Month: February 2023

Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Erin Barclay will travel to Geneva, Switzerland February 24 to March 1 for meetings around the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council (HRC). In Geneva, she will meet with senior officials from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International...

U.S. Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice Desirée Cormier Smith will travel to Amman, Jordan February 23-28 to deliver keynote remarks at U.S. Embassy Amman’s Black and White Gala for Black History Month.  The annual gala brings together members of the diplomatic community, local partners, and other key stakeholders to pay tribute to Black American cultures,...

MR GOLDBERG:  Good morning to all of you in the United States.  Good afternoon or good evening to those of you who are joining us from Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe and other places.  Very, very happy to have all of you here. I’m Jeff Goldberg.  I’m the editor in chief of The Atlantic.  And joining me...

The Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations’ Office of Cultural Heritage has confirmed the authenticity of a painting of George Washington after the Battle of Princeton that was gifted to the embassy in 1989 by Caroline Ryan Foulke and hangs in the U.S. Embassy Paris Ambassador’s Residence. The painting, attributed to Charles Willson Peale, was part...

With Ukraine’s cultural identity and heritage under continuous threat and attack by Russian forces, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announced today that its Ukraine Cultural Heritage Response Initiative will invest $7 million to support Ukrainian efforts to protect its cultural heritage. The Initiative was developed to support Ukraine’s...

Today, Vice President Kamala Harris convened a meeting at the White House with leading medical experts and reproductive rights leaders to discuss protecting reproductive health care. The Vice President addressed the importance of access to medication abortion, which is currently subject to litigation and accounts for more than half of all abortions in the United States—and is commonly used for miscarriage management.  During the meeting,...

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Equatoguinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.  Secretary Blinken called President Obiang to offer support and partnership as Equatorial Guinea responds to an outbreak of Marburg virus disease.  The Secretary and the President agreed cooperation is essential to a...

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price: Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman spoke with her Brazilian counterpart, Secretary General of Brazil’s Ministry of External Relations Ambassador Maria Laura da Rocha in a call February 22. They discussed the situation in Ukraine ahead of the one-year marker of Russia’s illegal, full-scale invasion. They also...

Vice President’s Ceremonial OfficeEisenhower Executive Office Building 10:56 A.M. EST THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, good morning.  I thank you, phenomenal national leaders on fundamental rights of freedom and liberty, for being here again for us to have a very important discussion about how we will continue to fight for the rights of the American people to...

Vice President Kamala Harris announced at the Munich Security Conference that the Secretary of State Antony Blinken has determined that members of Russia’s forces and other Russian officials have committed crimes against humanity.  This determination follows extensive analysis by the Department, including my office, the Office of Global Criminal Justice, of information indicating that members...