This past Sunday, hundreds gathered for a downhill longboard competition to attract people to the Northern Zone of El Salvador. The Northern Zone is now accessible thanks to the Northern Transnational Highway that MCC funded.

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As I step down from my position as Director of the IMF's Western Hemisphere Department, I would like to share some reflections on one of the central issues facing many countries--adjustment under fixed exchange rates. It goes without saying that these reflect a personal and not an institutional view. In the old days, fixed exchange rates were the norm rather than the exception. A body of literature and a wealth of country experience have accumulated on how to adjust under such exchange rate regimes, mostly in emerging economies. The expression "adjustment and financing" came to summarize what economies should do when faced with severe funding constraints brought on by high borrowing costs for government debt in financial markets.

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This week's "Photo of the Week" comes to us from the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and shows Assistant Secretary of State Anne C. Richard meeting with representatives of the Damba refugee camp in Burkina Faso. Assistant Secretary Richard is on travel to Burkina Faso and Geneva until August 4, 2012.

In Burkina Faso, Assistant Secretary Richard joined with UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres to review the situation of refugees from the crisis in Mali, which is taking place within the broader Sahel food insecurity... more »

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This June, I traveled to Pissila, in the Sanmatega province of Burkina Faso. Speaking with students, teachers and parents participating in the BRIGHT II Project, I truly experienced firsthand the benefits of MCC's investment.

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The use of social media and new technologies in disaster and crisis situations will likely be framed forevermore as 'Before Haiti' (BH) and 'After Haiti' (AH). The terrible earthquakes that devastated the country and the resulting flood of humanitarian interventions that followed mark the moment that the world woke up to the role that new technology [...]

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In my visit to the Pacific over the next few days, the delegation and I look forward to engaging with the people and their representatives of seven Pacific Islands. On this tour, I will join Defense and USAID colleagues to continue our substantive engagement with the Pacific islanders on areas of defense, diplomacy, and development. The United States is committed to sustaining social and economic development in this region and my trip will highlight our diplomatic, economic, people-to-people, and strategic investments in the region. These people-to-people ties between our citizens are at the heart of U.S. engagement with the region. All of our programs seek to increase and enhance these ties. The United States has been, is, and will be a partner to the region for the long term.

Through our ...

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More: Trip Page | Interactive Travel Map

On August 3, 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to South Sudan where she met with President Kiir to reaffirm U.S. support and to encourage progress in negotiations with Sudan to reach agreement on issues related to security, oil and citizenship.

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This post initially said that the UN Group of Experts' visit to Kigali took place in April. It took place in May. Apologies. There have also been some questions about whether the Group told the Rwandan government they would discuss allegations of support to the M23 during the May 2012 meeting. According to diplomatic sources in Kigali (as mentioned below), in their letter to the Rwandan government asking for a meeting, they also asked for information regarding groups hostile to Kigali (such as the FDLR and RNC), but did not explicitly mention Rwandan support to the mutiny (the M23 name did not yet exist when they wrote the letter). However, they planned to discuss this support and during the one 30-minute meeting the government had with them, the Group said they wanted to talk about ...

There has been a noticeable souring of rhetoric in the debate surrounding the M23, including in comments on this site. People have resorted to ad hominem attacks and worse. It may help to review some of these contentions here ...

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Samia Errazzouki examines dissent in Morocco in the context of regional turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa. Bernard Avishai questions the...

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Although not as star-studded as the 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report roll out, the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons' 4th Annual Intern Roundtable on July 25 had fanfare all its own. The event's esteemed speakers included Luis CdeBaca, the Department's Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons; Shawn MacDonald, Director of Programs and Research at Verite; and Annick Febrey, Legislative Affairs... more »

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This post initially said that the UN Group of Experts' visit to Kigali took place in April. It took place in May. Apologies. There have also been some questions about whether the Group told the Rwandan government they would discuss allegations of support to the M23 during the May 2012 meeting. According to diplomatic sources in Kigali (as mentioned below), in their letter to the Rwandan government asking for a meeting, they also asked for information regarding groups hostile to Kigali (such as the FDLR and RNC), but did not explicitly mention Rwandan support to the mutiny (the M23 name did not yet exist when they wrote the letter). However, they planned to discuss this support and during the one 30-minute meeting the government had with them, the Group said they wanted to talk about ...

There has been a noticeable souring of rhetoric in the debate surrounding the M23, including in comments on this site. People have resorted to ad hominem attacks and worse. It may help to review some of these contentions here ...

[view whole blog post ]