In partnership with governments, civil society and UN agencies, Funds and Programmes, UNICEF is laying the groundwork to end child marriage globally. In 2011, 34 country offices reported efforts to address child marriage through social and economic change efforts and legal reform... During the event, the new U.S. Public Diplomacy Officer in Lagos, Mrs. Rhonda Watson, said that the U.S. Embassy was always ready to help the young girls to realize their dreams.

The current strain in U.S. relations with Russia sums up the challenges of dealing with authoritarian rulers...The time has come to formally review U.S. relations with authoritarian regimes around the globe and identify ways to support human rights and democracy activists while continuing cooperation on common security and economic interests... Senior U.S. officials and diplomats should conduct vigorous public diplomacy to communicate the values of freedom directly to people living under authoritarian rule.

The department, which has been embracing digital technologies like Twitter and Facebook to deliver services, engage with people and to extend UK influence, has seen ministers including William Hague directly praise the role social media can play in the day to day functions of the department.

Early last month, the Indonesian government held its first ever congress of Indonesian diaspora in Los Angeles. With the rising importance of Indonesia in international relations, engaging its citizens overseas is one logical way to increase the country’s soft power and culture abroad.

These are some of the reasons we established +972 Magazine. We are a group of independent journalists and bloggers who came together to carry on debates in English. That helps both internationalize the conversation, while allowing Israelis and Palestinians to join in as well, with only a minor language hurdle. The content is free and accessible to all, and that’s because all of our writing is on a volunteer basis.

It is an axiomatic fact of realpolitik that public diplomacy carries neither a presumption of truth and accuracy nor of completeness and objectivity. It behooves us never to forget that it is first and foremost an instrument of advocacy, a means to an end.

Chiefly through its state-controlled media, the Chinese government launched a campaign to highlight its peaceful rise and attractive culture by providing information about its ideas and value system. China’s charm offensive, however, is unlikely to bear much fruit if its public diplomacy strategy lacks a critical element: “a responsible China.”

China is pushing its soft power agenda with an aim to quash debate on the issue of Tibet, where self-immolation protests will continue until Beijing ends its policy of state-sanctioned discrimination in the region, a Tibetan advocacy group said Wednesday.