FY16 Report on Conferences as Required by Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-12-12 and M-17-08

This report fulfils the U.S. Department of State’s reporting requirements pertaining to conference related expenditures contained within the Office of Management and Budget’s Memorandum M-12-12 (OMB M-12-12, issued May, 2012, and OMB M-17-08, issued November 25, 2016) for fiscal year 2016.

Name of Conference	Diplomatic Security Executive Leadership Forum
Location	Washington D.C.
Total Expenses	$1,022,192
Start Date	5/10/2016
End Date	5/11/2016
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	Senior DS security personnel from overseas and domestic offices participate in training and discussions of current DS initiatives to combat and/or mitigate terrorist threats to the Department.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	261

Name of Conference	2016 Global Chiefs of Mission Conference
Location	Washington D.C.
Total Expenses *	$616,626.91
Start Date	3/14/2016
End Date	3/15/2016
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	The COM Conference brings together all serving U.S. Chief of Mission and nominees with the Secretary, Deputy Secretaries, Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, other key Department officials, and special guests. The conference agenda addressed topics relevant to this critical point in time for America’s global leadership and options for implementing U.S. foreign policy.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	200

Name of Conference	African Affairs Budget Workshop
Location	Bangkok
Total Expenses *	$494,299.70
Start Date	11/16/2015
End Date	11/20/2015
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	Workshop allows valuable interaction between Financial Management Officers and senior Locally Employees staff while providing essential training opportunities, discussions of new policies and procedures, best practices, shared-services consolidation, regionalization of services, overseas cost containment initiatives, and financial systems upgrades.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	136

Name of Conference	Near Eastern Affairs-South and Central Asian Affairs Human Resources Workshop
Location	Colombo
Total Expenses *	$363,800.54
Start Date	3/1/2016
End Date	3/4/2016
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	Human Resources (HR) workshop brings overseas-based and Washington-based professionals together to review recent policy changes and current challenges to maintaining the staffing levels critical to regional mission performance.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	100

Name of Conference	FY 2016 Near Eastern Affairs-South and Central Asian Affairs Budget Workshop
Location	Colombo
Total Expenses *	$354,250.00
Start Date	10/25/2015
End Date	10/30/2015
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	Workshop allows valuable interaction between Financial Management Officers and senior Locally Employees staff while providing essential training opportunities, discussions of new policies and procedures, best practices, shared-services consolidation, regionalization of services, overseas cost containment initiatives, and financial systems upgrades.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	113

Name of Conference	Bureau of European Eurasian and International Organization Management Workshop 2016
Location	Garmisch
Total Expenses *	$364,408.30
Start Date	11/1/2015
End Date	11/7/2015
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	Management workshop with a focus on improving the ability of Embassy management teams to work together, with better cooperation across sections. The workshop addresses priority management issues and provides a discussion forum for recommendations as to how bureaus might best direct financial and human resources over the next several years. Post participants share best practices and customer-focused solutions that can be standardized and propagated across the two bureaus.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	144

Name of Conference	Assistant Regional Security Officers – Western Hemisphere Affairs Regional Training Session 2015
Location	Guadalajara
Total Expenses *	$292,670.62
Start Date	2/23/2016
End Date	2/25/2016
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	Training sessions provide all regional ARSO’s and their staff an opportunity to learn about case studies, successful prosecutions, advanced interviewing techniques, joint investigations, advanced database training, global visa fraud trends, liaison strategies for host country law enforcement cooperation, and legal issues.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	117

Name of Conference	East Asian and Pacific Affairs ICASS/Budget Workshop
Location	Bangkok
Total Expenses *	$307,330.00
Start Date	11/9/2015
End Date	11/13/2015
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	Workshop allows valuable interaction between Financial Management Officers and senior Locally Employees staff while providing essential training opportunities, discussions of new policies and procedures, best practices, shared-services consolidation, regionalization of services, overseas cost containment initiatives, and financial systems upgrades.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	80

Name of Conference	2015 African Affairs Management Officer Workshop
Location	Washington D.C.
Total Expenses *	$265,025
Start Date	12/14/2015
End Date	12/18/2015
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	African Affairs Bureau Management Officer Workshop 2015 – African Affairs will hold an overlapping workshop with Near Eastern Affairs/South and Central Asian Affairs, East Asian and Pacific African Affairs, and WHA introducing Management Officers to senior level department staff. Three days of the workshop will be African Affairs specific focusing on management controls,
Total Department Funded Attendees*	50

Name of Conference	FY16 U.S. Refugee Admissions Workshop
Location	Washington D.C.
Total Expenses	$229,644.91
Start Date	12/7/2015
End Date	12/11/2015
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	The workshop stemmed from a need to coordinate and harmonize processing practices and convey information to Refugee Coordinators. To convene all partners involved in administering the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and identify key challenges to achieving the Presidentially mandated ceiling of 85,000 refugees.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	79

Name of Conference	Association of Bi-National Centers of Latin America (ABLA) Conference
Location	Houston
Total Expenses *	$198,736.34
Start Date	8/16/2016
End Date	8/19/2016
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	As Department-recognized “American Spaces,” Binational Centers engage more than 17 million youth yearly through English classes, public libraries, education advising, and cultural programs, all of which support WHA’s policy priorities in the region. The ABLA conference is the principal regional forum for coordinating BNC policies in the Western Hemisphere region.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	87

Name of Conference	2015 Near Eastern Affairs-South and Central Asian Affairs Management Officers Workshop
Location	Washington D.C.
Total Expenses *	$158,360.00
Start Date	12/14/2015
End Date	12/17/2015
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	A platform to introduce the Department’s latest initiatives in technology, resource management, strategic planning and employee wellness. By bringing together Management Officers from four Bureaus, it is an opportunity to reward creativity, promote innovation and strengthen collaboration through the first-hand sharing of best practices and cost-saving strategies from across our regions.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	60

Name of Conference	Environment Science Technology and Health Officers Conference:
Location	Tallinn
Total Expenses *	$143,213.00
Start Date	10/21/2015
End Date	10/23/2015
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	A conference for Foreign Service Officers who focus on environment, science and technology, and health (ESTH) issues in European and Eurasian Affairs is beneficial for the Department as these issues are a priority for the Department and the Administration.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	60

Name of Conference	2015 East Asian and Pacific, African Affairs Overseas Management Officer Workshop
Location	Washington D.C.
Total Expenses *	$137,515.00
Start Date	12/13/2015
End Date	12/18/2015
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	Annual workshop provides an invaluable opportunity for management officers to come together from disparate posts and countries to share best practices, to provide training and consultations, and to learn first hand of the managerial challenges ahead.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	40

Name of Conference	European and Eurasian African Affairs, Commission and Post Conference
Location	Helsinki
Total Expenses *	$142,742.44
Start Date	6/13/2016
End Date	6/18/2016
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	The European and Eurasian African Affairs and European and Eurasian Affairs region of the Fulbright program to host first gathering of all of its commission directors (23 — more than any other geographic region) with non-commission post-run country programs since 2002.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	77

Name of Conference	Libya Regional Strategic Initiative (RSI)
Location	Rabat
Total Expenses *	$105,204.86
Start Date	6/9/2016
End Date	6/10/2016
Purpose and Contribution to Mission	Strong regional coordination and collaboration is critical to achieve our goals in Libya and promote regional stability. Countries in the region, particularly those who share borders with Libya, have a critical stake in countering terrorism in Libya.
Total Department Funded Attendees*	26

* Total Expenses based on best data available at reporting deadline.

FY16 Report on Conferences as Required by Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-12-12 and M-17-08

U.S. Department of State

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