U.S. Department of State

Message From the Secretary of State

As the President’s chief advisor for foreign affairs and development assistance, I am pleased to present the U.S. Department of State’s Summary of Performance and Financial Information for Fiscal Year 2009, created jointly with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). During the past year, we reinvigorated U.S. foreign policy with robust diplomacy and strengthened our traditional alliances, built new partnerships, and gave adversaries a stark choice between isolation and living up to their international obligations. We elevated development to equal status with diplomacy and defense, recognizing that development is central to solving global problems.

We take seriously our duty of accountability to the taxpayer. The budget request that we recently proposed represents new priorities, new approaches, and a renewed commitment to use the resources of the State Department and USAID wisely and strategically to get the best possible results for the American people and to maximize the impact of every dollar we spend. To improve the overall effort of State and USAID, I initiated the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), a comprehensive review of our diplomacy and development tools and institutions, with the goal of making them more agile, responsive, and complementary. The QDDR will ensure that State and USAID make informed, strategic choices that will create more effective global leadership to address the foreign policy challenges that confront us.

The State Department is ready and eager to take the lead in carrying out the President’s foreign policy agenda, including the strategic use of development assistance. We are focusing on results – measuring the impact of our efforts – to ensure that we achieve lasting change around the world. This past year presented an array of complex challenges, and the United States achieved key successes. We are pleased to share with you a few of our notable FY 2009 achievements:

• Launched global initiatives to fight hunger, promote sustainable agricultural development and global health, and combat the threat of climate change.
• Surpassed our goal to train and equip 75,000 non-U.S. peacekeepers through the Global Peace Operations Initiative.
• Initiated negotiation with Russia, which resulted in a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia in 2010.
• Achieved the election of the United States to a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council.
• Exercised U.S. leadership in combating sexual violence in armed conflict, resulting in the adoption of a resolution in the United Nations Security Council.
• Promoted the adoption of tough UN Security Council Sanctions on North Korea.
• Built seven new facilities around the world, moved nearly 1,500 employees into safer work environments, and completed eight major physical security upgrade projects at existing facilities.
• Required that all new embassy and consular buildings receive the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, which verifies strategies and improvements to achieve energy and natural resource conservation.
• Opened four new U.S. Passport Agencies in: Dallas, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Detroit, Michigan; and Minneapolis, Minnesota; and issued over 13 million passports and six million visas.
• Expanded our workforce to significantly strengthen our ability to deliver more effective diplomacy and development programs, adding approximately 600 Foreign Service Officers.

Our achievements in the Administration’s first year provide a solid foundation for the road that lies ahead. Our priorities are clear – to ourselves, our friends, and our adversaries. We will ensure that the extraordinary story the United States has to tell is presented clearly and effectively across the world.

True partnership is based on shared effort and responsibility. The Department of State and USAID together prepared this report to provide a succinct analysis of our investment of citizens’ resources in U.S. foreign policy. I am pleased to offer this summary of key performance, budget, and financial information and note that the data herein are complete and reliable in accordance with guidance from the Office of Management and Budget.

I am proud to represent the thousands of employees, including both Americans and Foreign Service Nationals, who serve at more than 260 posts worldwide. Our strength lies in the talent and determination of all our employees who work tirelessly to ensure the safety of the American people and enhance the global leadership of the United States. We look forward to continuing to serve alongside them as we work together to demonstrate America’s values, advance America’s interests, and help build a world in which all people have the opportunity to live healthy, peaceful lives, and achieve their true human potential.

Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State April 30, 2010