A State Department report released Wednesday assessed the United States' efforts to promote human rights and democratic governance worldwide, describing setbacks in Africa while noting some headway in the Middle East. Washington spent roughly 1.4 billion dollars on these initiatives during the most recent fiscal year.
Assistant Secretary Barry Lowenkron acknowledged the uneven nature of the work, saying progress toward democracy is 'never linear,' and pointed to renewed Ethiopia-Eritrea tensions as an example of regional difficulties.
Officials highlighted a range of funded programs, including women's literacy, voter education, and political leadership training. Under Secretary Paula Dobriansky said about 95 million dollars supported some 266 anti-trafficking programs across roughly 101 countries.
The administration also defended civil society organizations facing tightening restrictions abroad, particularly in Russia, where new limits on NGOs were set to take effect the following week. Officials said the matter was raised directly with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his Washington visit.
Farsi-language broadcasting initiatives that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had proposed to encourage democratic thinking in Iran were excluded from the report, as Congress had not yet approved their funding.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in April 2006, in its own words.