Combating violence against migrants and migrant smuggling, setting minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners, and ensuring access to legal aid -- these are among the challenges that the international community addressed last week in Vienna, Austria, where approximately 800 delegates representing 111 countries and 38 nongovernmental organizations gathered for the 21st session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (also known as the CCPCJ or Crime Commission).
Led by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau… more »
Back in the United States my colleagues at the State Department have long recognized the power of jazz as a means of connecting people. More than 50 years ago, the Department launched a landmark jazz diplomacy effort featuring American musical legend Dizzy Gillespie. Ever since then, jazz has been a continuing feature of U.S. cultural engagement programs. (See some great old photos here.)
Well, I am very proud to announce the latest chapter in the State Department's "jazz diplomacy" program kicks… more »
From warm and walled Cartagena to temperate and sprawling Bogota, Colombia is a country whose 46 million people represent the very definition of a nation redefining itself. I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days in Colombia, where Secretary Clinton launched WEAmericas, a new initiative focused on women entrepreneurs -- one of the greatest drivers of economic growth. I also visited Bogota, where I spoke with government and civil society leaders on the global scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) and how we can better collaborate to prevent, respond to and address this issue.
More than 50 years of internal armed conflict has had a devastating impact on many of Colombia's women. Nearly 80 percent of those displaced by the conflict are women and children. Only a small number… more »
Cockroaches always scurry to the dark when discovered. Experts offer this analogy for why we see shifts in drug trafficking when one country or region successfully resists penetration by illegal trafficking networks. After some successes against these networks in Colombia and Mexico, Central America is seeing an increase in crime and violence which sadly inflicts unwanted pain and suffering on the people of the region. Narcotics traffickers seek to subvert or neutralize a country's judicial and security institutions to make the environment more conducive to their criminal activities. The U.S. government's Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) is working to shore up institutions and restore citizen security through programs aimed at improving the police, lawyers,… more »
On Sunday, February 19, while in Mexico for a G-20 Foreign Ministers meeting, Secretary Clinton, a few of our colleagues, and I went whale-watching in Guerrero Negro, Mexico. We got up-close -- at times they were right up against our boat -- with a school of Eastern Pacific gray whales. These are majestic creatures. Adult gray whales weigh between 30 and 40 tons and can live up to 80 years. Remarkably, gray whales migrate more than 10,000 miles each fall from their feeding grounds off Alaska to the warm waters of Mexico to mate and give birth.
By the mid-twentieth century, largely due to unregulated and poor management of the commercial whaling industry, populations of large whales became severely depleted. In response, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) established a… more »
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Mexico to participate in the first G-20 Ministers of Foreign Affairs informal meeting in Los Cabos, February 18-20. The Secretary discussed issues the United States and other G-20 members face individually and as partners on global economic matters, including principles for the international economic system, green growth and sustainable development, food security, and human development. In a press availability… more »
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is visiting Mexico to participate in the first G-20 Ministers of Foreign Affairs informal meeting in Los Cabos, February 18-20.
The Secretary will discuss key issues the United States and other G-20 members face individually and as partners on global economic matters including principles for the international economic system, green growth and sustainable development, food security, and human development. Secretary Clinton will also hold meetings with counterparts to discuss bilateral… more »
World Wetlands Day is here! Join us in congratulating our Wetlands Photo Celebration fan favorites -- with images and photographers from around the globe. We have four categories of favorites within our wetlands and tourism theme: plants, landscape, tourists, and wildlife. In the slideshow, you'll see a silt village in Ghana, a gorgeous river in West Virginia, a diver in the coastal wetlands of Mexico, and a beautiful damselfly in Cambodia. Also, many thanks to all of our wetlands tourists and photographers for the hundreds of photo submissions. You can learn more about our World Wetlands Day Photo celebration on our Flickr page. We salute the world's wetlands for their beauty and many critical benefits to humankind. Happy World Wetlands Day 2012! more »
In 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton continued to champion cross-sectoral partnerships as a cornerstone of her 21st Century Statecraft. In support of her priorities, the Global Partnership Initiative (GPI) focused on four flagship initiatives last year:
Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
Over the past year, our work on clean cookstoves has continued to thrive. In 2011, we built the Alliance infrastructure and strategic base, launched major communications initiatives, and began a wide range of operational priorities, much of which was either led by the U.S. government or made possible because of our strong commitment.
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 »
![Delegates at the 21st Session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna, Austria, April 27, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0501_justice_usun_viena_m.jpg)
![Louis Armstrong, atop camel, enchants the ancient sphinx and pyramids at Giza, near Cairo, Egypt January 28, 1961. His wife Lucille, lower left, records the scene on film as the camel perks its ears in appreciation of the unusual concert. The Armstrongs are on a U.S. State Department sponsored Goodwill Tour of Africa and the Middle East. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0426_satchmo_egypt_m.jpg)
![Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer meets with Colombian woman entrepreneurs alongside the launch of WEAmericas. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0423_verveer_weamerica1_m.jpg)
![U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton participates in a women's empowerment event in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 20, 2010. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0402_clinton_afghanistan_m.jpg)
![Panamanian National Police stand in formation during their change in command ceremony in Panama City, Panama on September 2, 2004. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0313_panama_police_m.jpg)
![A tail of a gray whale surfaces at the Ojo de Liebre lagoon in Guerrero Negro, Mexico on February 22, 2011. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0306_mexico_whaling_m.jpg)
![Secretary Clinton boards plane in Beirut, Lebanon, April 26, 2009. [State Department Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0716_clinton_departs_m.jpg)
![U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with Chef José Andrés, Culinary Ambassador for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on September 13, 2011. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0913_clinton_chef_andres_m.jpg)
