Posted by Shanique Streete on Jul 13, 2009 - 05:06 PM
![President Obama arrives to speak to the Parliament of Ghana, Accra, July 11, 2009. [AP Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0713_obama_ghana_m.jpg)
I first heard the name Barack Obama five years ago as I prepared to come to Ghana as an exchange student at the University of Ghana-Legon. One evening, tired of packing for my semester long stay, I sat down to watch television. That night, I happened to see a Member of the Illinois Senate speak before the 2004 Democratic National Convention. I remember being moved to tears by his story of hope, his roots in Kenya and Kansas, and his noting “that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.”
Five years later, as an intern for the U.S. Department of State in Ghana, I was excited to…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Jul 12, 2009 - 10:51 AM
![President Obama before the Parliament of Ghana in Accra, July 11, 2009. [AP Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0711_obama_ghana_m.jpg)
Yesterday, the President gave a speech in Accra, Ghana. He laid out his vision for human rights and democracy in Africa’s future, and he described what America’s role in promoting better governance in Africa will be. President Obama said:
"I'm speaking to you at the end of a long trip. I began in Russia for a summit between two great powers. I traveled to Italy for a meeting of the world's leading economies. And I've come here to Ghana for a simple reason: The 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Accra, as well.…
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Posted by Todd Pierce on Jun 22, 2009 - 01:40 PM
For refugees around the world, deciding to return home is one of the most momentous decisions they make. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), lack of medical care can deter refugees who might otherwise go home. Last year, a donation from the State Department’s Julia V. Taft Refugee Fund enabled a non-governmental organization to rehabilitate a hospital that serves a region of 400,000 people. Refugees from the area are slowly starting to return from neighboring countries.
On May 6, 2009, U.S. Ambassador Garvelink formally reopened Moba Hospital in the DRC’s…
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Posted by David McKeeby on Jun 09, 2009 - 01:33 PM
Piracy may have largely dropped out of the headlines here in the United States, but these armed gangs at sea remain a serious threat to global shipping and humanitarian aid transiting the Horn of Africa.
On May 29, representatives from over 30 countries and international organizations participating in the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia met at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. I got to come along for the ride ─ my first time as part of an official U.S. diplomatic delegation! Here’s what happened...
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Posted by David McKeeby on May 26, 2009 - 02:46 PM
![USS Bainbridge tows the lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama, Apr. 14, 2009. [AP/ U.S. Navy Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0526_piracy_m.jpg)
U.S. diplomatic leadership in the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and stepped up international naval patrols are making a positive difference in the waters off the Horn of Africa, resulting in an increasing number of successful interdictions and prosecutions of pirates prowling the region.
On May 29, representatives from the Contact Group’s 28 participating countries and six international organizations (the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union, the International Maritime Organization, NATO, and the UN Secretariat) will meet at the…
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