Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Sep 11, 2009 - 07:20 PM
"Good afternoon. Thank you all for coming. We are especially honored to be joined by Minister of Foreign Affairs Spanta, whose presence at this ceremony symbolizes the enduring partnership formed between our two nations since the September 11 terrorist attacks. Thank you for coming, Minister Spanta.
We gather today to remember the victims of the September 11 attacks--the nearly 3,000 men, women and children who perished in New…
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Posted by Emma Smith on Sep 03, 2009 - 02:48 PM
![Deminer places disarmed landmine in safety area in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka, Feb. 24, 2004. [AP Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0903_sri_lanka_landmine_m.jpg)
How many landmines does it take to cripple a community? In a recent trip to Sri Lanka, I was surprised to learn that the answer could be zero.
We visited the northern village of Marathanmadhu, which the Sri Lankan Army suspected to be filled with buried landmines a deadly legacy in many parts of the country after a 20-year civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). While the conflict finally ended earlier this year, residents of Marathanmadhu were among the approximately 280,000 Sri Lankans driven from their homes during the final round of fighting.
When our partners from Mines…
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Posted by Beverly Mather-Marcus on Aug 03, 2009 - 02:19 PM
![Award statue from 4th Kabul International Film Festival, July 23, 2009. [State Department Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0802_kabul_fil2_m.jpg)
I saw something on July 23 that I never expected to see in Kabul – a full-blown film festival awards ceremony, complete with pop stars, famous presenters and a video montage of the nominees. There wasn’t a red carpet, but there were two lines of kids lining the entrance waving and shouting greetings to everyone as they entered. The awards ceremony concluded the 4th Kabul International Documentary and Short Film Festival, which was themed “The Sky Is the Limit” and ran from July 18 -23. The festival showcased documentaries and short films from…
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Posted by Torrey Goad on Jul 22, 2009 - 09:15 AM
![Secretary Clinton and officials at agricultural research institute in New Delhi, July 19, 2009. [AP]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0719_india_field_m.jpg)
About the Author: Torrey Goad serves as Assistant Information Officer at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India.
Sunday morning began ominously, with dark clouds and large birds of prey circling over the site we had worked so hard to develop for the Secretary’s visit. This was one of the research sites of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research’s (ICAR) Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in…
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Posted by Anne Seshadri on Jul 22, 2009 - 08:07 AM
![Secretary Clinton at ITC Green Center in New Delhi, India, July 19, 2009. [AP Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0719_india_itc_event_m.jpg)
About the Author: Anne Seshadri serves as the American Center Director in New Delhi, India.
From the outside, the ITC Green Centre isn’t much to look at. For one thing, it’s not even green. Nor does it have greenery on the roof, or even solar panels. So when a major television station called to ask, “What’s so special about this building?” I launched an inquiry. I had to look no further than my colleague at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Mr. Padmanabhan, who has…
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