Remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
at Release of the Ninth Annual Trafficking in Persons Report (June 16, 2009)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Good morning. We are delighted to have with us this morning some key members of Congress who have cared about and worked on this important issue for a number of years. This is the first time we have introduced the report in this way, because we want to demonstrate that this truly is a partnership between the State Department and the Congress. If it weren’t for the Congress, we wouldn’t have the legislation, we wouldn’t have the follow-up, we wouldn’t have the kind of outreach that these members and others have been doing. And I’m very grateful that they could take time out of their very busy schedules to be here with us. (read all)  --Trafficking in Persons Report 2009

A New Partnership:
Obama Seeks New U.S. Start with Muslims Worldwide
President Obama’s June 4 Speech Addresses Engagement with Muslim World

"I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition," President Obama says. (full speech)

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USAID Teams Up with Western Union to Launch African Diaspora Marketplace
New Business Initiative Seeks Entrepreneurial Ideas from U.S.-based African Diaspora to
Spur Economic Opportunity in Homeland

DENVER, Colo., WASHINGTON, D.C. June 2, 2009 – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Western Union, a leading global payments network and Ecobank, the Pan-African Bank, are counting on innovative thinking and entrepreneurial ideas to help alleviate poverty in Africa. Today, the organizations launched the African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM), a business-development program that will support U.S.-based African Diaspora in creating plans for sustainable start-up and established businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. The program will also provide grant funding to 10-20 small-and-medium businesses with the strongest proposals for boosting economic opportunity and job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa through Diaspora-driven development. (more)

First Private Health Sector Exhibition Held in Addis  (06/05/09)

FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2009 (Addis Ababa) – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Banking on Health Project, funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is sponsoring today the first ever national Private Health Sector Exhibition in Ethiopia.  Following the theme of “Strengthening and Growing Private Practices in the Fight Against TB & HIV/AIDS”, the exhibition will provide a unique opportunity for nearly 200 representatives of private health clinics, hospitals, supply companies, and financial institutions to meet and share information in support of the growth of a high quality, affordable private health sector responsive to the needs of Ethiopians. (more)

Renovated Wahil Clinic to Improve Community Health Care (05/27/09)

Dr. Tsigereda Kifle, Head of the Dire Dawa Health Bureau, and Ambassador Yamamoto cut the ribbon to open the Wahil health clinic, renovated by U.S. Africom's Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA).

Dire Dawa, Ethiopia – American and Ethiopian partners dedicated a newly renovated health clinic at Wahil, outside Dire Dawa, on May 27, 2009.  Service members of the United States’ Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) worked with local contractors, Yauuea Construction Company, PLT, to renovate the clinic as part of our two countries’ ongoing partnership to improve health care and livelihoods for local communities.

At the dedication ceremony, United States Ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald Yamamoto, stressed the importance of working together to improve health infrastructure.  Echoing his words, Colonel Lorrie Oldham of CJTF-HOA said this project demonstrates the positive benefits of the Ethiopian-American partnership and the benefits it brings to the lives of people across the region.  The Ambassador and the Colonel joined regional and local officials to dedicate the new facility. (more)

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USAID Provides Additional 87,910 Metric Tons of Emergency Food Aid (05/15/09)

USAID has provided an additional 87,910 metric tons of emergency food aid, valued at approximately U.S. $50 million, to the Joint Emergency Operational Plan in response to the Ethiopian Government’s January 2009 appeal. This emergency food aid will provide a full ration to 1.18 million beneficiaries for four months in 72 woredas in the most severely impacted regions – Afar, Amhara, Oromiya, Somali, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples, and Tigray Regions and in Dire Dawa Administrative Council. Catholic Relief Services will manage the assistance, which will be implemented by a consortium of NGOs including CARE, Food for the Hungry International, Relief Society of Tigray, Save the Children-UK, Save the Children-US, and World Vision. (more)

U.S. and Ethiopian Experts Share Best Practices to Improve Water Resource Management (05/13/09)

Scientists participating in the advanced hydrologic modeling course pose for a group photo with the Minister of Water Resources, U.S. Mission officials and visiting American water experts

ETHIOPIA - For the last two weeks a team of American water resource experts have taught 15 engineers, hydrogeologists and hydrologists from various Ethiopian government agencies a course on advanced hydrologic modeling.  This course, the first of three, will help prepare the participants to be Ethiopia’s key water experts and is part of a larger U.S-Ethiopian partnership to assess the country’s water resources for future development. The United States and Ethiopian Governments recently agreed to lay the groundwork for a watershed management study of the Ogaden region in southern Ethiopia. In January 2009, the two governments signed a Letter of Implementation for the “Groundwater Exploration, Assessment and Mapping” of the watersheds within the Ogaden.  (more)

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Clean Ethiopia, Clean Earth: U.S. Embassy Launches New Recycling Program (04/22/09)

Ambassador Yamamoto and Aquapure owner Mohammed Seid at the launching ceremony.

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On Earth Day 2009, the United States Embassy in Addis Ababa launched a program to recycle the plastic bottles used in our offices and employees’ homes.  The program will facilitate the reuse of the crushed plastic and help keep Addis Ababa clean by reducing waste. Ambassador Donald Yamamoto and Embassy employees officially kicked off the program on April 22 at the Embassy compound.  Ambassador Yamamoto said, “As residents of Addis Ababa and members of the community, it is our duty to help keep the city clean.  The Embassy recycling program is an important ‘green’ step to that end.”  He encouraged embassy employees and their family members to protect the environment by reducing, reusing, and recycling materials whenever possible. (more) 

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Working Together to Fight Malaria
By Donald Yamamoto, U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia

For about half the world’s population, malaria remains one of the greatest threats to public health. It is a disease that causes poverty, disrupts the livelihood of families, and far too often, steals the future of Africa's children. In tropical Africa, the disease kills nearly 3,000 people each day with young children and pregnant women at greatest risk. World Malaria Day is observed April 25 to call attention to the disease and to mobilize action to combat it. On behalf of the American people, the U.S. government has taken extraordinary steps to curb the spread of this preventable and curable disease. The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), led and implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with the assistance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), represents a historic $1.2 billion, five-year expansion of U.S. government resources to fight malaria in Africa. (full Text)  

Milestone in New Embassy Construction (04/20/09)
Ambassador Tops Out Concrete on Largest U.S. Embassy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Ambassador Donald Yamamoto tops out concrete on the new U.S. Chancery under construction.

On Monday, April 20, 2009, U.S. Ambassador Donald Yamamoto assisted construction crews in the final concrete placement on the roof structure of the new chancery under construction on the existing U.S. embassy compound along Entoto Road.  The event also marked the “Topping Out” milestone of the superstructure for the largest U.S. chancery in sub-Saharan Africa.  The ambassador was accompanied by the DCM, and representatives of Embassy offices and agencies, including USAID and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who will relocate to the new chancery when completed in September 2010.  The $126.5 million project.  An American contractor, B.L. Harbert International, LLC based out of Birmingham, Alabama, is building the U.S.$126.5 million project, and employing more than 600 Ethiopian workers as part of their work force.  In addition to employing local workers, the project will include local purchases in the range of more than U.S.$5 million.”

Innovative Program Fills Health Care Void

Rahel Terefe (r) is part of a movement of health officers being trained to help fill the void of health care professionals in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia faces a chronic shortage of human resources in the health sector.  Those in the health sector struggle with alarming health conditions.  The country has one of the highest newborn mortality rates in the world.  One in six children dies a preventable death before they reach the age of five.  Acute lack of access to health care has been leading many Ethiopians of all ages to die of common illnesses, leaving the life expectancy at only 41 years.

Since 1997, the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative (EPHTI) has helped to address these alarming health issues through a landmark partnership between the Government of Ethiopia, seven Ethiopian universities, 21 Ethiopian hospitals, The Carter Center, and USAID.  The initiative is making a true difference in the delivery of health care in Ethiopia.   By enhancing the quality of pre-service training for health staff, more and more Ethiopians are receiving better health care services. (more)