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Sudan Policy Engages China
Posted by Heather Hwalek on Jul 29, 2008 - 05:48 PM
![Chinese peacekeeper greets UN commander in South Darfur, Jan. 29, 2008. [AP Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0725_china_darfur_bh_m.jpg)
Members of the State Department's Office of Sudan Programs Group are frequently sought out to participate in conferences held in Washington to discuss the situation in Sudan and the conflict in Darfur. But rarely is there an opportunity to travel halfway around the world -- all the way to Beijing -- to engage Chinese scholars and a diverse group of international actors on the topic.
In June, Sudan Programs Group Deputy Director Jason Small and Desk Officer Kemi Yai boarded a 14-hour flight to China's capital city to attend the country's first public forum on Darfur. A government-affiliated think tank, the…
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Posted by Mary Deane Conners on Jul 28, 2008 - 05:57 PM
![Nelson Mandela and his wife celebrate his 90th birthday in South Africa, July 19, 2008. [AP Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0728_mandela_2_bh_m.jpg)
About the Author: Mary Deane Conners is the Public Affairs Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.
Nelson Mandela turned 90 on July 18, 2008. Affectionately known as Madiba -- the clan name given to him at the "initiation ceremony" during his teenage years -- former South African President Mandela began receiving birthday wishes from the entire nation and the world for weeks prior to his birth date. From the "46664" (his number in prison) concert held in London, to the birthday party in the village of his youth, Qunu, in the rural Eastern Cape Province, there has been an outpouring…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Jul 21, 2008 - 03:08 PM
![Participants gather during the AGOA forum in Washington, DC July 15, 2008. [State Dept. photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0721_agoa_bh_m.jpg)
About the Authors: Lynn Butler and Kari Jaksa, summer interns at the U.S. Department of State, report on their experiences during the ministerial events of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum.
Most articles you will read concerning the Seventh AGOA Forum will be filled with facts and figures. As interns in the Bureau of African Affairs and volunteers at the forum, we had the opportunity to see a more human side of US-Africa trade relations.
For those of you new to the acronym "AGOA,"…
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Posted by Heather Hwalek on Jun 03, 2008 - 10:45 AM
![A dancer celebrates in Juba, Sudan, January 9, 2007. [AP file photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0606_sudan_bh_m.jpg)
In the United States, there has been much focus on the Democratic and Republican parties’ National Conventions to be held later this summer, when they will nominate candidates, establish a party platform, and rally their members for upcoming campaigns. Last month, the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) held its own National Convention in preparation for what will hopefully be Sudan’s first free and fair national elections, to take place in 2009. Plans for national elections are an integral part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which, signed in 2005, ended 21 years of…
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Posted by Sue Saarnio on May 19, 2008 - 05:21 PM
![Artisanal mining operation in Liberia April 30, 2008. [State Department photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0519_diamond_mine_bh_m.jpg)
It wasn’t long ago that the remote part of Liberia, near the Sierra Leone border, was controlled by rebels. I was there a couple of weeks ago as part of a Kimberley Process review team that was visiting diamond mining sites to monitor Liberia’s compliance with the international diamond trading regime. In the 1990s, the diamonds from this region financed weapons and supported those who brutally abused, maimed and killed the local residents. Now -- with any luck -- these diamonds may help contribute to Liberia’s economic development and support reconstruction efforts.
Diamond…
Category: Africa More entries by Sue Saarnio | Comments (4)