About the Author: Doug Carey serves as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy Majuro.

Majuro Cooperative School in the Republic of the Marshall Islands put away their traditional red school uniforms and instead wore green and white - the school colors of Sandy Hook - to honor the children and teachers who lost their lives in Newtown. 

In a condolence card delivered to Ambassador Thomas Armbruster on December 21, the students said, “even though we are half a world away and living on a tiny island in the Pacific, we felt the pain…of the families and the community of Newtown.” Even though the United States and the Marshall Islands are geographically very distant from each other, the connection between the peoples of our two countries is particularly close. 

The Compact of Free Association between the Marshall Islands and the United States allows Marshallese students to travel, live, work and study in the United States; nearly…more »

About the Author: Mike Hammer serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs.

Following Navy’s 17-13 win over Army earlier this month, you may have seen theWashington Post’s ”Sports Section” on December 9 that carried a photograph of Navy safety Kwazel Bertrand reacting to a fumble by Army late in the game.

Bertrand — appropriately wearing number 17 — was captured in that photo running off the field in victory while wearing a patch bearing the seal of the State Department. Naval Academy football players individually choose one or two patches to wear on their jersey for the Army-Navy game. Many players opt for patches with personal ties — a player may select the unit patch from a ship or squadron in which… more »

About the Author: Tara D. Sonenshine serves as Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Rose Gottemoeller serves as Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security.

Think about it. Breaking the glass ceiling and advancing science go hand-in-hand. If we can get more women and girls - maybe half the world’s population - studying science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), we have more chances to solve major global crises, from disease to arms control, from communications to health. Getting ahead on STEM is a challenge worth taking on.

Over coffee one day, we decided that we would do our part to address this challenge. The answer, we believed, was self evident: We need to recruit greater numbers of young people to enter the fields of STEM so that we can extend our budding talent pool. And we must reach out to the 50 percent of our population traditionally constrained from pursuing careers in science: women. 

That is what motivated us to create two programs, both launched on December 19, dedicated to removing barriers… more »

About the Author: Frankie A. Reed serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu.

“Youth what? Why would you sponsor a TechCamp in the Pacific region, where Internet connectivity is not widespread?”

That’s the question many of my colleagues asked me when I told them the State Department, in collaboration with PasifikaNEXUS and BrightPath, was going to launch “Youth TechCamp Fiji.” And, my answer to them was, that’s exactly the reason it should be done. The Department of State, along with our partners, recognized the value in enabling future leaders of the Pacific Islands to contribute to policy development, spur local content creation, and leverage connection technologies to make a positive impact in their communities and around the world.

From November 21-28, approximately 80 youth participants from Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands met in Suva, Fiji, for the first Youth TechCamp in… more »

About the Author: Jonathan Margolis serves as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Science, Space, and Health in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

Why would 30 young entrepreneurs from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East travel to Dubai for the second annual Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Initiative Technology Idea (Tech-I) competition? Certainly, the top prize of $25,000 may have had something to do with it, but that was not the only factor. Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides said it best in his keynote speech at the third Global Entrepreneurship Summit. He explained, “Our Global Innovation through Science and Technology program, or GIST, runs start-up boot camps and business plan competitions to spark creativity and inspire young entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams.”

GIST is funded by the U.S. Department of State and implemented in partnership with CRDF Global. It has reached over one million youths with tools and resources to spark new businesses. GIST has trained over 2,500 startups… more »

About the Author: Andy Rabens is the Special Advisor for Youth Engagement in the Bureau of Near East Affairs, Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

What is the common thread between a young man that launched an online hotel booking portal for tourists to the West Bank; a young woman who founded a Muscat-based Belgian-style chocolate company selling sweets made with local Omani sourced ingredients; and a young man who established a Lebanese “culture pass” that provides discounts to destinations at countless popular venues around the country? 

The answer: They are incredibly impressive and successful new additions to the burgeoning ranks of the Middle East region’s young entrepreneurs. In addition, they are three members of an equally accomplished delegation of 17 young entrepreneurs from the Middle East and North Africa — including the countries of Iraq, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Yemen, Libya, Oman, and Jordan — who… more »

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers a video message for the Startup Youth Launch. A text transcript can be found at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/12/201922.htm.

About the Author: Rebecca Wainess serves in the Office of the Secretary of State’s Senior Advisor for Innovation.

Three years ago at the Forum for the Future, Secretary Clinton announced the Civil Society 2.0 initiative, in Marrakech, Morocco. The program was created to help grassroots organizations around the world increase their digital literacy to share their stories, build their memberships and connect to their community of peers around the world. Today, the TechCamp program has become the cornerstone of this initiative by providing hands-on training to more than 1,200 organizations from 84 countries to date.

Three years after the launch of the Civil Society 2.0 Initiative, we returned to Morocco to host TechCamp Morocco. Focused on youths and employment, this TechCamp brought together… more »

About the Author: Zeenat Rahman serves as Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues.

Over the past four years, Secretary Clinton has prioritized engaging diverse groups of young people around the world, underpinned by the belief that because young people are more connected and engaged to the wider world than previous generations, the United States needs to forge new, meaningful relationships with this cohort. With youth populations burgeoning around the world, young people are a vital component of civil society and the Department of State cannot accomplish its diplomatic goals if young people are marginalized from decision-making processes.

My office, the Office of Global Youth Issues, seeks to support the dialogue and interactions that the State Department’s diplomats have with youth in order to amplify young people’s perspectives and concerns. Underlying all of our activities… more »

About the Author: Tara Sonenshine serves as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

On my visit to the Dominican Republic this week, I had the opportunity to meet with more than a dozen future Dominican leaders — all high school students, who were enrolled in an English immersion school in Santo Domingo. They spoke with depth and conviction about pressing matters in their country. Every one spoke of his or her desire to use their growing skills in English to study in U.S. universities.

That same day, I met with American college students who are taking college courses in the Dominican Republic. I asked why they’d chosen to study abroad and they shared what they’d learned, reflecting an impressive perspective and awareness about the region — and the world at large. They, too, recognized that, by becoming bilingual, they would open doors for better futures.

Even as I had these encouraging conversations, an annual report on academic exchange… more »