U.S. Department of State

Security in Haiti

In response to the urgent need for security and stability in Haiti, a total of eleven countries in the Western Hemisphere have contributed troops, police, or both. The Hemispheric community has embraced this mission as an opportunity to provide security and stability in the region. Brazil, for example, is providing the military commander to the U.N. Stabilization Mission to Haiti, while Canada leads the mission's police contingent. U.S. leadership has been essential to the international response to the Haiti Crisis. Our political engagement through multilateral organizations, our role as the leading international donor, and our strong support for the electoral process and democratic transition is a key element to returning Haiti to stability after the departure of ex-president Aristide. The on-going commitment to Haiti of the U.S. and our partners in the Hemisphere will provide the Haitian people with the opportunity to hold free and fair elections and pursue economic development.

People wait in line to register to vote while a U.N. peacekeeper stands guard in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July, 2005. AP/Wide World Photo

Terrorist Interdiction

In some countries, the Terrorist Interdiction Program serves as the cornerstone of the U.S. mission's counterterrorism relationship with the host government, fostering increased counterterrorism cooperation and action around the world. The program provides host country immigration authorities - front line defenders against terrorism - with a computer database system that enables identification of suspected terrorists attempting to transit air, land or sea ports of entry. For example, in FY 2005, three suspects in the July 7 U.K. bombings, all from the northern England area of Leeds, were located by the terrorist interdiction database in Pakistan when they entered into that country.

President Bush greets Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf, left, during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, December, 2004 in Washington. AP/Wide World Photo

Container Security Initiative

The Department spearheaded global efforts to protect transportation networks through stronger shipping and aviation security rules. Twenty of the world's largest ports committed to participate in the Container Security Initiative (CSI). In addition, the program expanded to other strategic ports including Malaysia and South Africa. CSI is now operational in 38 ports and at least two countries, Canada and Japan, have utilized the reciprocal aspects of the program to have their customs officials present at U.S. ports to observe cargo bound for their countries.

A security ship passes next to a container boat on Panama Canal waters in Panama City, Panama, February 2005. AP/Wide World Photo

Libya Eliminates Weapons of Mass Destruction

Since December 2003, Libya has taken several steps to eliminate its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, and its long-range missiles. Libya has cooperated with the U.S. and U.K. to remove equipment from its nuclear weapons program, acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention, destroyed chemical weapon munitions, eliminated its SCUD-C missile force, and agreed to ultimately eliminate its SCUD-B missiles. The Department launched the Scientist Engagement Initiative to integrate former weapons experts into the global science community and deter them from transferring their expertise to terrorists or states of concern. Libya's strategic decision to forego and dismantle weapons of mass destruction has resulted in positive benefits accruing to Libya. This "Libyan model" of dismantlement offers the promise of a better future for other states that make a similar strategic decision.

Destroyed Libyan Missles AP/Wide World photo

Andean Counterdrug Initiative

The U.S. investment in the Andean Counterdrug Initiative to combat narco-terrorism in South America is paying important political, security and economic dividends. This is particularly apparent in Colombia, which faced a frontal assault by major narco-terrorist organizations in the 1990s. Today, the World Bank lists Colombia as one of the world's ten most attractive investment climates. For the first time ever, the Colombian Government has established a security presence in all of the country's municipalities (equivalent to county seats), including many previously dominated by narco-terrorist groups. Civil violence—terrorist attacks, kidnapping, and homicides—has dropped dramatically over the past two years. Our most steadfast ally in the fight against illicit drugs, the Colombian Government extradited more than 250 drug traffickers to the U.S. over the past two years, including the leader of the infamous Cali Cartel.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, left, talks with Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe during a meeting at the presidential palace in Bogota, Colombia, July 2005. AP/Wide World Photo

Serving Citizens, Managing Crises

The Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) provides support and assistance to citizens and families when tragedy strikes Americans overseas. In FY 2005, CA provided support to families in conjunction with the deaths of 5,687 Americans overseas and followed 2,776 new overseas arrest cases. CA played a major role in the interagency response to the December 2004 tsunami that struck South Asia. CA organized a massive task force that followed up on over 15,000 specific welfare and whereabouts inquiries resulting from the crisis. The task force worked with the Departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Defense, and other U.S. Government agencies to confirm the safety of Americans, identify deceased American victims, and provide assistance to survivors and the families of those killed.

Officers on the Consular Affairs Task Force track missing Americans during the tsunami crisis. State Department Photo

Middle East Partnership Initiative

The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) made strong strides to bolster democracy in FY 2005. Nearly 100 Arab women legal professionals from sixteen countries participated in the launch of the Arab Women's Legal Network in Amman, Jordan in July 2005. MEPI quickly responded to the spring 2005 elections in Lebanon by mounting a program to increase electoral transparency through effective monitoring, public opinion polls and a nationwide voter education campaign. In Egypt, MEPI supported civil society organizations in domestic election monitoring, youth training to develop advocacy skills, and voter education ahead of fall 2005 elections. Additionally, MEPI launched multiple projects to strengthen the role of indigenous civil society organizations in North Africa and the Middle East, particularly in the Persian Gulf.

An election official empties a ballot box in front of election observers in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, June 2005. AP/Wide World Photo

Iraq Reconstruction and Development

The Department led an international group of major donors for Iraq's reconstruction, which organized donors meetings in Tokyo in October 2004 and the Dead Sea in July 2005. At these meetings, over 60 countries and international organizations coordinated their reconstruction assistance and agreed to align and accelerate their assistance along Iraqi priorities. By the end of FY 2005, donors other than the United States had disbursed about $3 billion in reconstruction assistance to Iraq. The meetings also set in place a central role for Iraq in coordinating donor assistance. The Department led meetings of U.S. Government and Iraqi Government officials in Washington and Amman that deepened the bilateral dialogue on a broad range of issues that are critical to Iraq's economic restructuring and reintegration into the world economy. The Department's joint effort with the Department of Treasury to secure an historic Paris Club debt-reduction agreement in November 2004 was a vital step in relieving Iraq of its overwhelming debt burden.

Secretary Rice looks toward Iraq's Planning and Development Cooperation Minister Barham Salih at a press conference in Washington, May, 2005. AP/Wide World Photo

HIV/AIDS

As President Bush has said, "Confronting HIV/AIDS is the responsibility of every nation and a moral imperative for the United States." HIV/AIDS is not only a human tragedy of enormous magnitude, it is also a threat to the stability of entire countries and to entire regions of the world. To turn the tide against this devastating pandemic, President Bush launched his historic $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief—the largest commitment any nation has ever made to an international health initiative. The Emergency Plan is combating HIV/AIDS in 123 countries around the world through prevention, treatment, and care, placing special emphasis on 15 countries where the need is most urgent. Assistance is also provided for HIV/AIDS research and to multilateral organizations such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. In FY 2005, the Emergency Plan supported over 235,000 people on treatment, well exceeding its June 2005 target.

President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush greet children at the AIDS Support Organization in Entebbe, Uganda. AP/Wide World Photo

Protecting Women from Violence in Sudan

The United States remains gravely concerned about sexual violence against women in the Darfur region of Sudan and the Government of Sudan's refusal to address the problem and protect the lives of its people. Secretary Rice and Deputy Secretary Zoellick have both urged the government to bolster its efforts to stop the violence, to hold perpetrators accountable, and to provide help for victims. In FY 2005, the United States initiated a two-year project to fund eight centers for displaced women living in camps in the Darfur region. The centers provide a safe haven for women and a range of services, including literacy classes, health education, income-generating activities, and treatment for sexual violence. Victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence also receive medical, psychosocial and case management services that protect their privacy.

Sudanese women distribute American vegetable oil in Zalengie, West Darfur. State Department Photo

Former Exchange Participants Form New Government in Kyrgyz Republic

When protests following March 2005 parliamentary elections led to the end of President Akayev's rule, the new Kyrgyz Government included eight people who had been on International Visitor Leadership Programs between 1994 and 2004, including current President Bakiyev. Democracy Commission and other Embassy grants supported the initiatives of Kyrgyz civil society groups to promote free and fair elections, the highlight of which was a series of "Rock the Vote" concerts held across Kyrgyzstan in the run up to the July presidential election. Widely attended and nationally televised, these concerts helped raise awareness of election fraud and voter rights, and encouraged young voters to participate in the July 2005 presidential election.

Kyrgyz President Bakiyev, left, greets supporters during a meeting in Balykchi, east of the capital, Bishkek, July 2005. AP/Wide World Photo

Foreign Language and Leadership Training

Through FY 2005, the Department provided leadership training to over 6,700 Foreign Service and Civil Service mid-level employees. Since its inception in 2004, the Senior Policy Seminars division has continued to expand opportunities for advanced professional development, policy discussions, and networking opportunities to senior leaders in the Civil and Foreign Services. Crisis Management remains a key component of the Department's leadership training program.

The Department's School of Language Studies delivers 450,000 hours of training to Department personnel in Critical Needs Languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian, as well as Turkic, Indic and Iranian languages. The Foreign Service Institute developed innovative options for more advanced language skill development through targeted overseas immersions and focused offerings to meet specific needs, such as language media skills. "Continuing education" and non-traditional training are being strengthened through pilot iterations of short-term in-country "transition" immersions, and growing delivery of distance language learning offerings, currently numbering 18 courses in 11 languages.

Instructors from the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam teach members of the American community Swahili language and culture during a three-day immersion visit to Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania. State Department Photo