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4 STH Expertise at U.S. Embassies and Missions
Pages 48-61

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From page 48...
... 2. Providing an informed technical perspective during internal embassy deliberations on issues involving significant STH considerations: STH-related issues vary widely from post to post and frequently dominate embassy agendas, particularly in large and important countries.
From page 49...
... . For several decades, many Science Counselors and a number of more junior Science Officers at the embassies were scientists and engineers with advanced STH degrees.1 Some had extensive laboratory experience, and almost all were well informed about the STH communities in the United States and knowledgeable about the interests of U.S.
From page 50...
... TABLE 4-1 Environment, Science, and Technology (EST) Positions at U.S.
From page 51...
... TABLE 4-1 Continued Science Science Part-Time Environmental Post Counselora Officer Officer Hub Conakry 1 Copenhagen 1 Cotonou 1 Dakar 1 Damascus 1 Dar Es Salaam 1 Dhaka 1 Dubai 1 Dublin 1 Fukuoka 2 Gaborone 1 Geneva-USMIS 1 Georgetown 1 Guangzhou 1 Guatemala City 1 Guayaquil 1 Hanoi 1 Harare 1 Helsinki 1 Hermosillo 1 Hong Kong 2 Islamabad 1 Istanbul 1 Jakarta 1 Jeddah 1 Jerusalem 1 Kampala 1 Karachi 1 Kathmandu 1 Kiev 1 Kingston 1 Kinshasa 1 Kolonia 1 Koror 1 Kuala Lumpur 1 Kuwait 1 La Paz 1 Lagos 1 Lahore 1 Lilongwe 1 Lima 1 Lisbon 1 Ljubljana 1 Lome 1 London 1 Luanda 1
From page 52...
... TABLE 4-1 Continued Science Science Part-Time Environmental Post Counselora Officer Officer Hub Lusaka 1 Madrid 1 Majuro 1 Managua 1 Manila 1 Marseille 1 Maputo 1 Mbabane 1 Melbourne 1 Merida 1 Mexico City 1 3 Monrovia 1 Monterrey 1 Montevideo 1 Montreal 1 Moscow 1 4 Mumbai 1 Muscat 1 Nagoya 1 Naha 1 Nairobi 1 Naples 1 Nassau 1 N'djamena 1 New Delhi 1 Niamey 1 Nicosia 1 Nouakchott 1 Osaka Kobe 1 Oslo 1 Ottawa 1 1 Ouagadougou 1 Panama 1 Paris 1 2 Paris - OECD 1 Perth 1 Peshawar 1 Phnom Penh 1 Ponta Delgada 1 Port-of-Spain 1 Port Moresby 1 Prague 1 Pretoria 1 Pusan 1 Quito 1 Rabat 1
From page 53...
... Tunis Ulaanbaatar UNVIE Vienna UN New York Valletta Vancouver Vienna Vientiane Vladivostok Warsaw Wellington Yaounde Zagreb l 1 1 1 4 1 2 l 1 l 1 1 l 1 1 1 aScience Counselor category includes three people with the title "Minister-Counselor." SOURCE: Department of State, OES, July 14, 1999.
From page 54...
... , which staff key embassies with technically trained specialists. The current incumbents of the 10 Science Counselor positions are all FSOs, and most of the other Science Officer positions are filled with FSOs.
From page 55...
... FRAMEWORK FOR STAFFING STH NEEDS IN U.S. EMBASSIES Against the backdrop of existing staffing patterns and the decline in the number of Science Counselors with strong technical backgrounds, the importance of having skilled personnel assessing emerging issues, promoting activities of other departments and agencies, and interacting with senior host country STH officials has increased and will continue to grow.
From page 56...
... A Science Counselor with broad technical background; one or more R&D agency detailees; one or more FSOs One FSO with STH training; FSNs One FSO with environmental training; one or more FSNs posted in the countries served A Science Counselor; one or more FSNs posted in the countries served NOTE: IAEA = International Atomic Energy Agency; EU = European Union; NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization; 0ECD = Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; GAS = Organization of American States. aThis type of post does not now exist; it is suggested as a way of providing STH expertise for a cluster of posts in a geographic region.
From page 57...
... The excellent candidates attracted by the AAAS Fellows program show that there is a strong pool of interested individuals with the necessary technical backgrounds as well as foreign policy awareness. Thus, at the core of the Department's overseas STH capabilities should be a cadre of highly qualified Science Counselors assigned to important embassies and missions in accordance with the following recommendation:4 Recommendation: The Department should assign at least 25 carefully selected Science Counselors to embassies in countries where STH-related activities are of major interest to the U.S.
From page 58...
... Aside from the environmental hubs, at present there are no examples of regional STH responsibilities based in the embassies, although in the past some Science Counselors had regional responsibilities. Opportunities frequently arise for upgrading STH literacy at senior levels during consultations in Washington of U.S.
From page 59...
... The operation of a satellite tracking station, a visit by an oceanographic ship, an investigation of an unknown virus, and an exchange of medical isotopes are examples of STH programs that can be of high political visibility and can provide the ambassadors with important political assets. Also, FSOs scheduled to assume duties as Science Officers, including environmental hub officers, can benefit greatly from specially designed STH training programs of at least four weeks' duration prior to assuming overseas duties.
From page 60...
... At the same time, USAID is becoming increasingly integrated into the Department, and greater attention should be given to the utilization of USAID's staff capability as a part of an enhanced STH foreign policy workforce. Also of concern, the Department has established environmental hubs in some areas of the world where USAID has long had environmental programs.
From page 61...
... Although these visitors occasionally may burden embassy staffs with their administrative and logistical assistance requests, they nevertheless constitute an invaluable resource for the embassies since they usually have excellent access to important STH leaders and bring with them a wealth of knowledge about important international programs and related STH developments around the world. Some government visitors regularly consult with the embassies, whereas others are unaware of the ways in which the embassies could be helpful to them or they to the embassies.


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