US Mission Geneva

International humanitarian groups are pouring assistance into North Africa as the number of people fleeing the fighting in Libya passes 500,000.

Ambassador King made remarks at the World Intellection Property Organization to mark Qualcomm, a leading American technology firm, filing the 2 Millionth Patent Application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

Following the first meeting in Geneva of the Bilateral Consultative Commission (implementation body for the New START Treaty), the U.S. and Russian Commissioners issued a joint statement on the Arrival Time of the Inspection Team at the Point of Entry on the Territory of the Inspected Party.

From March 28 to April 8, 2011, the first session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC) on the new START Treaty took place in Geneva. In the course of the session the Parties began discussions on the technical issues related to the implementation of the Treaty. It was agreed to hold the second session of the BCC later this year in Geneva.

I’m here today to present the 35th annual report to Congress on the state of human rights around the world. The struggle for human rights begins by telling the truth over and over again. And this report represents a year of sustained truth-telling by one of the largest organizations documenting human rights conditions in the world.

The U.S. Government has provided $47 million to international and non-governmental organizations to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of people fleeing the violence in Libya. We have deployed a team of disaster response experts to the region, and are working closely with host governments, the United Nations, NGOs and other international partners to assess and address urgent humanitarian needs in Libya and neighboring countries. Our assistance is also reaching beneficiaries inside Libya, providing needed medical supplies and staff, pre-positioning and distributing emergency relief commodities, and supporting medical training for mass casualty care and transport.

The 2010 edition of the State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices was released April 8, 2011. The Secretary of State also announced the launch of a new website to serve as a one stop resource for human rights information from across the U.S. government.

World Health Day is celebrated on April 7 each year to commemorate the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948 by the United Nations (UN). Each year, the event brings worldwide attention to an important global health priority. World Health Day 2011 focuses on educating people of all ages to the dangers of antimicrobial resistance in microorganisms and active steps that can be taken to combat it.

“Today, April 7, the world commemorates World Health Day. This year’s theme focuses on combating the steadily growing public health threat posed by antimicrobial drug resistance — a growing problem with implications for both national and global security. Drug resistance also threatens to reverse global health gains by making currently available first-line medicines less effective.