Over the past six months, Embassy Islamabad's social media presence has evolved and expanded to reach ever larger cross sections of the Pakistani population, providing an opportunity to tell America's story through visual media, a large and expanding Urdu and Pashto content and constant engagement.  The embassy's messages reach 40 percent of the nearly 6.5 million Pakistanis on Facebook every week, and its Facebook homepage allows the embassy to further connect to the Pakistani people through the messages, events, and pictures/videos that are posted, which have been "liked" by more than 360,000 Pakistanis alone.  Since November 2011, the embassy's Facebook weekly total reach, which measures the number of people who view at least one piece of content on the embassy's page, has burst from 130,000 per week to almost 2.7 million, presenting a 1,800 percent increase in less than 9 months.  The number of people commenting, liking, and sharing content on the embassy's site increased from 560 in November 2011 to 50,000 currently - the highest of any U.S. embassy or consulate around the world.  The embassy is also increasingly using Twitter to communicate with it's 5,500 followers to correct the record and engage journalists, other media contacts, and - by extension - their followings.  The embassy is excited about this growing engagement, especially with the dynamic youth population.

Secretary Clinton in Latvia:  At the second stop on her most recent European tour - and 100th country visited as Secretary of State - the Secretary participated in a "townterview" with Latvian youth and civil society groups.  The townterview was seen by 281,000 viewers in live and primetime broadcasts.  During the event she discussed youth empowerment and civic participation; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights; the keys to economic development; and her experience as Secretary of State.  The Secretary also met with Latvia's Prime Minister and participated in a press availability, in which she highlighted Latvia's contributions in Afghanistan, its success in weathering the European economic crisis, and its dedication to spreading democratic principles across the globe.  Finally, the Secretary participated in a street naming ceremony in honor of Sumner Welles, the acting Secretary of State whose declaration, in 1940, solidified the U.S. position of non-recognition of the Soviet occupation of the Baltic republics.

Extending a Hand to Greek Fulbrighters and Cultural Leaders:  During a recent visit to Greece, Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Bay Fang, attended the annual award ceremony for the grantees of the Fulbright Foundation in Greece, hosted by Deputy Chief of Mission Virginia Bennett.  DAS Fang spoke to a diverse audience on the importance of educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries.  While in Greece, DAS Fang also met with social entrepreneurs, International Visitor Leadership Program alumni, and cultural managers and academics, with the discussion focusing on reforms to promote entrepreneurship in Greece and recent changes in the educational system.  Her visit, coming on the heels of Greece's recent general elections, demonstrated U.S. commitment to Greece during the challenging period of Eurozone.  On that same trip, DAS Fang visited Bosnia, where she opened the Access Summer Camp and gave an interview to major dailies on opportunities for women's empowerment, and Croatia, where she spoke to information technology academics at the University of Varadzin and gave an interview to a major online portal.

A Vehicle for U.S.-Bosnia Relations:  GRAS, the tram operator for the City and Canton of Sarajevo, painted a tram in honor of the U.S. for July 4th to commemorate BiH-U.S. friendship.  The tram will run through Sarajevo during the month of July.  Embassy Sarajevo organized a press event July 3 to inspect the car and publicly thank GRAS, the City, and Canton for the kind gesture.  Additional photos, including that of an historic D.C. trolley car donated to Sarajevo in the 1960s, are on the Embassy's Facebook page.

Ambassadorial Transition Featured on Latvian TV:  Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Judith Garber addressed 70,000 viewers of the LNT (Latvian Independent Televsion) morning show "900 sekundes" in Latvian, expressing her gratitude for close cooperation and the time spent in office.  Garber had also prepared another surprise - a video address by the new U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Mark Pekala (also in Latvian), where he emphasized his professional and familial ties with the Baltic region.  A Russian-language version of the video was released on Friday, July 6, in an effort to reach out to the nearly 30% of Latvians whose first language is Russian.

IIP Highlights the 4th of July:  On July 4, IIP live-streamed Washington's 'A Capitol Fourth' concert and fireworks to embassy webpages around the world.  At least 2,858 viewers from 75 countries watched the event live, and several posts used the recording during Independence Day Celebrations over the following weekend.  IIP also provided translations of the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the pamphlet U.S. Independence Day Celebration for posts' use in Public Diplomacy programming.

Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Enhances Tel Aviv's Outreach to Interfaith Community:  In a June 14 CO.NX program with Embassy Tel Aviv, U.S. experts Reverend Dr. John Pawlikowski of the Catholic Theological Union and Rabbi Dr. Burt Visotzky of the Jewish Theological Seminary discussed the enormous positive developments - "a sea change," in post's words - that have taken place in relations between their two religious communities over the past half-century.  The conversation offered models of U.S. intergroup cooperation and dialogue to Israeli audiences, which included Jewish, Christian and Muslim contacts from the Interreligious Coordinating Council of Israel interested in interfaith dialogue as a means to advance understanding and allay mutual distrust.

Spanish Facebook Page on Entrepreneurship Celebrates Anniversary:  Reaching a fan base of over 160,000, IIP's Spanish language Facebook page Iniciativa Emprende hit its one-year anniversary on June 28.  The page has been a source of engaging content for U.S. embassies to reach youth audiences:  a recent e-mail from Embassy Guatemala noted that outside of political topics, postings borrowed from Emprende have been their most popular.  An estimated 90% of the page's fans are under the age of 25.    

Experts in U.S., U.K. and Romania Discuss Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Rights:  A global conversation on LGBT rights on June 28 connected IIP-recruited U.S. experts from CO.NX in Washington with their counterparts in the United Kingdom and Romania.  Mara Keisling, Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, Social Worker Martha Harris and U.S. Department of Justice Employment Litigation Representative Valerie Meyer fielded questions from a live viewing party at Embassy Bucharest.  

UNVIE Celebrates Independence Day with Large International Audience:  Approximately 600 guests from Vienna's international community of diplomats, staff from international organizations, journalists, and civil society joined the staff of the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Vienna (UNVIE) at a reception hosted by Charg� d'Affaires Robert Wood.   Charg� Wood took advantage of the opportunity afforded by the reception to thank the multilateral community for their efforts to establish common solutions to nuclear proliferation, terrorism, international crime, and trafficking in drugs and people.  Senior leaders from all of Vienna's international organizations attended the reception, including International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Amano.

UNVIE Leads Effort to Publicly Criticize Iran for Anti-Semitic Remarks:  On the recent International Day against Drug Abuse, Iranian Vice President Rahimi took advantage of a conference in Tehran attended by diplomats and staff of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to make anti-Semitic comments.  Initial press reporting incorrectly characterized the conference as a UN-sponsored conference.  UNVIE staff worked with UNODC to galvanize the UN to criticize Iran for the comments and correct the record that the UN did not organize the conference.  Both the UN Secretary General and UNODC's Executive Director issued public statements, the latter after meeting with the Iranian Charg� d'Affaires in Vienna to deliver the message personally.  Senior diplomats also issued public statements decrying Iran's comments, including the United States (in a statement by the Spokesperson), the EU, Canada, Italy, and the UK.

"The English Games":  Public Affairs Section (PAS) Cairo's Information Resource Center (IRC) organized an afternoon of board games in English July 3 for 50 university students taking a break from their exams.  IRC members and Facebook fans competed with each other over Boggle, Scrabble, Taboo, Charades, and Apples to Apples, leading participants to exclaim that games are better (at least more fun!) than formal English language courses.  This interactive event provided another opportunity for Egyptian youth to practice their English, while reinforcing the sense of community among IRC patrons.

Documentary Film Maker Addresses Social Issues: PAS Amman hosted Anisa Mehdi, an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist and writer specializing in religion and the arts whose

Gaza Youth Leaders Program:  Following the successful West

Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer Erin Mai and Alumni Coordinator Hadil Saleh congratulate the students and trainers for their efforts

The students at the American Corner in Gaza introduce themselves to PD Jerusalem Staff

New Communications Director Meets Journalists and Key Contacts:  Masha Hamilton recently arrived as Communications Director.  Masha Hamilton is a U.S. journalist and the author of several novels.  She worked for the Associated Press for five years in the Middle East, where she covered the First Intifada, the peace process, and the partial Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. She spent five years in Moscow as a Los Angeles Times correspondent and reported for NBC/Mutual Radio during the collapse of the Soviet Union. She reported from Afghanistan in both 2004 and 2008.  She is the author of The Camel Bookmobile, Staircase of a Thousand Steps, The Distance Between Us, and 31 Hours.  She also started two world literacy projects: the Camel Book Drive to help the camel-powered library in Northeast Kenya, and the Afghan Women's Writing Project to foster the voices of Afghan women.

YES Program Kick-Off Ceremony in Karachi:  Consulate Karachi participated in the opening ceremony of a week-long pre-departure orientation for over 100 outbound YES (Youth Exchange and Study Program) students and 50 YES alumni.  In his remarks, Karachi's Cultural Affairs Officer encouraged the students to embrace their role as change agents during their year in an American high school and after their return to Pakistan.

American Corners have got talent!: Ambassador Gross was a judge in the First Annual American Corner (AC) Song Competition.  Information Officer Nicole Bayer emceed the event, which included 11 performances and simultaneous webchats with the other 5 ACs around Tajikistan and Information Resource Officer Bill Middleton in Washington, D.C.  AC Dushanbe was pulsating with the excited energy of youth dancing and singing along to the tunes of Adele, Maroon 5, Selena Gomez, Christina Aguilera, and more.  The event concluded with an award ceremony in which the contestant from AC Dushanbe, Muqaddas Rahmonova, won 1^st place.

American Youth Come to Pune:  PAS Mumbai welcomed 20 American high school students to Pune for a six-week course to learn Hindi.  The students are part of the National Strategic Language Initiative organized by ECA and will be living with Indian families during their time in India.  Mumbai's Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer attended their orientation program and talked to the teens about living in India, the work of the U.S. Consulate, and being a diplomat.  The teens will be in Pune until August 10.

WHA Assistant Secretary Jacobson Promotes Citizen Participation in Security during Visit to El Salvador: On June 27, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson hosted a roundtable on citizen security with 25 Salvadoran civil society leaders, along with Salvadoran Minister of Security David Mungia and Charg� d'Affaires Sean Murphy.  The civil society participants, who included directors of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), mayors, school principals, bloggers and citizens working on municipal crime and violence prevention, expressed their thanks to the U.S. Government for funding programs that focus on citizens and crime prevention.  The informal discussion brought to light the problems average citizens face in the security arena and gave them the chance to present some of their ideas for solutions to the Assistant Secretary and the Minister of Security.  This roundtable represented a key component of WHA's civil society engagement on citizen security, and supports the U.S.-El Salvador Partnership for Growth action plan that calls for "a national dialogue on actions to improve citizen security in El Salvador that actively involves all sectors of national life." 

Embassy Supports a Rainbow of Gay Pride Activities: 

Pride Month Outreach Makes Impact in Costa Rica:  Starting June 25, PAS San Jose coordinated a series of events designed to show support for Costa Rica's LGBT community during Pride

Month.  Nearly 1,200 people viewed a supportive video message recorded by Ambassador Andrew and posted to our Facebook page and YouTube channel. On June 27, the Ambassador hosted leaders of LGBT NGOs and members of the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly at her residence.  Embassy social media platforms amplified this outreach and provided a forum for almost overwhelmingly supportive feedback.  A photograph of the Ambassador's breakfast meeting posted on Facebook was viewed by thousands of people, liked by hundreds, and shared 78 times.  A post on the Embassy blog featured the thoughts of an American FSO serving in San Jose who is married to a same-sex partner.  Finally, more than 700 Costa Ricans listened as a transcript of the Ambassador's video message was read to the crowd gathered for the July 1 Pride March in San Jose. 

Binational Center Gives Free English Classes to Local Artisans and Taxi Drivers:  On July 3, the U.S. Peru Binational Center (BNC) in Arequipa, Peru, launched free English language classes for local artisans and taxi drivers with the goal of boosting tourism and job creation in Peru's second city.  The innovative program is part of the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) project that recognized this particular English language need. It was made possible through a grant from the PAS Regional English Language Office (RELO).  Its aim is to provide English language instruction to people who come into daily contact with tourists since English is a language shared by people all over the world.  These classes help artisans and taxi drivers to provide better hospitality and service to their guests and clients and thus help to generate jobs by enhancing the reputation and appeal of Arequipa as a welcoming tourist destination.   Each class consists of 30 people who learn an English curriculum especially designed for their particular business needs.  All are adult students who normally would not be able to afford English language instruction at the BNC.