The Fight Against Modern Slavery: Fulfilling the Promise of the Emancipation Proclamation

Posted by Luis CdeBaca / January 04, 2013

This Feb. 18, 2005 file photo shows the original Emancipation Proclamation on display in the Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington. [AP File Photo]

About the Author: Ambassador Luis CdeBaca serves as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State and directs the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

On New Year's Day, our nation celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. President Obama commemorated the anniversary with two Presidential Proclamations: one that celebrates the Emancipation Proclamation and reaffirms the timeless principles it upheld, and a second that declares January 2013 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and calls on all Americans to recognize the vital role we can play in ending all forms… more »

Posted under: Policy

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On the Road to an AIDS-Free Generation

Posted by Eric Goosby / January 03, 2013

In this April 4, 2012 photo, women affected by AIDS share stories of survival at the Reach Out clinic on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. The clinic receives money from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. [AP File Photo]

About the Author: Ambassador Eric Goosby serves as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and head of the Office of Global Health Diplomacy.

2012 was an extraordinary year.

As of September 30, 2012, PEPFAR directly supported lifesaving antiretroviral treatment (ART) for nearly 5.1 million people -- a nearly three-fold increase since 2008. PEPFAR also supported drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission for nearly 750,000 HIV-positive women in 2012 alone, allowing approximately 230,000 infants to be born HIV-free, and HIV testing and counseling for more than 46.5 million people over the same time period.

These are not just statistics but they represent lives saved, and hope renewed for millions of families and communities. A decade ago, almost no one in Africa was receiving treatment. Today, over 8 million men, women, and children in developing countries are on ART, with the vast majority of… more »

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At DataJam, Innovators and Entrepreneurs Unleash Open Data for Global Development

Posted by Rajiv Shah and Todd Park / January 03, 2013

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park discuss the impact of open data in the field of global development during DataJam at the White House in Washington, D.C. on December 10, 2012. [USAID Photo/ Used by Permission]

About the Author: Dr. Rajiv Shah serves as Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Todd Park serves as Assistant to the President and U.S. Chief Technology Officer.

A remarkable new tool is becoming increasingly available to help end extreme poverty and ensure dignity and opportunity for people around the world -- a tool that few people think about when they consider how to bolster international development efforts. That tool is data, and in particular "open data" -- data freely available in formats that are easy to use in new and innovative ways, while rigorously protecting privacy.

The possibilities are truly endless -- it could be regional epidemiological statistics being made available to community health workers; or real-time weather information being made available to small-holder farmers; or loan information being made accessible to first-time borrowers. In these and countless other arenas, open data has the potential to not only improve transparency and coordination,… more »

Posted under: Behind the Scenes

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Fulbright Alum Helps Islamabad Street Kids Find a Better Future

Posted by Jennifer McAndrew / January 02, 2013

LettuceBee kids meet with Shelby Means of bluegrass band Della Mae in Islamabad, Pakistan, November 2012. [Photograph by Robert Raines, U.S. Embassy Islamabad/ Public Domain]

About the Author: Jennifer McAndrew serves at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Jawaid is a four-year-old trash picker. He wants to be a tree when he grows up.

At least, that's what he tells his teacher during an art class sponsored by the LettuceBee Kids project in Islamabad, Pakistan.

"But you are not a tree," the teacher tells him. "If you don't like where you are, you can move."

That's the idea behind the LettuceBee initiative, which helps street kids like Jawaid move beyond a life of begging and trash picking, and re-integrate back into society through art, music, and mentorship.

The brainchild of Sarah Adeel, a Fulbright alumna and graduate of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the idea for LettuceBee Kids came about when she was in Pakistan in 2008 conducting research for her master's thesis on child welfare in South Asia.

"I was doing a comparative analysis between orphanages and foster-care… more »

Posted under: South and Central Asia

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Resolving the Plight of Persecuted, Uprooted People Around the World

Posted by Anne C. Richard / January 02, 2013

Afghan refugee children stand on their belonging loaded on a truck as they depart for Afghanistan at a UNHCR repatriation terminal near Quetta, Pakistan, Nov. 17, 2012. [AP File Photo]

About the Author: Anne C. Richard serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration.

2012 was a challenging year for humanitarians trying to help displaced people around the world. The following summarizes some of the challenges addressed by the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) last year.

Inside Syria, 40,000 people have been killed and over two million are displaced. Over half a million people have fled to neighboring countries. The U.S. government (the State Department and USAID) is providing $210 million in humanitarian aid to the region, and this aid is reaching millions.

Last year, refugees fled violence and drought in Northern Mali and… more »

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