Photo of the Week: Raising the Status of Girls Worldwide
Posted by Alison W. Bauerlein / October 12, 2012
![With the people and authorities in Kon Tum and implementing partner, the East Meets West Foundation, USAID supports young ethnic minority children in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. [Photo Credit: Richard Nyberg, USAID/Vietnam]](https://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/oilspill/20121014034957im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1012_usaid_girl_m.jpg)
About the Author: Alison Bauerlein serves as an editor for DipNote and a Foreign Service Officer in the Office of Digital Engagement.
This week's "Photo of the Week” comes to us from USAID/Vietnam's Richard Nyberg, who took this photo in the central highlands of Vietnam on October 9, 2010. The young girl pictured is one of the many ethnic minority girls benefiting from the support of USAID, the East Meets West Foundation, and the people and authorities in Kon Tum, Vietnam.
On Thursday, October 11, 2012, the world marked the first-ever celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child. As USAID noted on its web page devoted to the day, the occasion provides an opportunity for "reaching out… more »
In Germany, Representing My Family and Country
Posted by Robert Perls / October 12, 2012
![Robert Perls, Vice Consul of the U.S. Consulate General in Frankfurt, Germany, participates in the German Association for Gestalt Therapy (Deutsche Vereinigung für Gestalttherapie e.V.) ceremony unveiling of a memorial for one of the founders of Gestalt therapy Fritz Perls, the grandfather of Robert Perls, in Berlin, Germany, October 12, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/oilspill/20121014034957im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1012_bob_perls_m.jpg)
About the Author: Robert Perls serves as the Vice Consul at the U.S. Consulate General in Frankfurt, Germany.
Today, the personal and professional intersected when I had the opportunity to honor my grandfather, Fritz Perls. With his wife Lore, he invented Gestalt Therapy, a dramatic departure from traditional Freudian therapy, and revolutionized the field of psychology. On October 12, they and their work were honored at my grandfather's childhood home in Berlin. The Deutsche Vereinigung fur Gestalttherapie, which is the German Gestalt Therapy Association, organized the memorial event. Though many in the field of psychology consider my grandfather a transformative figure, he had never been honored in Germany. He observed the rise of Nazi power and left the country just in time, never to return. The Gestalt associations in Germany and throughout the world keep the body of his work alive and train new generations of psychotherapists in this newer, existentialist approach to the therapeutic… more »
International Day of the Girl: To Give Girls Everywhere What We Want for Our Own Daughters
Posted by Melanne Verveer / October 11, 2012
![Two Indian girls play on a street on International Day of the Girl Child in Hyderabad, India, October 11, 2012. [AP Photo]](https://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/oilspill/20121014034957im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1011_day_of_the_girl_child_m.jpg)
About the Author: Melanne Verveer serves as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues.
As the world comes together to mark the first-ever International Day of the Girl on October 11, we are filled with hope, but also a sense of urgency. Just this week, a masked Pakistani Taliban militant attempted to assassinate Malala Yousufzai -- a 14 year-old Pakistani schoolgirl -- on her school bus simply for going to school and speaking up for her right and the right of girls everywhere to get an education. This barbaric act reminds us all too painfully that in far too many places, some still don't value girls and want to ignore their fundamental rights as human beings. What is so inspiring about Malala's story is the outpouring of support she has received from every level of her government and ours, and from Pakistanis of all walks of life. So many people from around the world have stood up to say that she is like their own daughter.
That flood of support for Malala… more »
Supporting Girls and Young Women in Post-Conflict and Humanitarian Settings
Posted by Margaret Pollack / October 11, 2012
![Girl struggles against sand storm in Darfur refugee camp, Sudan, Apr. 20, 2007. [AP File]](https://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/oilspill/20121014034957im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0313_darfur_sandstorm_m.jpg)
About the Author: Margaret Pollack serves as Senior Advisor on Population Issues in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.
Today, on the first International Day of the Girl Child, it's important to remember some of the most vulnerable girls in the world -- those living in post-conflict or other humanitarian settings. The special vulnerabilities of young women and girls -- to early marriage, unplanned pregnancies, gender-based violence and abuse -- can all be exacerbated when the normal protections of organized societies break down during times of conflict or crisis. Humanitarians have a special responsibility to meet the needs of these girls, and the United States is working with our international and non-governmental organization partners to ensure those most in need of protection are not forgotten.
Our humanitarian assistance -- including the provision of health, shelter, nutrition, and water and sanitation programs -- supports the community, the family, and through this the whole child.… more »
It Starts With One: Alumni, Youth Empowerment, and a Vision for a Better Future
Posted by Jeff Weinshenker / October 11, 2012
![Regional Alumni Enrichment Workshop on Youth Empowerment and Citizen Security in Costa Rica [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/oilspill/20121014034957im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1011_costarica_alumni_m.jpg)
About the Author: Jeff Weinshenker serves as a Public Diplomacy Officer in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.
It all starts with one. One idea. One individual. One community. And one vision for a better future.
It starts with Juan Pablo in Bolivia teaching at-risk youth how to express themselves through sports and culture, developing their own identity so others won't define it for them.
It starts with Martha in Costa Rica or Yelitza in Panama, who found ways to reach the "unreachable” -- gang members, drug users, and school dropouts in whom others had given up hope.
Sometimes it begins with an idea -- teaching robotics to 10-year-olds in a drug-ravaged community in Costa Rica. Piece by piece, with the support of dedicated adults, these boys and girls learn to construct something bigger -- engines, cars, complex systems -- and along the way, they rebuild themselves and their neighborhoods.
These moments of inspiration exist across… more »
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