The Foreign Service Journal, September 2011

10 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 Even when it cannot provide direct as- sistance, it does provide access to inde- pendent resources. LifeCare, the service provider for the IQ:Information Quest program, is one of those re- sources. The IQ:Information Quest program is available to all U.S. Department of State direct-hire employees and their household members, at no cost to the employee. IQ is available 24/7 to pro- vide expert guidance and personalized referrals for virtually any issue relating to child care and parenting, adult care and aging, pregnancy and adoption, health and wellness, legal and financial, education and special needs, job and career, and more. While the program is based in the U.S., employees may access it from anywhere in the world. Working with IQ can save employees time as they head to the United States for elder care trips, send children home to college or return to the U.S. A few examples of services include: • Geriatric care management (new for Fiscal Year 2011); • Legal services, including free or discounted document preparation for wills, living wills and advance directives, as well as various powers-of-attorney documents; • Financial services, including free or discounted in-person or telephone assistance with credit/debt issues, in- vestments, savings, college planning, home buying, retirement planning, tax issues, 401k funds, identity theft, bud- get analysis and planning; • Relocation services, including per- sonalized packets of detailed informa- tion on communities nationwide; • Disaster support, including help with identifying and researching op- tions to making reservations, schedul- ing appointments, conducting trans- actions and arranging for deliveries; • The Care Connection Program, which helps employees facing chal- lenging life events—e.g., illness, aging parents, a new baby, deployment and disasters — network and seek support; and • Free prenatal kits, child care kits, college care kits and adult care kits, all full of useful household items, books and educational guides geared to each specific age group. For more information about the program and to sign up, visit the Web site at www.worklife4you.com; th en enter the screen name (statedepart ment) and password (infoquest). The intranet address is: http://intranet.hr. state.sbu/Workforce/EmployeePro grams/Pages/IQInformationQuest.aspx. If you have questions about the pro- gram, please contact me or Mary Jean Dixon in the Office of Employee Re- lations, Work/Life Division. Judy Goodman Ikels Chief, Work/Life Division Office of Employee Relations Department of State Washington, D.C. Women in Focus Your April focus on women in secu- rity and development was one of the most interesting in recent years. Since my retirement from the Foreign Serv- ice 16 years ago, I have lived in Guatemala working on community de- velopment projects, focusing primarily on women. Ten years ago I started what has become a very successful nonprofit calledWINGS, which works to strengthen Guatemalan families through reproductive health. The inclusion of the article on cook stoves by Satinder Bindra (“Cook Stoves: From Bane to Boon”) was un- expected but most welcome. This issue affects the environment and health of millions of women in devel- oping countries, including Guatemala. I have worked for many years with Behrhorst Partners for Development (www.behrhorst.org), w hich to date has provided some 3,000 isolated Mayan families with fuel-efficient, vented, improved cook stoves. I have seen firsthand the tremendous impact such stoves have, for very modest costs. I applaud this and every effort to prevent premature deaths of women. However, such initiatives must be ac- companied by education about, and access to, family planning, which pre- vents many premature deaths and im- proves the environment. India’s population is expected to surpass China’s by 2020, and water shortages are rapidly becoming critical there and in many other parts of the world. A recent study by the London School of Economics revealed that family planning is more effective than conventional green technologies in meeting climate change goals. All FSOs and other people working in diplomacy and development should remain conscious of these realities and raise the critical importance of family planning at every possible opportunity. Sue H. Patterson FSO, retired Founder of WINGS (www.wingsguate.org) Antigua, Guatemala Recognizing the Stimson Center We note with embarrassment that our recent Journal article (“Taking Diplomatic Professional Education Se- riously,” July-August) focused so heav- ily on the conclusions of our study that we neglected to acknowledge the ex- tensive contribution of the Stimson L E T T E R S