In Jordan, following a modest public affairs campaign focused on print ads and bulk e-mails conducted in 2006 and 2007, over half of the Jordanians polled were aware of U.S. assistance, the highest recognition level of all bilateral donors.

What these modest public affairs pilots overseas have shown us is that U.S. aid efforts have a meaningful impact on public opinion toward the U.S. government and the American people. What has proved successful has been:

• Taking our cues from generally accepted commercial advertising practices; Tailoring public affairs campaigns to individual audiences with carefully crafted messages;

• Using local firms that know the local communications channels and cultural issues; and

• Using standard private-sector practices of monitoring, polling and focus group work.

These efforts provide creditable reason to believe that this approach could be expanded to a larger group of countries with similar impact.

INCREASING CAPACITY IN WASHINGTON

Up to now, I have been talking about messaging in the field. USAID has also had a greater presence and input at the Department of State, specifically in the office of Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes and the R Bureau. To the credit of the Undersecretary, USAID's "story" has been mainstreamed into the Department's public outreach and messaging. This has been facilitated by the seconding of a USAID Public Affairs officer to key working groups there, periodic interagency meetings, and the sharing of public affairs information resources across departments and agencies.

Further, the Department of State has been pro-active at reaching out to USAID, including in key meetings, conferences and training opportunities for their public affairs staff. USAID has now participated in all of the recent Department of State regional public affairs conferences as well as the more recent world-wide public affairs conference hosted by Under Secretary Hughes for all U.S. embassy public affairs officers. These key opportunities have allowed both of us to understand each others needs, to realize the strengths and opportunities that our respective missions present and to work on coordination to take advantage of these opportunities.

Just one example here would be informative. Through a USAID partnership with Voice of America, hundreds of international broadcasters and journalists have been trained in health issues concerning reporting on child survival, HIV/AIDS, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the worldwide effort to eradicate polio and emerging diseases like avian influenza. The success of this partnership is measured in terms of audiences reached, amounts of health programming aired on both TV and Radio, in-country training for health journalists, and costs. VOA, with a worldwide audience of over 100 million listeners worldwide, has produced over 40,000 health stories on polio, malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB, reproductive health and drug resistance over the past decade. Broadcasters have aired stories in over 30 languages. Recently, VOA has reached rural populations in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and China with news and information about preventing Avian Influenza. VOA has also created a special website at www.voanews.com on AI with support from USAID funds.

THE NEED FOR MORE TECHICAL EXCHANGES AS A PD TOOL

I would like to close with one recommendation for possible future focus of this committee. At a USAID Global Mission Director's Conference, our Administrator had asked Mission Directors about what they felt was one of the most successful programs to help build capacity, improve governance and develop a stronger network of pro-U.S. leaders in developing countries. The overwhelming opinion of those Mission Directors was that college and university scholarships or technical exchange programs were the most successful interventions we could do. It is estimated by USAID staff that 20,000 scholarships were given out by USAID pre-1990 (per annum). Today that number has gone down to 900 per year.

We continue to believe that bringing young government officials, civil society leaders, health officers, agricultural research scientists, communications experts, etc. to the United States to further their education and return to their host country, has a profound impact on their worldview of the United States, our government and our people. One good example is on the Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) issue where many African doctors and agricultural research scientists that were trained in the U.S. helped to educate, speak out publicly and slowly roll back those who

would withhold from starving people perfectly good humanitarian food supplies from the United States. Increased exchanges and scholarships for young developing country leaders are good for America in countless ways.

Under Secretary Hughes likes to say that she views her job as "waging peace.” The word "waging" is used deliberately, she says, because she believes "we have to be very intentional about it." I hope this testimony makes clear that USAID wages peace throughout the developing world and we are taking pro-active steps to brand, mark, communicate and inform those audiences about how humanitarian and development assistance from the American people is helping them every day. Thank you.

WRITTEN RESPONSES FROM MR. JEREMY CURTIN, COORDINATOR, BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE GARY L. ACKERMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK, AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND SOUTH ASIA

Question:

The GAO testified last month that four years after they had first identified that the government lacked an interagency communications strategy, such a strategy has still not been released. Can you tell us when an interagency communications strategy will be completed?

Response:

The US National Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication was distributed on May 31, 2007 to the interagency through the PCC on Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communications, which Under Secretary Karen Hughes chairs. The US National Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communications is designed to provide a unified framework for communications across the US government. Yet, it is flexible in order that diverse agencies can adapt it to meet their individual needs and responsibilities. We intend for the strategy to provide a comprehensive blueprint that brings together all interagency resources to bear on representing America as a whole. The plan is deliberately short so it will be read and used rather than placed on a shelf. The plan is guided by three strategic objectives: reinforce a positive vision of hope and opportunity; isolate and undermine violent extremists; and nurture and project common interests and values. In order to accomplish these objectives we must expand education and exchange programs, modernize communications, and promote the diplomacy of deeds. We must also focus such efforts on key strategic target audiences-youth, women and girls, minorities and key influencers.

Question:

GAO also testified that although Undersecretary Hughes had developed a strategic framework for public diplomacy, the Department still has not issued any guidance to overseas posts on how to coordinate the various public diplomacy activities in order to achieve these goals. Can you tell us when such guidance will be available to our Embassies?

Response:

Under Secretary Hughes has communicated guidance to embassies worldwide. At the global PAO conference in January 2007, Under Secretary Hughes discussed her three strategic goals and the importance of linking public diplomacy activities to these goals. The National Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communications Plan has also been provided to embassies worldwide for a common strategic framework. Each embassy will focus its efforts on expanding education and exchanges, modernizing communications, and promoting the diplomacy of deeds in support of the three strategic objectives defined in the Strategy: reinforce a positive vision of hope and opportunity; isolate and undermine violent extremists; and nurture and project common interests and values. Under Secretary Hughes has also communicated the importance of focusing public diplomacy efforts on key strategic target audiences-youth, women and girls, minorities and key influencers. With this overarching guidance, each post developed a country-specific public diplomacy plan that coordinates public diplomacy activities with specific target audiences and goals.

In addition, the Under Secretary is in constant contact with posts, directly and through the three public diplomacy bureaus-PA, IIP and ECA-to provide both strategic and tactical guidance. The Rapid Response Unit providing daily talking points on key issues in foreign media, the public diplomacy internal website INFOCENTRAL offering information and advice on a wide range of operational and policy issues, and IIP Direct, a dedicated listserv to PAOs worldwide are just three

channels through which the Under Secretary stays in constant touch with posts worldwide.

Question:

In May of last year, GAO reported that 15 percent of State's worldwide public diplomacy positions were vacant. More recently, the GAO testified that the problem has worsened and now 22 percent of such positions are vacant. Not a heartening trend. What steps is the Department taking to fill these positions?

Response:

Vacancy rates for Foreign Service positions can vary from month to month, depending on the assignment cycle. As of the end of May 2007, there was an overall vacancy rate of 16 percent for Public Diplomacy positions. The shortage is most critical at the mid-level grades (FS-02 and FS-03) and is due to the lack of hiring at USIA during the late 1990s prior to integration with the State Department.

The Department is taking several measures to alleviate shortages in the Public Diplomacy cone. There is currently a surplus of entry-level Public Diplomacy officers due to increased hiring of Public Diplomacy officers over the past few years. The FY 2007 hiring plan was also recently adjusted to further increase the intake of Public Diplomacy officers. As they gain experience and meet promotion criteria, these officers will become available to fill mid-level Public Diplomacy positions. Our forecasts show that Department-wide mid-level deficits will be nearly eliminated by the FY 2009-2010 timeframe. In the meantime, Foreign Service officers with other areas of primary expertise, such as Political cone, Management cone, Economic cone, or Consular cone officers, are being encouraged to take assignments in Public Diplomacy positions. There are currently 125 officers from outside the Public Diplomacy cone that are filling Public Diplomacy positions.

Question:

GAO has also reported that there are significant shortfalls in foreign language proficiency positions around the world and that the problem is particularly acute in the Muslim world, where 30 percent of language-designated public diplomacy positions are filled with officers who lack the proficiency required for their positions. What is the Department doing to address the need for greater language skills?

Response:

Enhancing the foreign language skills of State Department employees is a core requirement of transformational diplomacy. The State Department is actively taking steps to train employees in new foreign languages and to improve the proficiency of employees with existing language skills.

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) has increased the number of language students in critical needs language training, including Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, and Korean, among others. It generally takes two years of full-time language training to reach professional proficiency in the super-hard languages, such as Chinese and Arabic.

The Department has also focused on language proficiency in the recruitment process, resulting in an increased number of new Foreign Service officers with a range of language proficiencies. Since 2003, over 80 new officers entered the Department testing at 3/3 (general professional proficiency in speaking and reading) or above in critical needs languages. By bringing in employees with existing proficiency and building on those skills, the Department can more successfully grow a cadre of employees with very advanced levels of language capability.

To increase overall capacity and help Department employees improve proficiency, we have also seen major increases in our Distance Learning (DL) instructor-led courses, from one in 1999 to over 20 today. We have distance learning programs in 12 languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Russian, and have a variety of programs, from basic to advanced. These courses, while they cannot entirely replace onsite learning, have proven very effective.

FSI includes public diplomacy elements in most of its language training (including distance learning) and has delivered advanced training in Arabic that prepares officials to play a competent role in the influential satellite media as well as other public venues.

The Department of State's programs under the President's National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) do not have a formal service requirement following the conclusion of studies under the Fulbright, Gilman and summer intensive language study programs. However, the Department's NSLI exchanges are designed to increase the overall pool of advanced speakers of critical need languages likely to seek employment in federal government or other important sectors, and one of the criteria for participant selection in our exchanges is a demonstrated plan to continue

language learning beyond the program and an intention to apply the language skills learned to a future career.

Question:

In Fiscal Year 2006, educational and cultural exchange programs received $451 million. Can you tell us how much of that was spent in the Middle East and South Asia?

• How does the Department measure the effectiveness of exchange programs?

• Do we keep in touch with past participants and do we make use of them as part of our public diplomacy?

Response:

In FY 2006 under the Educational and Cultural Exchanges appropriation, the Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) obligated $66.6 million in the Middle East and $35.5 million in South Asia. In addition, ECA received funding from Economic Support Funds in FY 2006 to support various exchange programs in the Middle East and Pakistan, of which $6.3 million was obligated in the Middle East and $19.3 million in Pakistan.

ECA has an evaluation office staffed by professionals. The effectiveness of ECA programs is determined in a number of ways:

Independent, in-depth evaluations of major ECA programs are conducted by private firms. These evaluations draw on data from multiple countries and regions over a substantial period of time to determine if the programs are meeting their stated goals.

ECA has also developed a web-based survey function, known as E-GOALS, that allows us to rapidly identify short-term changes in the attitudes of exchange participants. We administered our 10,000th E-GOALS survey in April of this year.

In addition, all ECA grants contain a requirement that the grant recipient put a monitoring and evaluation system in place and provide reports to the program office.

Department of State exchange programs result in potential worldwide partners and allies for the United States, partners that share a global perspective and a keen interest in improving their home communities and nations. Through a variety of outreach mechanisms, the Department engages with exchange program alumni. Our ability to sustain this engagement is invaluable in maintaining a dialogue with and among alumni on key foreign policy issues and in aiding alumni in their implementation of concepts explored during their exchange programs.

Using a variety of outreach tools, Departmental and Mission staffs create and build relations with a network of alumni at the local, regional, national, and global levels. The State Alumni website is a unique networking and policy delivery tool our increasingly influential alumni use to interact with U.S. government policymakers through webchats; network with fellow alumni and share ideas learned during their exchange program; read the latest articles in leading U.S. journals; and find out about alumni association activities. At the post level, Missions nurture alumni associations who are engaged in myriad activities such as community service projects, youth mentoring, promotion of exchange opportunities, educational advising, and participation in public forums on key policy topics. Increasingly, alumni are using the expertise obtained during their exchange programs to implement concrete public diplomacy activities in their home countries and communities. Question:

In Fiscal Year 2006 public diplomacy activities in the Department's regional_bureaus received $260 million worldwide, can you break out how much the Near East Bureau received? How about for the South and Central Asia Bureau? How does the Department measure the effectiveness of these activities?

Response:

In fiscal year 2006, the Bureau of Near East Affairs received $23.0 million and the Bureau of South Asian Affairs received $16.8 million in Public Diplomacy funds. (The amount for South Asia does not include the central Asian states, which were still being managed by the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs in FY 2006.) We place a premium on being able to measure the effectiveness and impact of our public diplomacy programs, and we have put in place a comprehensive program to do just that, building on the successful evaluation program at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).

The culture of measurement is well established throughout ECA. ECA's evaluation division has been overseeing in-depth independent evaluations and surveying exchange participants for nearly a decade. Our global exchange programs have re

ceived OMB's highest rating and ECA's scores place it in the top 1% of programs in the Department of State. We have developed an in-house web-based survey function, known as E-GOALS, that allows us to identify changes in the attitudes of exchange participants. We administered our 10,000th survey in April of this year. In addition, all ECA grants contain a requirement that the grant recipient put in place a monitoring and evaluation system and provide reports to the program office.

Early in Under Secretary Hughes' tenure, she created a Public Diplomacy Evaluation Office (PDEO) to spread ECA's "best practices" to all public diplomacy products and programs. We now measure the effectiveness of public Diplomacy programs and products in a variety of ways. We have established a set of 15 core performance indicators for Public Diplomacy activities worldwide and are phasing these into the Department's annual budget and performance exercise.

PDEO oversees independent evaluations of major public diplomacy programs. A final report, for example, on an evaluation of the English Access Microscholarship Program is imminent and a pilot evaluation of American Corners in Asia is being finalized. Preliminary data shows that both of these programs are meeting their stated goals.

The findings from these reports are used to make program and resource decisions. For example, Under Secretary Hughes requested an assessment of Hi Magazinea youth-oriented Arabic language monthly. When the assessment found it had an ill-defined audience, no ability to track readership, and was unable to demonstrate its impact on the target audience, we terminated its publication. This decision, based on a professional evaluation, enabled me to free up resources for other initiatives.

PDEO has also piloted three ambitious new mechanisms to help assess public diplomacy effectiveness:

• A mission activity tracker to tabulate public diplomacy activities (outputs) worldwide and to capture data, in a standard format, on activities, themes and goals, and audience numbers and demographics;

• A method to quantify the impact (outcomes) of our programs and products on our target audiences; and

• A means of ascertaining the opinion of users of our overseas mission websites. Question:

The State Department hosted a Private Sector Summit on Public Diplomacy last January. Would you describe the outcomes from this summit and is there a comprehensive strategy to engage the private sector in efforts at public diplomacy? Response:

In January, the State Department co-hosted the Private Sector Summit on Public Diplomacy with the Public Relations Coalition, an association of more than 18 organizations that represent 50,000 senior communications professionals. This Summit brought 160 American business and government leaders together and developed 11 models for action for greater private sector support for U.S. public diplomacy efforts. These suggestions included corporate support for enhanced projects in local communities around the world, English language training, and sponsorship of scholarships and exchanges. The models can be used by our Ambassadors and embassies to solicit support from the private sector in each of their countries. One outcome of the summit was a report, detailing the 11 models and a summary of all the information provided at the summit. This report was released in the months following the Summit, and it has reached thousands, including U.S. Ambassadors, Public Affairs Officers, State Department private sector contacts, and the PR Coalition's 50,000 members. We are also working with the PR Coalition to share the summit report and models for action with the Chief Executive Officers of the top 1000 companies in the U.S. Another outcome of the Summit is the opportunity for State Department Public Affairs officers to receive professional training, growth, and global networking through a new partnership with the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), a prestigious global PR/Public Affairs professional association. The IPRA is offering membership to all government public relations and public affairs professionals including a free trial membership for six months. Also as a result of the summit, we are participating in a new one-day course offered to executives traveling abroad, hosted by Business for Diplomatic Action and Thunderbird School of Global Management. We expect relationships that were developed at the Private Sector Summit on Public Diplomacy will continue to produce new ideas and partnership opportunities in the months ahead.

Working with the private sector has been a top priority in public diplomacy since the arrival of Under Secretary Karen Hughes at the State Department. Secretary