Posted by Lyla Andrews Bashan on Jan 28, 2009 - 02:19 PM
![UN plane lands at Goma airport, as jetliner wreckage is seen below, Goma, Congo, Apr. 16, 2008. [AP]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0128_un_flight_goma_bh_m.jpg)
As our United Nations flight from Kinshasa landed in Goma, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), we were greeted by Mount Nyiragongo, the volcano that hovers over the town. The most recent eruption, in 2002, left almost 50 people dead and 120,000 homeless. The remnants of this eruption can be seen in the many walls around town built with the same jagged volcanic rock that continues to blanket much of the ground. One is quickly reminded that this devastation is the least of Congolese worries:…
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Posted by Thomas J. Dowling on Jan 22, 2009 - 08:38 AM
![Kenyans cheer President Obama's Inaugural Address, Nairobi, Jan. 20, 2009. [State Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0122_kenya_viewing_bh_m.jpg)
Via the seeming magic of big screen TVs, U.S. Embassy Nairobi’s Public Affairs Section managed to add another 400 excited participants to the throng on the Mall Tuesday evening at the residence of the Public Affairs Officer. Over 200 students from ten high schools and nine universities joined another 200 educational, cultural, media and civil society contacts in cheering as President Obama took the oath of office and then mentioned in his speech the small village where his father was born. President Obama's pointed references to dealing with the realities of economic crisis in the United States and his calls on the strengths, hopes and ideals of the American people that had brought him to the White…
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Posted by Jun Bando on Jan 20, 2009 - 12:09 PM
![U.S. Naval ships provide assistance to fishing vessels, Horn of Africa, Nov. 5, 2007. [AP File]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0120_piracy_somalia_bh_m.jpg)
In the past week, the international community has taken two significant steps in addressing piracy off the coast of Somalia. On Wednesday, January 14, 24 countries and five international organizations met in New York and agreed to a framework for enhancing international coordination in counter-piracy efforts. The group, known as the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, was formed in response to a call from the United Nations Security Council to improve the coordination of international activities to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia.
United Nations Security Council resolution