The Foreign Service Journal, March 2022

20 MARCH 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL W hether you’re researching an upcoming post, looking for tips frommore seasoned colleagues or simply curious about the escapades of Foreign Service members, AFSA’s Foreign Service Blogs page offers a wealth of first-person insights and experiences. This extensive collection of links is intended to highlight and share the creative talents in our diplomatic and development com- munity. For members of the Foreign Service, the websites allow readers to peer into the lives of colleagues who may share similar experiences or learn about entirely different ones. For those outside the Foreign Service, browsing the FS blogosphere offers an invaluable window into the lives of officers, specialists and fam- ily members, including many that discuss the complex entry process for joining the Foreign Service. Some readers also use these blogs to investigate a prospec- tive career path or to prepare themselves for what lies ahead. Stu- dents, FS candidates and the general public can all find something of interest here. Site of the Month: Foreign Service Blogs (afsa.org/foreign-service-blogs) The appearance of a particular site or podcast is for information only and does not constitute an endorsement. vaccine delivery and get shots in arms in low- and middle-income countries; $10 million to support in-country vac- cine manufacturing; and $75 million for additional support for USAID’s Rapid Response Surge Support program, which delivers life-saving resources to COVID-19 hot spots or areas experienc- ing surges in cases. Read the Global VAX fact sheet at bit. ly/GlobalVax to learn more. Boycotting Beijing O n Dec. 6, the White House announced that while U.S. athletes would still compete, Washington would not “send any diplomatic or official rep- resentation to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, given the PRC’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses.” The United Kingdom, Canada and Australia soon joined in, while Japan said it would also withhold high-level government officials but planned to send Olympic officials as well as ath- letes. Ironically, as Time magazine reminds us, China joined in the last time the U.S. boycotted the Olympic Games. Both nations withdrew entirely from the 1980 Moscow Games, along with 63 other countries and territories, to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Beijing even sent 18 athletes to the Liberty Bell Classic in Philadelphia, which was billed as the alternative to the main event in Moscow. This time around, however, with the athletic shoe on the other foot, Beijing reacted furiously. A foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, accused Washington of “hyping a ‘diplomatic boycott’” without even being invited to the games. “I want to stress that the Winter Olympic Games is not a stage for politi- cal posturing and manipulation,” Zhao said. “It is a grave travesty of the spirit of the Olympic charter, a blatant political provocation and a serious affront to the 1.4 billion Chinese people.” Afghan Evacuee Children in Limbo R oughly 1,200 minors who were evacuated from Afghanistan fol- lowing the Taliban takeover arrived in the U.S. without family members, CBS reports. Their uncertain legal status prompted U.S. authorities to send them to government shelters and adds a new layer of complexity to the humanitarian and logistical challenges of resettle- ment. The majority of children who arrived unaccompanied do have a parent or guardian in the U.S. to serve as a spon- sor. But hundreds of others—those who were orphaned or whose parents remain in Afghanistan—face legal limbo. According to NPR, some are already in the care of local foster care families, and others remain in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettle- ment, which is required to house them until suitable sponsors are found or the minors turn 18. The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of only two U.S. resettlement agencies that serve unaccompanied refugee minors, has launched advocacy efforts centered on convincing Congress to designate these children as unaccompanied refugee minors. This would allow them to access