Each year since 2002, the international community has come together on June 12 to mark World Day Against Child Labor.  According to estimates of the International Labor Organization (ILO), over 215 million children worldwide are engaged in child labor.  This year, we call particular attention to the plight of those children – mostly girls – who are engaged in domestic work. 

Globally, domestic workers comprise a significant part of the modern service economy, and all indications are that the number of domestic workers is increasing steadily in both developed and developing countries.  Most domestic workers work for private households, usually without contracts or clear terms of employment.  Because most domestic work is by informal arrangement, behind closed doors, and with no contracts or clear terms of employment, these workers are often invisible.  This hidden crisis requires multiple strategies and forms of engagement. MORE

On June 7, 2013, the Office of eDiplomacy within the State Department’s Bureau of Information Resource Management hosted its 11th Tech@State conference, Tech@State: Moneyball Diplomacy, to explore their intersection of four disparate fields: economics, technology, diplomacy, and baseball. The event, held on the campus of George Washington University, examined the increasingly large role of economic issues and data analysis in foreign policy formulation and implementation. Over 30 experts from within the U.S. government, international non-governmental organizations, policy institutes, technology companies, and academic institutions convened to engage an audience of 300 attendees, as well as hundreds more U.S. and foreign participants watching online from several U.S. embassies overseas. MORE

Every U.S. Embassy has a duty officer on call right now.  Any U.S. citizen facing a medical or legal emergency just about anywhere in the world can get immediate help from a U.S. diplomat 24/7.  Employees at the embassy rotate duty officer responsibility, and I remember one particular instance when I was serving in the role in 2011 and the duty phone rang during dinner.  I answered it with some trepidation, as we always do, hoping it would not be a terrible emergency. MORE

One thousand days ago, the governments of the United States and Ireland came together to commit to promote nutrition for mothers and young children through the 1,000 Days partnership.   Why 1,000 days?  During the critical 1,000 days from pregnancy to age 2, better nutrition can have a lifelong impact on a child’s future and help break the cycle of poverty. MORE

A silent crisis is happening right now. It affects 165 million children globally, robbing them of the future they deserve and leading to more child deaths every year than any other disease. In a world of plentiful, nutritious foods and advanced science, this is unacceptable.

We can do better. And we can do it together. MORE