i'm also looking forward to going over to usaid. i see the deputy secretary. i know he is out of town, but we're going to get a date very soon, because it is appropriate for us to have this chance to kind of catch up and look forward. and it is also so fitting that we would be meeting here in an auditorium named for secretary of state dean atchison, who cautioned us, and i quote, always remember that the future comes one day at a time. and despite the daunting challenges and the extraordinary opportunities that we confront, it is that one day at a time, one step in front of the next that really gets us where we're heading. in that spirit, i want to update you on the quadrennial diplomacy and development review which we launched in this room just over a year ago. our goals remain the same, to strengthen state and usaid as we continue to strive to work better, faster, and smarter in the 21st century. during his state of the union address this week, president obama spoke about the essential role that america still plays in spreading peace and prosperity around th

taxpayers money supports usaid programs, is that correct? that is correct. >> taxpayer dollars are used to employ people to go over applications, isn't that correct, for money? >> that is correct. >> and would you agree also that the people make these awards, including apparently thomas stevens, regional agreement officer in bangkok thailand that apparently agreed with this application, isn't that correct? >> i believe he agreed with the intent of what -- >> just a second or not talking about the intent i talk about the little words in this application. >> yes, i'm sure that it does pass through his approval bit iffy about what the name of this program he could've said don't use that name, isn't that correct? >> i believe that is true. >> additionally as far as the sex, drugs, rock 'n roll and wildlife program, it says are targeting, quote, flexible and modern, flexible and modular campaigns will be upgraded based on impact surveys and rolled out in vietnam, laos, thailand, malaysia and indonesia. you're going to take a survey on people who

and i will be discussing this in greater details at the usaid town hall. prison. [applause] it's also nice to be able to refer our own inquiries that people think we spend, you know, 20% of the u.s. government's budget on development to tell them to go to the foreign assistance.gov and actually get a little evidence-based reality going here. third -- [laughter] because we recognize that it's more important than ever to address the problems of fragile states, we are strengthening our capacity to prevent and respond to crisis. we rolled out our new conflict and stabilization operations bureau, and in the past year cso has deployed more than 175 civilian response corps members to hot spots in more than 30 countries around the world. they come from nine different agencies and bureaus including usaid which has expanded its own work in this area. they're working everywhere from afghanistan to south sudan, often in some of the most remote and least governed places on earth. they can be found camped alongside special forces, sleeping under mosquito nets in camp sites hack

in order to meet the program goals, we need that strong management platform in the department and usaid and an important component is how we manage data information. we have an intra bureau working group started in june 2011 that is working to getting all those silos together to share data and access data better so you get that information you need quicker and more accurately and we would be keen on meeting with your staff and briefing them with our success and the work to be done. >> we will do that. you're 100% right. in today's world you can either manage data or be drown by it. that's the choice. and if you starting drown, the natural human inclination is just to ignore. so the smarter we can be about managing and presenting and utilizing data, so we'll follow through on that, pat, okay? >> not a question. >> it's okay. a shameless but very important plug. [ laughter ] [ applause ] >> good morning, madam secretary. my name is michelle la kormy. >> is rick barton here? rick's right in front of me. we were so fortunate to recruit rick to be the first leader of the cso and i think his

but i have no reason to have any concerns about the future of this department and usaid so long as we continue to do what we really are doing, really make the case to a broad base of the american public about who we are, what we stand for, the work we do, why it's important. and i am looking forward to this year. i don't want to think about what might come next because i don't want me or any of us to divert our attention. i think the best case we can make is to do the work we're doing every day at the highest possible standards and trying to achieve the best outcomes for our country. and then the election is, you know, going to i'm sure suck up a lot of the attention from following areas that we think are so important. you know, trying to resolve frozen conflicts. trying to, you know, bring food and health care and education to desperately poor people. trying to build up america's reputation and reality in so many places in the world. but the good news is, you know, maybe we can even get more done if they're not paying attention. [ laughter ] so just factor that in. i think from my pe

in, the tools of foreign policy are not just within this department or even development just within usaid. so we have to be smarter about how we make a broader case. and so it's a very good question. one of the reasons we consolidated what we did inside e was to try to get everything in one place so that we're more effective in putting forth our positions and then from that i hope we can in this new alignment of economic growth, energy, and the environment, be more effective in working with our colleagues across the government. but it's a challenge. and i appreciate you for raising it. >> madam secretary, this next question is probably one of the most discussed topics on the sounding board. todd schwartz asks are there any steps that can be taken to accelerate the upgrade of internet explorer on department systems. [ laughter ] >> i remember the first time i did a town hall, and i think i was asked about this. i hope you agree we've made progress. we continue to make progress. we know how important this is for all of you. as i recall, it seems so long ago. but three years or so ago, we re

we will designate gender advisers for all usaid crisis response and recovery teams, and these advisers will highlight the specific concerns of women and girls to insure that their perspectives are solicited and incorporated in the design and implementation of our programs. refugees and other displaced people are highly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse including sexual violence. so we will prioritize prevention and response to sexual violence along with other life saving humanitarian assistance and help build critical services such as food distribution, emergency education, cash-for-work programs and health centers around women and their needs including reproductive and maternal health care. small steps have been a big impact. for example, i've talked with women who walk long distances from their refugee camps to find wood for their cooking fires, putting them at great risk of assault and rape. i remember being in the very large camp in goma in eastern democratic republic of congo, and all the women told me the same thing, that they were in this camp where there were many internatio

my supervisor that told me to decorate my office, she was formerly -- she formerly worked at usaid, butut during the trial when they sort of backtracked her career is that she was also a cia agent. did she understand something about the extractive industry? most likely she did. she certainly understood something about america's strategic interests and so when i raised the issue of the poisoning i actually think she was probably trying to say you don't want to go there. i think that is what she was really trying to say is you don't want to go there because we will have to take you out. and essentially that is eventually happened is that when i refused to stop asking questions they removed me. they called me into the office monday and said we are removing u.s. the executive at secretary because you don't kno

my supervisor that told me to decorate my office, she was formerly in, she formerly worked at usaid.ut during the trial when they sort of backtracked her career is that she was also a cia agent. so did she understand something about the extractive industry? most likely, she did. she certainly understood something about america's strategic interests. and so when i raised the issue of venadium poisoning, i actually think she was probably trying to say you don't want to go there. i think that's what she was really trying to say is you don't want to go there. because if you go there, we're going to have to take you out. and essentially that's, eventually, what happened. when i refused to stop asking questions, they removed me. they called me into the office one day and said we are removing you as executive secretary because you don't know whose side you're on. you don't know whose side you're on. you're not a team player. you're too close to those blacks in south africa. you're certainly too close to black folks in this country. so you have no idea whose side you're on. and so we, you kn

deputy national security advisor, you have members of the intelligence community, state department and usaid, treasure, the whole, sometimes homeland defense or homeland security if that's appropriate, and we massaged the initiative and develop options for the principal and ultimately the president to consider. other times you'll have a top down initiative, where the president sees an opportunity, wants to go in a particular direction, and that process will be harnessed from the top down. but the good news is that there's ample opportunities, and i think there's always to sort of, to lead from where ever you said by putting good intellectual capital, well thought ideas on the table. >> some have suggested that it's not as nimble as it might be, and that when policy is formed at the department level, beyond the department and in the interagency, it becomes broken. can you comment on the? >> you know, i spent a lot of my time in between stints of government writing about how the interagency process needs to be improved. because when you think about the challenges we face, it's hard to think of

president's national security strategy and it was jointly developed by the departments of state and defense, usaid and others with guidance from the white house. i also want to take a moment to recognize all our partners in civil society and the private sector who contributed, many of whom are here today, without your on the ground experience, your passionate commitment and your tireless efforts, this plan would not exist. and we look forward to working just as closely together with you on implementing it. let me describe briefly how we will do that. the plan lays out five areas in which we will redouble our efforts. first, we will partner with women in vulnerable areas to prevent conflicts from breaking out in the first place. women are bellwethers of society and, in fact, sometimes they do play the role of canary in the coal mine. they know when communities are fraying and when citizens fear for their safety. studies suggest that women's physical security and higher levels of gender equality correlate with security and peacefulness of entire countries. but political leaders too often overlook wo