The Foreign Service Journal, June 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2016 15 The group also has a unique mandate to assess the Afghan reconstruction effort and make recommendations based on a “whole of government” approach. —Gemma Dvorak, Associate Editor State’s Diplomacy Lab Picks a Winner O n April 1, the State Department held its first live Diplomacy Lab com- petition, in which undergraduate and graduate students presented proposed solutions to major world issues. Millicent Smith, a graduate student studying journalism at the University of Tennessee, won with a proposal for a “He for She for Delhi” campaign to combat gender-based violence and reform the police force in New Delhi, India. Arguing that women’s empowerment is critical for democracy, Smith explained the urgent need to rebuild trust between police and the general public through third parties. Her campaign included training special gender-based violence police officers, conducting community outreach to young men in gender-based violence hotspots, showing young men what sex- ism is like for women through a “day in the life” smartphone app, and holding branded events and social media cam- paigns featuring well-known actors. Out of dozens of submissions, four students were chosen to present their projects to a panel of judges in the department’s Burns Auditorium. Mean- while, groups of students from other universities participated in a “diplomacy fair” in the Marshall Center. This year’s judges included Deputy National Security Advisor to Vice Presi- dent Joseph Biden Ely Ratner, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs John Heffern. Because of the high level of inter- est and participation this year, State announced that the Diplomacy Lab program will be held annually for the foreseeable future. For a full list of spring 2016 projects, see http://diplomacylab.org/projects. —Shannon Mizzi, Editorial Assistant The Most Dangerous Cities for Expats I n March, The Telegraph published the findings of Mercer’s global Quality of Living survey. Now in its 18th year, the survey ranks countries according to a number of factors including personal safety. Each of the 230 cities surveyed is rated on internal stability, crime levels, performance of local law enforcement and the home country’s relationship with other countries. The survey is conducted annually to help employers to compen- sate employees fairly when posting them internationally. Of course, it is not just “danger pay” that increases the cost to employers when sending their employees to less safe des- tinations; it is the overall cost of keeping those employees safe overseas. Slagin Parakatil fromMercer said: “Other ele- ments that add to safety costs in the host location are obtaining suitable and well secured accommodation; having an in- house comprehensive expatriate security program, providing access to reputable professional evacuation services and medical support firms.” Luxemburg was ranked as the safest city, followed by Bern, Helsinki and Zurich, which were tied at second place. Among the lowest-ranking cities for personal safety were Damascus, Karachi, Nairobi and, in last place, Baghdad. — Gemma Dvorak, Associate Editor Asheville School www.ashevilleschool.org Carlsbad International School www.carlsbadschool.cz The Fountain Valley School of Colorado www.fvs.edu Salem Academy www.salemacademy.com Saint Andrew’s School http://www.saintandrews.net/page Stanford Online High School https://ohs.stanford.edu/ Texas Tech University Independent School www.ttuisd.ttu.edu American Foreign Service Association/Scholarship AFSA.org/Scholar AFSPA–Travel Afspa.org Clements Worldwide Clements.com Embassy Risk Management Embassyrisk.com The Hirshorn Company Hirshorn.com/USFS McGrath Real Estate Services McGrathRealEstate.com Peake Management, Inc. Peakeinc.com Promax promaxrealtors.com WJD Management wjdpm.com