United States Mission Geneva

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced at the State Department August 20 that both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have been invited to Washington and that direct negotiations between the two sides would be relaunched on September 2.

As is the case with Muslim communities around the world, Ramadan for Muslims in America is marked by fasting and charity. But while fasting is observed one month of the year, many Muslim Americans make charity and giving back to their communities year-round activities.

The United States is deeply concerned that Iran continues to deny its citizens their civil rights and intimidate and detain those Iranians who seek to hold their government accountable and stand up for the rights of their fellow citizens.

We remain troubled by the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who garnered international attention for her verdict of death by stoning. While the Iranian Government later stated she would not face execution by stoning, her fate is unclear.

The United States is rushing helicopters, hundreds of thousands of halal meals, mobile water treatment units, rescue boats, temporary shelters and other life-sustaining items to Pakistan in the aftermath of the worst monsoon flooding in nearly a century, says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The United States has responded immediately and generously to Pakistan’s call for assistance following the tragic and devastating floods that started on July 29. Our response has been consistent with our humanitarian values and our deep commitment to Pakistan.

The Obama Administration’s strategy for meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), “Celebrate, Innovate, and Sustain: Toward 2015 and Beyond”, lays out a determined, strategic and results-focused plan that promises to both reenergize efforts to achieve the MDGs and strengthen the United States’ voice in the global development dialogue.

It is an honor to join President Obama in extending good wishes to the people of Switzerland as you celebrate the founding of the Swiss Confederation on August 1. This anniversary celebrates more than seven hundred years since the first Swiss cantons swore an oath of confederation and highlights a remarkable history of democracy.

Today, at an international donors’ conference organized by the World Bank in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, the United States announced a pledge of $48.6 million to assist the people and the government of the Kyrgyz Republic in meeting challenges presented by recent events. The total amount pledged by all donors represented at the conference was more than $1.1 billion.

The U.S. government, backed by U.S. scientists and corporations, is investing money and energy into reducing global hunger and poverty on a huge scale by 2015. A State Department official overseeing the Feed the Future program, Patricia Haslach, told a congressional subcommittee July 20 that President Obama’s pledge of $3.5 billion at the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy, for agricultural development and food security through 2012 has attracted an additional $18.5 billion pledged by other donors.