Announcement

PAKPAC wishes its readers a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday

State Department Job Opportunities

Lead Supply Management Specialist, GS-2003-13

For the full text of this vacancy, please visit the following link:

Lead Supply Management Specialist, GS-2003-13

Information Management Specialists

Volunteer Opportunity: Select International High School Students to Participate in Exchange Programs in the United States

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) provides funding for a variety of youth exchange programs as part of a worldwide Public Diplomacy effort.  Central among these programs is the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX), initiated in 1992 by the U.S. Congress to bring high school students from Eurasian countries to the United States each year; for academic year 2011-12, ECA plans to sponsor approximately 1,000 FLEX students. Similar to FLEX are the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) and the American Serbia and Montenegro Youth Leadership Exchange (A-SMYLE) programs. Students spend one year living with American families and attending high schools throughout the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. ECA partners with American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS to administer the recruitment and selection of these students.

To ensure open, merit-based selection of participants in these programs, American Councils invites outside volunteers to assist in reviewing and scoring scholarship applications of students from Afghanistan, the republics of the former Soviet Union, Serbia, and other countries of Southeastern Europe. Evaluation of applications will take place at the American Councils office at Farragut West and Farragut North from November 2010 through March 2011.  Based on these evaluations, as well as test and interview results, American Councils will then conduct the final selection of participants in each of the programs later in the spring. For those with a background in education or exchange programs volunteering to evaluate student applications is a great opportunity to support mutual understanding through people-to-people exchanges. Volunteers will be provided with training on how to evaluate the applications in accordance with established criteria. In addition to supporting exchanges, this is a wonderful opportunity to improve evaluation skills, learn about specific countries and their cultures, and gain an understanding of how U.S. foreign policy assists developing countries by investing in their youth. The 2-day training provides participants with skills and knowledge they can potentially transfer to further career opportunities.

Help American Councils by evaluating applications for these very rewarding DOS programs.  For more information, email Carmela Vetri at vetri@americancouncils.org.  For more information about the various programs, please see: http://exchanges.state.gov/education/citizens/students/year_long/

State Department's Exchange Students Program

State Department has announced the following opportunities

·                     Exchange Programs

o                                            Find an Exchange Program

o                                            Secondary School Students

o                                            English Language Programs

o                                            Scholars and University Students

o                                            Educators

o                                            Professionals

o                                            Cultural Programs

o                                            Sports Programs

o                                            Host an Exchange Student

·                     J-1 Visas

o                                            Au Pair

o                                            DS-2019

o                                            Sponsors

o                                            Summer Work Travel

o                                            SEVIS

o                                            Frequently Asked Questions

o                                            Office of Private Sector Exchanges

·                     English Language

o                                            English Teaching Forum

o                                            English Language Programs

o                                            Materials for Teaching and Learning English

·                     Cultural Heritage

o                                            International Cultural Property Protection

o                                            Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation

o                                            Iraq Cultural Heritage Initiative

o                                            Special Projects

·                     Institutional Funding

o                                            Open RFGPs

o                                            Preparing Payment Requests

o                                            Preparing Reports

o                                            CFDA Numbers

o                                            Grants FAQ

o                                            Grant Terminology

·                     Multimedia

o                                            Photo Galleries

o                                            Videos

·                     About the Bureau

o                                            Program Offices

o                                            Senior Leadership

o                                            Employment Opportunities

o                                            News

o                                            Features

o                                            Alumni

o                                            Program Evaluations

o                                            International Exchange Data

Pakistan - US Journalists Exchange/Now Accepting Applications

The East-West Center is pleased to announce it is now accepting applications for its new Pakistan-United States Journalists Exchange, April 6-22, 2011.

This exciting new program is designed to increase and deepen public understanding of the two countries and their important relationship, one that is crucial to regional stability and the global war on terrorism. This study tour offers U.S. and Pakistan journalists an opportunity to gain on-the-ground insights and firsthand information about the countries they visit through meetings with policymakers, government and military officials, members of the business community and civil society, and a diverse group of other community members. All participants will meet at the East-West Center in Hawaii before and after their study tours for dialogues focused on sensitive issues between the two countries; preconceived attitudes among the public and media in both the United States and Pakistan; new perspectives gained through their study tours; and how media coverage between the two countries can be improved. Six Pakistani journalists will travel to the United States and five U.S. journalists will travel to Pakistan. Please note the short deadline below. Apply now!

Program Dates:  April 6-22, 2011

Study Tour for Pakistani Journalists:  Washington, D.C., New York City and Columbia, Missouri Study Tour for the U.S. Journalists: Islamabad and Lahore, Pakistan The program opens and concludes in Honolulu, Hawaii for briefings and dialogue sessions between Pakistani and American participants.

Who Can Apply:  Working print, broadcast, and online journalists in Pakistan and the United States with a minimum of five years of professional experience.  Applicants must have the ability to communicate in English in a professional, multi-cultural environment.

Funding:  Roundtrip airfare for the study tour travel, lodging, visa expenses and per diem to cover meals and incidentals are provided through the East-West Center.

Application Deadline for Pakistani Journalists:  Friday, December 3, 2010 Application Deadline for U.S. Journalists: Friday, December 10, 2010 For more information about the program and how to apply, please visit our

website: http://www.eastwestcenter.org/pakistan-us-exchange 

News

Wikleaks could damage US-Pakistan relations

The release of more than 250,000 US embassy cables reveals previously secret information on American intelligence gathering, and political and military strategy. At the start of a series of daily extracts from the US embassy cables – many designated "secret" – suggesting that Arab leaders are privately urging an air strike on Iran and that US officials have been instructed to spy on the UN leadership. These two revelations alone would be likely to reverberate around the world. But the secret dispatches which were obtained by WikiLeaks, the whistleblowers' website, also reveal Washington's evaluation of many other highly sensitive international issues.

These include a shift in relations between China and North Korea, high level concerns over Pakistan's growing instability and details of clandestine US efforts to combat al-Qaida in Yemen.

Among scores of disclosures that are likely to cause uproar, the cables detail:

• Grave fears in Washington and London over the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, with officials warning that as the country faces economic collapse, government employees could smuggle out enough nuclear material for terrorists to build a bomb.

• Suspicions of corruption in the Afghan government, with one cable alleging that vice president Zia Massoud was carrying $52m in cash when he was stopped during a visit to the United Arab Emirates. Massoud denies taking money out of Afghanistan.

• How the hacker attacks which forced Google to quit China in January were orchestrated by a senior member of the Politburo who typed his own name into the global version of the search engine and found articles criticising him personally.

• The extraordinarily close relationship between Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, and Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, which is causing intense US suspicion. Cables detail allegations of "lavish gifts", lucrative energy contracts and the use by Berlusconi of a "shadowy" Russian-speaking Italian go-between. Read More

White House Initiative Summit on Entrepreneurship & Small Business Growth

President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders invite you to attend the White House Initiative Summit on Entrepreneurship & Small Business Growth in Mountain View, California, on Friday, January 7, 2011, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. We are pleased to inform you that Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will headline the event as Keynote speaker. The key organizer for this event is Dilawar Syed member of President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and a Pakistani American Entrepreneur.

Asian Americans play a key role in driving entrepreneurship and small business growth in communities across the U.S. This series of events, to be kicked-off in Silicon Valley, is designed to raise awareness of the Administration’s efforts to create economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses to drive economic growth. The Summit will feature Senior Obama Administration officials from the Department of Commerce, Small Business Administration, and White House National Economic Council. It will provide an opportunity for participants to provide input on how the government can more effectively serve the entrepreneur and small business community.

 Secretary Gary Locke will provide the Keynote, followed by a series of informational workshops on small business tax credits and incentives, financing, procurement, and growing businesses through exports, featuring senior Administration officials and entrepreneurs from the community.

 The Summit will include networking opportunities to meet with members of the Administration. Please visit the White House Initiative Facebook page for updates and the event agenda. Your participation is vital to increasing access to Federal programs designed to support entrepreneurship and economic growth in our communities, as well as to inform future policy. If you would like to contact us, please email WhiteHouseAAPI@ed.gov.

The Summit is free of charge. Please note that pre-event registration is required. Space is limited and will fill up quickly. Register here to reserve your spot.

Pakistan announces reward, protection for Taliban info

Pakistan on Saturday announced a reward of 10 million rupees (around 120,000 dollars) to anyone providing information about the Taliban, as Islamabad struggles to defeat the Islamic militants. "The government will make arrangements to settle the informers and their families anywhere in the country, even abroad, if they fear that Taliban might hurt them," interior minister Rehman Malik told reporters.

Malik said that most Taliban belonged to the banned Sunni militant outfits of Laskhar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is regarded as Pakistan's most extreme Sunni outfit, accused of killing hundreds of minority Shiite Muslims after its emergence in the early 1990s. It was banned by then president Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Read More

Pakistan cautiously backs NATO's Afghan plans

Pakistan said it was satisfied with NATO's plans to hand over control to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014, but cautioned against any withdrawal that doesn't acknowledge "ground realities."

Pakistan is crucial for the U.S.-led efforts to stabilize war-ravaged Afghanistan because its border areas are sanctuaries, and training grounds, for al Qaeda and Taliban militants. Western allies have been pressing Pakistan to take tough action against these havens.

At a conference in Lisbon, NATO agreed on Saturday to hand control of security in Afghanistan to Afghan forces by 2014 as several Western nations seek an exit from almost a decade of war deeply unpopular among their people. Read More

PAKPAC Press Releases

PAKPAC asks Pakistani Legislators to amend Blasphemy Laws

Washington, D.C., November 23, 2010: The recent death sentence of a Pakistani Christian woman, Asia Bibi, has once again brought to light the misuse and abuse of the ambiguous Blasphemy Laws. Asia Bibi has been accused for blasphemy against Islam under section 295B of the Pakistani Penal Code, by Additional Sessions Court in District Sheikhupura. This law encourages certain elements which institutionalize intolerance in the name of religion and spread social persecution and legal discrimination.  As it stands, this law with its ambiguity harms Pakistan and its' citizens.

When a group of Muslims attacked Hindu minorities in January of 1948, the founding Father of Pakistan, Quaid e Azam, said, ".Muslims! Protect your Hindu Neighbors. Cooperate with the Government and the officials in protecting your Hindu Neighbors against these lawless elements, fifth columnists and cliques. Pakistan must be governed through the properly constituted Government and not by cliques or fifth columnists or Mobs."

The Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee (PAKPAC) condemns the abuse of the Blasphemy Laws. We request President Zardari not to accede to the threats made by certain religious groups and award imminent clemency to Asia Bibi.

Such news emanating from Pakistan hinders its stature in rest of the world, which in turn negatively impacts its economic stability and trade practices. The Blasphemy Laws have not only been used to target minorities in Pakistan; Muslims of different religious schools of thought have also been targeted by these controversial laws. A study by the National Commission for Justice and Peace reports that a total of 964 people had been charged under the Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan from 1986 to 2009. Out of these, 479 were Muslims, 340 Ahmedis, 119 Christians, 14 Hindus, and 10 of other religions. It should be noted that as of yet none of those who have been charged under the Laws have been executed; but 32 people charged with blasphemy have been extra-judicially killed. Last July, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif while overturning a blasphemy case said 'the treatment meted out to the woman was an insult to humanity and the government, and that civil organizations should be vigilant enough to help such people'. It is time that organizations like PAKPAC standup to their principle and seek the review of the Blasphemy Laws so that justice can be served.

We ask the larger society in Pakistan to educate the masses of the virtue of tolerance. Pakistanis must start a meaningful and focused dialogue to look at how the Blasphemy Laws are being abused and thus violating the basic premise of their creation - to protect minorities.

PAKPAC is asking Pakistan's legislators to amend and remove ambiguity and legal discrimination from Section 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code which covers the blasphemy provisions.  PAKPAC asks of Pakistani politicians not to settle scores or seek political gains in the present crisis, but do what is right for the country and its citizens and to uphold the teachings of Islam and Pakistan's Constitution, thus treating all citizens as equals. In the near future, PAKPAC plans to meet Pakistani legislators in the United States as well as in Pakistan, urging them to initiate the review process and put an end to the abuse of the Blasphemy Laws.  

For more information write to ed@pakpac.net or call 202 558 6404

Archived Press Releases

Viewpoint

Blasphemy laws

With the sentencing of Aasia Bibi, the country’s ‘blasphemy laws’ are again under intense criticism. Indeed, there is little doubt that the relevant laws, Sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code, need to be repealed. Until that can be achieved, their controversial portions — Section 295-C in particular — must be amended. As a number of forums, including national and international human rights organizations, have pointed out, the existence of the laws provides great scope for misuse. It is unsurprising that the controversy has sparked outrage from the hardline right, many sections of which have protested vociferously and in some cases threateningly about any attempt to amend the law or pardon Aasia Bibi. In the government, however, a glaring lack of clarity is evident in terms of Aasia Bibi in particular and possible amendments to Section 295-C in general. This is evident in Law Minister Babar Awan’s remark on Thursday, that “in my presence as law minister, no one should think of finishing this law”. This must have come as a shock, even to many of his colleagues in cabinet, contradicting as it does the view taken publicly by other members of his party and government, including Punjab Governor Salman Taseer. Read More

Clinton's Pakistanphobic rhetoric creates Anti-Americanism in Pakistan

Various recently published polls have shown a high level of Anti-Americanism in Pakistan. American analysts have been unable to get to the root cause of the issues. American media spouts a steady stream of venom against Pakistan and the US leadership say undiplomatic things about Islamabad without thinking. The think tanks espouse Pro-India policies or Anti-Pakistan proposals. All these, plus a war in Afghanistan and Iraq constantly reinforce the negative image of American

Pakistan is not a new friend. Pakistan was a  founding member of SEATO and CENTO (Asian NATOs), and a cold war ally that fought on the side of the US against the USSR. AfPak: Solutions beyond hubris, dictation, threats, sanctions, bombings, overt invasion, covert sabotage. Read More

Immigration

USCIS Introduces First-Ever Fee Waiver Form

For the first time, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is introducing a standardized form for requesting waivers of the fees charged for immigration-benefit processing. Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, will become available for use on Nov. 23, 2010 – the same day USCIS’s latest fee schedule takes effect. “Our goal is to bring clarity and consistency to immigration-benefit services,” said USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas.  “The development of the new fee waiver form reflects our commitment to making improvements through extensive collaboration with the public.” Read More

Upcoming Seminars at Think Tanks

To get information about future seminars and events relating to US-Pakistan relations, please visit the following websites

Atlantic Council

Brookings Institution

Council on Foreign Relations

Heritage Foundation

Middle East Institute

SAIS

Woodrow Wilson Center