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U.S. embassies around the world organized 16 days of activities focused on the problem of violence against women to draw a symbolic link between the International Day Against Violence Against Women -- November 25 -- and International Human Rights Day -- December 10.  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in her directive to all U.S. embassies, called for engagement with host country governments, civil society and media. Unfortunately, violence against women is accepted in many cultures that regard such behavior as “a private family matter,” says Andrea Bottner, the senior coordinator for the U.S. Department of State’s Office of International Women’s Issues.

A group of dedicated Zimbabwean lawyers that defends victims of politically motivated persecution in Zimbabwe is honored by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with her first Freedom Defenders Award. Lawyer Arnold Tsunga, who fled his country after learning that he was on a government hit list, accepts the award on behalf of the nongovernmental organization Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights at a special ceremony in Washington.

Expect continued intensive diplomacy from Washington as Palestinian and Israeli leaders build on the success of the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis Conference, says a top U.S. diplomat. "There are a lot of historical reasons to be skeptical, but we see this as an unprecedented moment of hope and opportunity for Israelis and Palestinians," Thomas Goldberger, director of the State Department’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs, says in a USINFO webchat.

Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders in the United States join together in an interfaith peace-building effort to condemn terrorism and the violence it causes.  In supporting this initiative, the Fiqh Council of North America -- the highest judicial body in the Muslim community in the United States -- issues a fatwa, or religious edict, saying "there is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism."

For many who live in rural areas throughout the world, the basic technologies necessary for education, public health and economic development are not feasible because of a lack of electricity.  But in Nicaragua, a U.S.-based nonprofit company, blueEnergy, is developing a model for low-cost, sustainable electrification of remote rural communities that can be replicated around the world.

A comprehensive economic dialogue has helped the United States and China broaden their perspectives on bilateral relations and deepen their understanding of each other’s concerns, according to U.S. experts. The U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) was launched in 2006 by President Bush and President Hu Jintao to deal with the complexity of the U.S.-China economic relationship. The SED is conducted through twice-a-year, Cabinet-level meetings and follow-up engagement. “There is no question the dialogue has provided a mechanism for much more serious, high-level consideration of big issues than ever before,” Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, tells USINFO.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hails Congress’ passage of a U.S.-Peru free-trade agreement. “Peruvian access to the U.S. market, which had to be renewed by Congress periodically, will become permanent. This permanent access will help build a more efficient and effective economic engine to create growth, jobs and economic opportunities both in Peru and in the United States,” Rice says in a statement. The U.S. Senate December 4 voted 77 to 18 in favor of the free-trade agreement with Peru, clearing the pact for final action by the president.

The weather was freezing in Minnesota, but Mohamed Benaissa was happy to be back in that snowy northern state for a visit that he called “very emotional, very moving.”  A former foreign minister of Morocco and former Moroccan ambassador to the United States, Benaissa is also a graduate of the University of Minnesota, and he returned on December 4 to receive the highest honor the university can bestow: an honorary doctor of laws degree for public service. In accepting the honor, Benaissa said the United States and Morocco are a good example of “mutual respect between diverse cultures.”

Young Americans are paying attention to the 2008 presidential race, and many are ready to help their preferred candidate achieve victory, a poll by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics shows. Young Americans share many of the concerns of those in other generations, with the war in Iraq and health care as their top concerns, the poll indicates.

Young Americans are paying attention to the 2008 presidential race, and many are ready to help their preferred candidate achieve victory, a poll by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics shows.  Young Americans share many of the concerns of those in other generations, with the war in Iraq and health care as their top concerns, the poll indicates.

Eight nations and the European Commission pledge $605 million in the continuing fight against the spread of H5N1 avian influenza in birds and people for efforts focusing on halting the virus at its avian source, bolstering disease surveillance and integrating animal and human health services and capabilities. The pledges come on the final day of the New Delhi Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, hosted by the government of India in collaboration with the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, launched by President Bush in 2005.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says a comprehensive cease-fire agreement between Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and nonextremist political groups will help facilitate the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid in the country, and she urges the TFG to “renew and revitalize efforts towards a lasting political solution.” Meeting with African and international leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, she outlines the U.S. commitment to seeking peace, building democracy and fostering prosperity in conflict regions including the Great Lakes, Sudan and the Horn of Africa.

Alexis de Tocqueville, France’s 19th-century observer of the United States, the modern world’s first democratic experiment, warned that democracy ultimately could lead to the tyranny of the majority. However, nearly two centuries later, democracy and the concept of majority rule have become powerful notions for which every nation on earth strives -- at least in word if not deed.

Stella Chikava distributes advertising pamphlets on the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa. It’s a long step down for the 41-year-old graduate with more than 10 years’ experience as a physics and chemistry teacher in Zimbabwe. But after undergoing detention, rape and torture under Robert Mugabe’s government, she feels lucky to be alive. Because of increased repression in Zimbabwe under the Mugabe regime, the United States is imposing additional sanctions against the country’s worst offenders, while continuing aid that will help ordinary Zimbabweans.

Haiti, long associated with desperate poverty, political instability and rampant violence, now has reason to see a better future, two U.S. officials say. Velia De Pirro of the State Department and Paul Tuebner from the U.S. Agency for International Development say in separate interviews with USINFO at the December 3-5 Miami Conference on the Caribbean Basin that an improved economy in Haiti is tied to the better security the country now has, especially in the capital of Port-au-Prince.

Providing medical and dental care, teaching English, fixing buildings and strengthening military ties between the United States and Cambodia were among the projects the USS Essex and a Marine expeditionary unit attached to the ship undertook during a recent port visit to Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

Barely a month before important state party caucuses begin in the new year, Democrats from around the United States converged near Washington for the Democratic National Committee fall general session -- the last such meeting of Democrats before early caucuses signal who the likely Democratic and Republican 2008 presidential nominees will be. Candidates courted a diverse set of voters at the session, giving speeches and meeting privately with delegates. “Here we are in a suburb of Washington, and a man or a woman who just worked the day shift can come in and listen to, perhaps, the next president of the United States. … Everyone in America can get involved, whether Republican or Democrat,” one participant tells USINFO.

Barely a month before important state party caucuses begin in the new year, Democrats from around the United States converged near Washington for the Democratic National Committee fall general session -- the last such meeting of Democrats before early caucuses signal who the likely Democratic and Republican 2008 presidential nominees will be. Candidates courted a diverse set of voters at the session, giving speeches and meeting privately with delegates. “Here we are in a suburb of Washington, and a man or a woman who just worked the day shift can come in and listen to, perhaps, the next president of the United States. … Everyone in America can get involved, whether Republican or Democrat,” one participant tells USINFO.

The U.S. government worked closely with CNN and private U.S. medical groups to bring the 5-year-old Iraqi victim of an extremely damaging burning assault to the United States for medical treatment. Speaking of Jewell Evans, the U.S. diplomat who played a key role in helping the young boy, U.S. Embassy Baghdad consular affairs spokesman Steve Royster says: "Jewell made special efforts. Youssif's case is unique in that it is outside normal procedures. Jewell took this case and discovered a way to make this happen."

With the first presidential nominating contests less than a month away, candidates in both parties are stepping up their attacks on opponents. The dynamics of the primary system drive candidates to appeal to the most aggressive voters, says Pietro Nivola, director of the Governance Studies Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "The result is when the chips are down, the races are getting tight as they are now … it's just simply too tempting to go on the attack," he says. USINFO talks with several election watchers about the changes happening in the campaign.