The US State Department has awarded PT Ganesha Aggies Jaya a contract for just under $3 million for communications support for the @america public outreach center in Jakarta. The firm will provide public affairs and PR support as well as diplomacy programming for the outreach center, according to a representative from the federal agency. The representative did not provide further details on the contract's length.

The 43rd Annual Washington Conference on the Americas will be held at the US State Department in Washington, DC, on coming Wednesday, the 8th of May. The event will be co-hosted by the US Department of State and the Council of the Americas.

This renewed effort starts with Secretary of State John Kerry's trip to Moscow this coming week for talks with leaders in Russia, the Syrian government's most powerful international friend.

After helping coordinate the American civilian aid efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya, Mark Ward arrived in Turkey last year to oversee the Obama administration's effort to provide non-lethal assistance to Syria's rebels. Unwilling to provide arms, Washington hoped to strengthen the Syrian Opposition Coalition. Led by moderates, the group was seen as a potential counterweight to jihadists.

US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine said Thursday that while the US will continue to campaign for internet freedom as important channel for public discourse, the same shouldn’t be used as a tool to attack others.

Because media freedom can best be advanced by partnerships between government and civil society groups, this year Human Rights First is delighted to join with the State Department in hosting this event. Human Rights First has a long record of defending free expression. Since our founding, we have helped arrange pro bono legal counsel and other assistance for more than 150 media people who have found themselves in the United States and unable to return safely to their home countries.