DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLIC SCHEDULE TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PUBLIC SCHEDULE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

SECRETARY JOHN KERRY
9:00 a.m. Secretary Kerry meets with African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) Delegates, at the Department of State.
9:10 a.m. Secretary Kerry meets with the Franklin Fellows, at the Department of State.
9:20 a.m. Secretary Kerry meets with the Jefferson Science Fellows, at the Department of State.

UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS WENDY SHERMAN3:00 p.m. Under Secretary Sherman meets with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Shinsuke Sugiyama, at the Department of State.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POPULATION, REFUGEES AND MIGRATION ANNE CLAIRE RICHARD2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Richard meets Kathleen Newland, Migration Policy Institute, Director of Migrants, Migration, and Development and Refugee Protection Programs, in Washington, DC.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS DANNY RUSSEL4:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Russel meets with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Shinsuke Sugiyama, at the Department of State.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS LUIS CDEBACA
Ambassador CdeBaca is on foreign travel in Bangkok, Thailand.
8:30 a.m. LOCAL Ambassador CdeBaca meets with representatives of the Ministry of Labor, in Bangkok, Thailand.
10:00 a.m. LOCAL Ambassador CdeBaca meets with civil society organizations at the U.S. Embassy, in Bangkok, Thailand.
2:00 p.m. LOCAL Ambassador CdeBaca meets with representatives of the Office of the Attorney General, in Bangkok, Thailand.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND U.S. GLOBAL AIDS COORDINATOR ERIC GOOSBY 
Ambassador Goosby is on foreign travel in Kampala, Uganda.
8:30 a.m. LOCAL Ambassador Goosby delivers opening remarks and participates in a press conference at the PEPFAR Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Annual Symposium, in Kampala, Uganda.

Resolving the Plight of Persecuted, Uprooted People Around the World

Afghan refugee children standing with their belongings on a truck as they depart for Afghanistan from a UNHCR repatriation terminal in Pakistan on November 17, 2012.

By Anne C. Richard serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration.

2012 was a challenging year for humanitarians trying to help displaced people around the world. The following summarizes some of the challenges addressed by the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) last year.

Inside Syria, 40,000 people have been killed and over two million are displaced. Over half a million people have fled to neighboring countries. The U.S. government (the State Department and USAID) is providing $210 million in humanitarian aid to the region, and this aid is reaching millions.

Last year, refugees fled violence and drought in Northern Mali and fighting in Sudan, and even more displacement in the conflict-ravaged eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Kenya, Somalis found shelter in overcrowded refugee camps. In response, PRM staff members directed funding to emergency response and routinely carried out monitoring and evaluation visits to ensure U.S.-funded aid is well spent and reaching the people who need it.

In Afghanistan, PRM helped repatriate and reintegrate over 83,000 Afghans who returned home this year. NGO-run health clinics were transferred to Afghanistan's Ministry of Health, as planned. The U.S. government also supports the UN Refugee Agency's Solution Strategy for Afghan Refugees, which works with Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to protect refugees until they can return home safely and voluntarily and to find permanent homes for them when they do return.