President’s Budget Request Reflects Strong Commitment on Global AIDS

Posted by Eric Goosby / February 13, 2012

About the Author: Ambassador Eric Goosby serves as the United States Global AIDS Coordinator.

Today, the Obama Administration issued the President's budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2013. It demonstrates that the United States remains fully committed to the fight against global AIDS, and will meet the President's ambitious targets for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention announced on World AIDS Day 2011. I am so proud that, even in a challenging budget environment with strict budget caps, the Administration has continued to make this work a priority.

This budget will enable PEPFAR to achieve the President's stated goals for the program, including on prevention and supporting 6 million people on treatment by the end of 2013. As we move towards creating an AIDS-free generation,… more »

Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Request

Posted by DipNote Bloggers / February 13, 2012

More: FY 2013 Executive Budget Summary | Fact Sheet | Foreign Assistance Dashboard

Today, Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah discussed the FY 2013 State Department and USAID budget. Deputy Secretary Nides said, "State and USAID account for just one percent of the federal budget. ... Today, I want to explain how we use that one percent to make the outsized contribution to America's prosperity, security, and leadership."

Deputy Secretary Nides continued, "This budget follows a… more »

Syria: “The Violence Is Not Equal”

Posted by Robert S. Ford / February 11, 2012

About the Author: Robert S. Ford serves as U.S. Ambassador to Syria.

Editor's Note: This entry appeared first on the U.S. Embassy Syria Facebook page. You can find additional satellite imagery of Syrian military movements here.

The violence is not equal.

Yesterday I put out a note about the situation in Syria as I've witnessed it from the ground and since leaving the country. A terrible and tragic development in Syria is the use of heavy weaponry by the Assad regime against residential neighborhoods.… more »

Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth in North Africa

Posted by Jose W. Fernandez / February 11, 2012

About the Author: Jose Fernandez serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs.

Just as my Department of State colleagues witnessed the entrepreneurial spirit of the Arab Spring with Jordanian entrepreneurs in Washington, D.C., I experienced that same spirit energizing the halls of the Ryad Mogador Agdal in Marrakech, Morocco.

I recently participated in the second U.S.-Maghreb Entrepreneurship Conference, initially launched one year ago in Algiers just weeks before the uprisings in Tunisia that sparked the Arab Spring. The conference was the annual partnership meeting of the more »

Photo of the Week: Innovation and Global Development

Posted by Hannah Johnson / February 10, 2012

About the Author: Hannah Johnson serves as DipNote's Assistant Editor.

Our "Photo of the Week" comes to us from USAID photographer Morgana Wingard and depicts women collecting clean drinking water. Abebow Gesesse, the owner of a poultry farm in Mojo, Ethiopia, received a loan from Dashen Bank thanks to a USAID guarantee through their Development Credit Authority program. The loan allowed him to buy his own truck, construct an additional barn, and build a well and water pump for his farm. Abebow invited the 200 households in his town to access the water at no cost. One of the women said, "Before we had access to this water pump we would have to walk 6 kilometers to be able to purchase clean water. Abebow lets the community access his… more »