Decent Work for Informal Sector Workers
Posted by Melanne Verveer and Barbara Shailor / May 17, 2012
![Special Representative Barbara Shailor and Ambassador-at-Large Melanne Verveer meet on informal sector workers with a group of experts from academia, labor, and civil society. [State Department photo by Matthew G. Miller/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0517_informal_sector_m.jpg)
On May 14, a group of experts from academia, labor, and NGOs joined us for a vibrant discussion on the role of women in the global economy. The conclusion was clear; we must continue to advocate for decent work for working women around the world -- especially for women in the informal sector.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton commented on this in 2010 at the United Nations in New York: "I remember once driving through Africa with a group of distinguished experts. And I saw women working in the fields and I saw women working in the markets and I saw women with wood on their heads and water on their heads and children on their backs. And I remarked that women just seem to… more »
Giving Mothers a Very Special Gift
Posted by Eric Goosby / May 13, 2012
![Woman enters mobile healthcare clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nov. 29, 2010. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0218_health_clinic_m.jpg)
What is the greatest gift we can give a mother this Mother's Day? There are many answers, but one is to help her live and help her children live a healthy life.
As we celebrate Mother's Day and think about mothers around the world, the American people are working through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to make every day Mother's Day. This program is quietly saving lives every day, restoring the health and hope of mothers and children.
Each year, nearly 400,000 children are born with HIV around the world, with sub-Saharan Africa being the most challenged region. In June of last year… more »
TechCamp Goes to Tel Aviv and Ramallah: Empowering Women and Girls in the Middle East
Posted by Katie Dowd / May 09, 2012
![Elizabeth Linder of Facebook holds a discussion with TechCamp participants in Ramallah, May 2, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0509_techcamp_ramallah_m.jpg)
Joining a global group of now more than 800 organizations, TechCamps Tel Aviv and Ramallah represented the eighth and ninth TechCamps coordinated under Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's Civil Society 2.0 initiative. These TechCamps brought together three areas of focus for Secretary Clinton: strengthening civil society, innovation, and empowering women and girls. American and international trainers from companies, such as Facebook, Meetup, and Yahoo!, teamed together with the State Department's Office of Innovation and eDiplomacy to help raise the digital literacy of civil society organizations focused on women's empowerment though separate, intensive two-day workshops.
Each TechCamp focused on how to help ensure women and girls have the know-how and education… more »
Young African Leaders: Changing Perceptions
Posted by Nathan Arnold / May 05, 2012
![Charfie Habib Doutoum of Chad and Akere-Maimo Joseph Eno-Ebie of Cameroon outside the White House in Washington, D.C., May 2, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0504_yal_ivlp_m.jpg)
What always energizes those of us who work on exchange programs for professionals is seeing the passion of emerging foreign leaders. This week, 20 Young African Leaders, participants in the International Visitor Leadership Program, arrived in Washington. In conversations with U.S. government officials -- including Grant Harris, Senior Director for African Affairs at the White House, and Ronan Farrow, the State Department's Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues -- the participants shared their experiences, gained a better understanding of U.S. policy, and discussed ways to keep the dialogue going after their program is over. Just as importantly, they talked about how their efforts are contributing to the changing impressions the world has about Africa.
Hindou… more »
Women Journalists Speak Out for Press Freedom
Posted by Joanne Levine / May 04, 2012
![Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Tawakkol Karman of Yemen speaks at City Hall in in Oslo, Norway Dec. 10, 2011. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0504_karman_m.jpg)
Swarms of photographers surrounded a woman, blinding those near her with their flashes. Officials and journalists alike waited eagerly in a makeshift line to greet this woman who clearly was revered by those at the opening session for World Press Freedom Day in Tunis.
The woman at the center of this attention was Tawakkol Karman, was a 33 year old Yemeni journalist, known in her country as the mother of the revolution, and now known throughout the world as one of three women to share the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. She has been in and out of jail, but still speaks out.
"We have risen for freedom of the press," she told a rapt audience from all over the world. "The young have sacrificed themselves while writing, filming and texting in alleys,… more »
‘Fifty Years of Progress in Ten’
Posted by Maja Boehm / May 01, 2012
![Afghan civil society leaders -- Ms. Razia Arooje, who is a national program officer for the Kabul office of an international development organization; Ms. Freshta Karimi, who is the director of Da Qanoon Ghushtonky, a legal organization supporting women and children; Mr. Mohammad Sadiq Mohibi, who is an advisor to the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and the Disabled; and Dr. Mirwais Rahimzai, the country director for the Center for Human Services/University Research -- participate in a panel discussion in Berlin, Germany, April 2012. [State Department photo by John G. Self/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0501_civil_society_afghanistan_m.jpg)
The Afghan Ambassador to Germany, Professor Dr. A. Rahman Ashraf, smiles warmly at the group of four young Afghan civil society leaders. They smile back, timidly. "This is the best day in my life in the past eighteen 18 months since I became Ambassador to Germany!" he proclaims. The group now smiles with a more complex mixture of embarrassment at being in the spotlight and pride, obviously moved by his words. He continues: "When I was teaching at the university in Kabul, I was hoping that one day my students would go out and present Afghanistan to the world. And now you are doing just that."
The Ambassador's reaction was perhaps more personal than the reactions in some of the other meetings to which I accompanied the group, but it is hardly atypical. In their day in Berlin -- part of a week-long tour through Germany, Hungary, and Spain, from April 15-22 -- these four… more »
Mission to Nigeria Spotlights Progress, Challenges in Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV
Posted by Eric Goosby / April 30, 2012
![Nigerian mother, a victim of AIDS, holds her HIV-free daughter, at the Abuja National Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria, July 12, 2003. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0430_nigeria_pmtct_m.jpg)
Last year PEPFAR and UNAIDS joined with other partners to launch the Global Plan, an initiative to eliminate new HIV infections among children and keep their mothers alive. Last week I was proud to take part in a two-day mission to Nigeria with Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS Executive Director. (As I described in this post last week, our visit was interrupted by the tragic bombings.)
Each year, nearly 400,000 children are born with HIV globally, and prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) is a particular challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, an area characterized by weak health systems. Incredibly, Nigeria alone bears about one-third… more »
Building Cultural Bridges in Afghanistan
Posted by Esperanza Tilghman / April 29, 2012
![The ANIM Youth Orchestra performs in Kabul, Afghanistan on October 27, 2011. [Embassy Kabul photo/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0429_youth_orchestra_kabul_2_m.jpg)
Ralph Bunche, U.S. diplomat and the first African American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1950), once said: "If you want to get across an idea, wrap it up in a person."
I could not agree more, and we are doing just that through U.S. Embassy Kabul's Mission Speakers Program (MSP). The MSP recruits speakers from throughout the embassy by simply finding out about our colleague's experiences, and then building a relevant outreach event around their expertise for Afghan participants. For example, the first MSP activity connected a female diplomat who happened to be a former college basketball player with a group of high school girls participating in an embassy-funded sports and leadership program. Her presentation to the girls underscored the value of hard work, determination, and goal-planning, as she told the group: "Don't be afraid to fail and don't fear what others… more »
Celebrating Girls in Information and Communication Technology Day
Posted by Ann Mei Chang / April 26, 2012
![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)
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 »
Cooperating To Meet the Health Needs of Returning Afghan Refugees
Posted by Anne C. Richard / April 25, 2012
![An Afghan doctor checks on a newly born baby at the Malalai Maternity Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, in November 2011. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0425_Afghan_Doctor_Baby_m.jpg)
In the past five years in Afghanistan, there have been impressive gains in key health indicators, and a dramatic decrease in infant and child mortality rates due to the efforts of the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, with the support of the United States and the international community. Now many more Afghan women survive pregnancy and childbirth. These dramatic improvements serve as a good reminder to the international community that with sound investments to tackle Afghanistan's still-daunting humanitarian and development needs, progress has been and will continue to be achieved.
Today, I had the honor of joining with the Afghan Minister of Public Health, Dr. Suraya Dalil, who has a very impressive resume, working most recently at UNICEF, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that serves as another step forward for Afghanistan. In the Memorandum, our countries have… more »
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