Departments and Offices
Public Affairs
The Office of Public Affairs explains and advocates American policy, acts as a focal point for media and cultural relations, and advises the U.S. Mission to Pakistan on issues of public diplomacy. The Office of Public Affairs works closely with other sections of the American Embassy and Pakistani organizations to strengthen the bilateral relationship.
The head of the Office of Public Affairs is the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) based in Islamabad. The PAO acts as the senior public affairs adviser to the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan and oversees the myriad press and cultural operations of Office of Public Affairs offices throughout Pakistan.
THE INFORMATION OFFICE
The Information Office works closely with Pakistani print and electronic media to provide authoritative information on U.S. government policies and to track media opinion on issues of interest to the United States. The office is led by the Information Officer, informally called the Press Attache. The Information Office staff exclusively arranges interviews with Embassy officials for foreign and domestic media, sets up press briefings by Embassy officers or visiting U.S. government officials, and prepares and/or disseminates speeches, policy statements, press releases, and special publications about issues or events of interest to Pakistanis. These materials are generally prepared in English and then translated by staff into Pakistan's vernacular languages, especially Urdu.
THE CULTURAL AFFAIRS SECTION
The Cultural Affairs Office manages a broad range of activities promoting professional, academic, and cultural relations between the people of Pakistan and the United States, and it represents the American Embassy vis-a-vis the Government of Pakistan in official business related to education and culture. The office is led by the Cultural Affairs Officer, sometimes called the Cultural Attache. The office provides funding for and administrative support to the bi-national Fulbright Commission, established in 1950 as the U.S. Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP). As of 2006, the U.S.-Pakistani Student Fulbright Program is, in terms of funding, the largest worldwide.
Like the cultural missions of other countries, the Cultural Office also sponsors activities in traditional areas, such as the performing and visual arts and literature, although with increasing reliance on private sector support.
Beyond the arts, the Cultural Affairs Office supports a wide range of professional exchange and speaker programs through which Pakistanis and Americans can exchange ideas and experiences on a diverse range of issues, ranging from economics and trade to political and international security, from environmental protection and AIDS prevention to democracy and human rights. The American speakers who come to Pakistan include government officials, scholars, journalists, business and labor leaders, among others; they offer lectures, seminars and workshops both on the premises of the U.S. Embassy and at cooperating institutions around Pakistan. A number of the Cultural Affairs programs send Pakistanis to the United States. This International Visitor Program invites current and potential foreign leaders to the United States to engage in a short but intensive round of professional meetings and consultations with their American counterparts. Such Pak-American dialogue may also take place via live, interactive exchanges on the DVC or via other electronic programs at the U.S. Embassy.
Information Resource Center
The Information Resource Center (IRC) is an integral part of the Public Affairs Section of the American Embassy, which carries out a variety of activities designed to promote a better understanding of the policies, values, institutions, and culture of the United States. The IRC aims to build bridges of understanding between Pakistan and the United States, bridges that will increase each nation's perception of the heritage, customs and culture of the other.
The Information Resource Center (IRC) Islamabad is a research and reference service for Pakistan government officials, journalists, researchers and others with a professional interest in the United States. The Information Resource Center collections includes online and CD-ROM databases, an up-to-date reference books collection, video collection, recent U.S. government documents and extensive periodicals collections online and in print.
The IRC serves as the primary US Mission point of contact for the growing network of Lincoln Corners. These are American resource centers and program platforms, hosted within established Pakistani institutions.
IRC regularly conducts Internet search workshops/video showing for the different institutions. The staff at the IRC also regularly develops compendiums and dossiers on topics of interest.
The Information Resource Center can assist in locating and retrieving information about the U.S such as U.S. law or legal decisions, testimony before the U.S. Congress, U.S. policy towards Pakistan, the South Asia or other regions, speeches and statements by the U.S. President or other U.S. officials, treaties between the U.S. and Pakistan, biographical information on American political, cultural or business leaders, recent articles from hundreds of American publications, web sites for official U.S. government policy and much more!
The IRC also publishes IRC Alert, which is a monthly compilation of abstracts of latest and relevant articles, documents and reports. It also includes a focus section on a timely topic.