About the Author: Tjada McKenna serves as Deputy Coordinator for Development for Feed the Future, and Jonathan Shrier serves as Acting Special Representative for Global Food Security and Deputy Coordinator for Diplomacy for Feed the Future.
In Haiti, farmers are increasing their incomes and conserving the environment by improving their production of plantains.
About the Author: Kris Balderston is the Special Representative for Global Partnerships at the Global Partnership Initiative in the Office of the Secretary of State. Lala Faiz is the Senior Partnerships Advisor in the Secretary of State's Office of Global Partnership Initiatives, where she leads the Investing With Impact initiative and manages other economic growth partnerships.
Today at the State Department in Washington, D.C., we are convening leaders across sectors and continents to discuss how we can work together to contribute to an impact economy by developing and deploying cutting-edge business and financial models that generate financial returns and positive social and environmental change. During our travels around the world, we have seen different institutions trying to address the same issue through disconnected programs -- be it lack of skilled workers, sustainable supply chains, infrastructure, or the rising cost of natural resources. We know that government alone cannot solve these challenges -- not in the best of times and certainly not in austere times; nor can business or civil society. We need to leverage and align the assets… more »
About the Author: Ann Mei Chang serves as the Senior Advisor for Women and Technology in the Secretary of State's Office of Global Women's Issues.
With the global shortage of skilled professionals in Information and Communication Technology, or ICT, why are so few girls pursuing careers in this lucrative and fast-growing field? This is not only a question of equal opportunity, but one of economic necessity. We will not be able to compete effectively in the increasingly global and technologically sophisticated economy if we do not harness the full human potential of all our people.
Today, we are pleased to be joining the ITU (International Telecommunications Union, a United Nations agency) in celebrating Girls in ICT Day. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, Melanne Verveer, will be joining UN Women Executive Director, Michelle Bachelet, and many others in New York City today to discuss ways we can encourage young women around the world to play a greater role in the technology revolution. By raising the… more »
About the Author: Ken Chavez is a spokesperson for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, which has responsibility for adjudicating U.S. visas for all international visitors who require them.
This week, I was privileged to join our Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services, David Donahue, in representing the State Department at the International Pow Wow in Los Angeles. Hosted each year by the U.S. Travel Association, the Pow Wow is the industry's premier marketplace for international travel. Exhibitors from America's top vacation spots meet with tour organizers and travel agents from around the world who are eager to bring international visitors to the United States.
You might wonder what the State Department is doing at a show like the Pow Wow. While a significant number of international visitors (65 percent) don't need a visa to visit the United States, we are streamlining the visa process for those who do.
The State Department plays an important role… more »
On an unseasonably cold and rainy Sunday, the action inside the Smithsonian's new Warner Bros Theatre was anything but dreary. The afternoon's celebration of jazz featured a roundtable discussion with jazz experts followed by musical performances before a crowd of diplomats and other invited guests.
I was thrilled to co-host our inaugural Embassy Jazz Day, Bridging Cultures Crossing Divides, with the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History this past weekend. This occasion provided the opportunity to mark the role jazz plays in creating linkages between peoples, communities, and cultures while also enabling the next generation of jazz innovators to perform including Howard University's Afro Blue and Lena Seikaly. This event also represented a first: a partnership… 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.
May 23: The State Department, through its office of the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), is pleased to announce $1.5 million in funding to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to support open governance and political participation in the Middle East and North Africa. more »
May 23: Today, Russia was invited to join the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) at a ceremony hosted by its parent body, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. ã more »
![A Peace Corps Volunteer works with a hospital in Senegal to grow gardens in order to provide vitamins to patients who cannot afford pills. [Peace Corps photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0426_food_m.jpg)
![Replay: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks at the Global Impact Economy Forum at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., at 10:30 a.m. EDT on April 26, 2012. [State Department image/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/GIE_507_Replay_m.jpg)
![Woman coaches girls as they prepare to reassemble the components of desktop computer at the Children's Aid Society East Harlem Boys & Girls Club on Dec. 6, 2011 in New York. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0427_tech_girls_m.jpg)
![Performance at the Embassy Jazz Day, Bridging Cultures Crossing Divides, co-hosted by the U.S. Department of State and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, in Washington, D.C., on April 22, 2012. [Smithsonian Institution photo by Harold Dorwin]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0425_jazz_day_m.jpg)
