africa’s First TechCamp

Posted by Katie Dowd / October 20, 2012

About the Author: Katie Dowd serves in the Office of the Secretary of State.

For the U.S. Embassy and USAID mission in Dakar, Senegal, one of the top areas of focus is food security. Agriculture is central to Senegal's economy, and so ensuring a robust agriculture community is essential to promoting economic growth and trade as well as feeding its population of an estimated 13 million people. We work in close collaboration with Senegalese partners and civil society organizations (CSOs) to find solutions that will meet these challenges and help continue to move Senegal forward.

With a boom in technology across Africa and in Senegal itself, we realized that those in the technology sector, in Dakar and elsewhere, have a unique opportunity to provide new knowledge and skills to these agricultural-focused organizations and… more »

Photo of the Week: Observing World Food Day

Posted by Sarah Goldfarb / October 19, 2012

About the Author: Sarah Goldfarb serves as DipNote's Associate Editor.

Every year on October 16, the international community unites around World Food Day to increase awareness about global hunger. Today, nearly one billion people suffer from chronic hunger, and more than 3.5 million children die from undernutrition each year. As President Barack Obama said in his message recognizing World Food Day, "The United States has a moral obligation to lead the fight against global hunger, and we have put food security at the forefront of global development efforts. Through initiatives like Feed the Future, we are helping partner countries transform their agriculture sectors by investing in smallholder farmers -- particularly women -- who… more »