Innovation

Showing 1–10 of 38 results

  • Story of Diplomacy

    What Are the Helsinki Accords? 

    On August 1, 1975, the Helsinki Accords, also known as the Helsinki Final Act, were signed. The signing of the Helsinki Accords was a big…

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    Guidebook for Blind Job Seekers

    Avraham (Rami) Rabby was a lifelong advocate for the rights of those with disabilities, particularly vision loss. He was completely blind, having lost his sight as a child due to detached retinas. He also served as a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service for 17 years, a job he had to fight…

  • Public Program

    Stuck Behind the Iron Curtain: Race, Citizenship, and Red Scares

    February 15, 2023

    In Person

    Join NMAD on February 15th to commemorate Black History Month through the story of Robert Robinson, a Black American who unwillingly spent 44 years in Soviet Russia. Bill Davis, a Black Foreign Service Officer, assisted in his repatriation.

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    Mechanical Sewing Machine

    In 2007, the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia distributed 1,200 sewing machines, like this one, to Muslim communities across the country. The sewing machines were part of the State Department’s “Shared Futures” initiative. They were used to establish micro-enterprise centers to help individuals and families become more financially self-sufficient.

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    Kerosene Slide & Film Projector

    This kerosene-powered projector from the U.S. Embassy in Singapore is an unusual device dating to the 1950s. It was used by diplomats, particularly those focused on public diplomacy efforts, to show slides or film strips to groups of people in areas with limited or no electricity.

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    USAID Chlorine Dispenser

    Reliable access to safe water saves lives, improves livelihoods, and makes communities more resilient. This is an example of a chlorine dispenser from a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) program called “Dispensers for Safe Water”. The program provides access to safe water to four million people living in rural communities in…

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    Cococho Tool

    The Government of Peru’s eradication agency, CORAH, uses an innovative tool known as the cococho for manual eradication of the coca plant, the only required ingredient for cocaine. Senior Eradication Advisor Francisco “Paco” Alvarez developed the cococho while serving in Bolivia in the late 1990s.