About the Author: Melanne Verveer serves as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.

On February 6, 2013, in observance of the tenth anniversary of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, I had the privilege of leading a panel discussion at the State Department to help bring global attention to a harmful traditional practice that risks the lives, dignity, and well-being of women and girls in far too many places around the world. 

I was honored to be joined by such dedicated leaders and practitioners as Amina Salum Ali, Ambassador of the African Union to the United States; Dr. Nawal Nour, a Sudanese-American from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston; Bacary Tamba from Tostan, a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Senegal; and Jessie Hexpoor from Hivos, an NGO based in the Netherlands. They each have made, and are continuing to make, extraordinary contributions toward putting an end to female genital mutilation/cutting… more »

About the Author: Ann Stock serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs.

February 6 marks the 27th National Day of Women and Girls in Sports.

Today in Esteli, Nicaragua, girls from under-served areas are on the softball diamond, fielding grounders, running out base hits, and learning how sports can improve their health and their performance in the classroom.

In Donetsk, Ukraine, girls were on the basketball court, looking for the outlet pass, grabbing rebounds, and working as a team.

In Knoxville, Tennessee, 12 young, female basketball players from Senegal recently concluded a 10-day international exchange.… more »

About the Author: Dawn L. McCall serves as Coordinator of the Bureau of International Information Programs.

The Internet may be important, but it’s not everything. In rural Afghanistan, courageous and talented young women who have never heard of the Internet are using skills today often associated with social media users — initiative, resourcefulness, and social connections — to make tangible contributions to their community.

During a recent visit to the Guzara district outside Herat, near Afghanistan’s western border with Iran, I saw teenage girls training themselves in English and leading language classes for their younger peers. These women worked with the Afghan Women Educational and Professional Improvement Organization, an ambitious organization housed in a sparsely furnished three-room office. This organization provides curriculum planning resources for teachers at a nearby girls’ school, study space for that school’s students, and — as the young, aspiring English… more »

About the Author: Anna Mussman serves as a Public Diplomacy Officer with Task Force Mountain Warrior in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

It is no secret that when women and girls have the opportunity to pursue an education, they directly improve their communities and help entire societies grow. And sometimes, the goodwill and dedication of individual Americans, connected virtually through sites like Facebook, help girls in a rural district of Afghanistan realize their dreams of education and a better future.

As DipNote reported a few months ago, U.S. Embassy Kabul supports the “Teen Teach” program, where Afghan teenagers are trained and then have the chance to teach in classrooms of younger students.

In Chaparhar, a city in Nangarhar district, about 23 kilometers south of Jalalabad close to the eastern border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Shulani School participated in the “Teen Teach”… more »

About the Author: Melanne Verveer serves as the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State.

There’s been a lot of talk about how the London Olympics will best be remembered as the Women’s Olympics. Not only because of the individual performances of gymnast Gabby Douglas, or swimmer Missy Franklin, or heptathlete Jessica Ennis, but because of the collective achievements of women who participated in these London Games.

The statistics are amazing: Two thirds of the gold medals, and more than half of all medals won by Team USA, were won by American women. And this was despite the fact that women were eligible for 30 fewer medals than the men! The American women did not stand alone in leading their countries to the top of the medal tables. Women from China and Russia (#2 and #3 behind the U.S. in the total medal count), also took home more medals than their male counterparts.

Forty-four percent of all athletes at the games were women, and with the… more »

About the Author: Melanne Verveer serves as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.

On Friday August 10, the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) released the first ever U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally, including their implementation plans. An accompanying Executive Order issued by President Obama was also released, directing all relevant agencies to implement this strategy. These efforts highlight the United States’ commitment to preventing and responding to gender-based violence around the world.

Gender-based violence knows no bounds… more »