So let's begin , I'd like to get
started with your Excellency President
Zuma of . Mr President ,
we know that you have considered deeply
the question how is governance impacted
by security ? Yes ,
please put on your interpretation .
Just pull it .
Okay . Yes .
Okay so Mr President , we know that you
have considered deeply the question how
is governance impacted by security ?
How can peace be sustained ? Especially
in the context of violent extremism ?
They don't have
Which channel is french .
Okay , let's start again . Um so the
question Mr President is that we know
that you've considered deeply the
question of how is governance impacted
by security ? How can peace be
sustained especially in the context of
violent extremist non state actors in
the region . Impacting , please sir ,
share your thoughts on these two
questions representation
Merci Madame . Thank you very
much . I want to thank the U . S .
Authorities for the opportunity that
was given to us to speak to this
audience during these
various panels where we will have the
opportunity to take the floor on issues
of security . I come from the Sahel
region which indeed for roughly
the last 10 years , maybe a little bit
more has been affected by a phenomenon
of violence
that takes various forms but that all
similar according to the countries but
have a spreading because we will
remember that at the outset it started
in Northern mali but now this threat
has reached many other countries .
I would like to explain that
the violence in Sahel
stems from
a combination of several
factors . Some are structural and some
are more temporary in nature . It's
one of the most affected areas in the
world most affected by climate change ,
which has changed a way of
life .
The pastoral
type of
communities . The lack of biodiversity
now has decreased grazing
has decreased natural resources . And
the Sahel region is also characterized
by unfortunately very important
demographic growth , so
there is less space for
grazing , tension over natural
resources at the agro pastoral level ,
a tendency of the agriculture as the
farmers to conquer new lands that were
previously allocated to grazing and
another contrary trend of the ranchers
as the resources become in the north to
become insufficient to drift down
towards the south . And this has
created an ecosystem of tensions that
is very specific to the area . I
was speaking about demographic growth
and I link this to the lack of
efficiency in the schooling systems
that have not played their role to
regulate the demographic growth
as it occurred elsewhere in the world
everywhere else in the world where
child mortality was reduced ,
The rates
of childbirth has also decreased
because schools played this role of
regulator Children goes to school
acquired knowledge and find themselves
open to new ideas , find jobs ,
and this is such that
the society becomes more industrial
and less rural and certain
practices , certain behaviors , these
high rates of NATO Haliti disappear in .
Well . It's true that the vaccination ,
the policies and
prophylaxis against a child diseases
has reduced , but this wasn't followed
or wasn't correlated to a phenomenon
that occurred elsewhere in the world
where the demographic growth slowed
down . But this demographic growth in
our reach Is also an explanation to the
tensions in the in addition to all of
this , you have to keep in mind that
since around 2000 Algerian terrorist
groups set up in northern Mali and
developed a criminal economy ,
developed another ecosystem in the
area . And it's on the backdrop on
that general backdrop that there was
the fall of the Qaddafi regime and that
many weapons circulated in the Sahel
and terrorist groups that used to be
based in their safe havens in Northern
mali , spread out in the south in that
country . And then we saw the birth of
the boko Haram phenomenon . And those
groups have become the monsters
against which we now find ourselves
fighting today . We in
and to answer to your question ,
we have considered that this
scourge . To face this scourge . We
need to combine various actions . The
first one is to promote
in spite of everything and precisely
for those reasons , because we have a
challenge in front of us , is to
promote democracy , to promote the rule
of law , to promote the respect of
human rights despite our
constraint , even if we
reserve greater means to our
security on a political level , this
continues to be our goal and we
combined this with capacity building in
our military . We have recruited more
security forces , domestic security
forces and more armed forces and we
have created alliances around the lake
chad the multinational force with our
partners from Cameroon and Nigeria and
the G five Sahel with our partners from
the child Mali Burkina and Mauritania .
We have also developed partnerships
with our friends , the U . S .
Government , the french government ,
the government of european countries
writ large who have allowed us to
strengthen capacity in our forces by
insisting on training special forces
that have skills that are adapted to
the combat that we are carrying out
today . And we have the possibility of
acquiring equipment that allowed our
armed forces to create the right
conditions to have the right
relationship of force to allow us to
not be submerged because the countries
that have not created these conditions .
So the institutions um
affected and were then
affected by coups which disorganized
those countries and put them in this
situation where there are even greater
difficulties than they went when the
armed forces took advantage of the
difficulties to face the terrorism , to
organize the coup against the
democratic regime . So we created
the right conditions to give the
military the right means on those bases .
And we have continued to promote
democracy and the rule of law
in the field as they are affected by
the terrorist groups along our borders .
We have set up
an institution that we have called the
high authority for peace consolidation ,
that we gave the
responsibility to create the conditions
for dialogue among communities because
the terrorists that have set up shop in
that area are not trying to manage a
state . They're not trying to create an
administration that's not their goals .
They are out out of of ISIS and Al
Qaeda that are all organizations in the
Middle East . I think that you've
given us a lot to think about um and
especially your emphasis on the nexus
between governance and countering
violent extremism . So we will
certainly return , we will certainly
return to this topic in the course of
today's form discussion . But thank you
for making that strong point about how
failures in governance , particularly
coup de Tas have contributed to the
problems that your your country's face
from violent extreme extremism in the
region . So now I'd like to turn to his
excellency Mohammed of the federal
Republic of Somalia , Mr . President ,
we know that you have recently assess
the security outlook in the Horn of
Africa , considering climate shocks ,
humanitarian issues , conflict and the
threat of violent extremism . How are
you reinvigorating the Somali security
forces and proactively engaging with
the U . S . And international partners
to enable Somalia's long term security .
Please share your thoughts with us .
Thank you very much . And I and uh the
question is a very expensive question
which is very large , innumerable ,
cannot do . But let me try the
Somalia has been in a very difficult
situation for over three decades now .
And there are a lot of lessons learned
throughout and in particular half of
this time . The last 15 years , these
terrorist groups were in the arena ,
they were controlling almost the
largest portion of Somalia , which is
the rural Somalia , 70% of the
population of Somalia living in the
rural area as a pastoralists or agro
pastoralists . This is the places where
they were controlling al Shabaab ,
getting a lot of revenue , getting a
lot of force , manpower and getting a
lot of space to increase their
influence not only in Somalia , but try
to in the region as well . So
the climate shocks has
weakened the society ,
poverty and lack of appropriate
food , lack of state services that were
not reaching the place . All these put
together the communities become very
weak and they become very liable to
obey the evil actions of the terrorist
groups . The composition of the
terrorist group is , they are not one ,
but some of them are there because of
that circumstances that has been
created by the environmental shocks
that were repeatedly taking place
Somalia in recent years . So just
to gain by the end of the month , less
than $100 , $70 , $70 baby
was enough to recruit a young boy
who was recently married and we got a
baby or two who cannot afford to
provide one class of minute for his
baby or a young boy who got an
elderly parent at home who are in need .
So that desperation has all of them .
They are not there for ideological
reasons . The top leadership and the
top elite groups are there for
ideological ideological person . These
are there for economic reasons .
There are others who are there for
grievances , past grievances that they
had . And I'm talking about the
experience of Somalia , which might be
very different from or Burkina or molly
or in other places where terrorists
have been challenging . So in that line ,
the the
resistance of the community is broken
and they become so obedient to that .
So it has taken a long time now and
this was human tendency , that
expectation tomorrow will be better .
Tomorrow will be better , but tomorrow
has been getting worse and worse and
worse . Now the people reach it to a
saturation point where they say this is
not the option . I have been in the
office of the residents in Somalia in
2012 and 2017 . In the past we
liberated many parts of Somalia . Those
areas we targeted the district is the
towns and all these places . But
unfortunately when we liberated those
places , they were not accessible .
These people , there are in the rural
areas , they go to the roads , the
highways that link the district's and
they bought mines , explosives ,
ambushes so impossible Upon the whole .
So it was the district is that we
liberated in 2013 14 become cellos that
standing there separated that cannot be
connected easily unless you fly from
one place to another place .
So I lost the elections in Twitter
early 2017 and I've been out for
five years throughout that five years .
I have been trying to reflect of course
not me only . But as a team , my
political party , my team , the
intellectuals and the groups . So we
come to the conclusion that unless we
change the mindset of our community ,
unless we raise the awareness of our
community that this cascading negative
effects will continue . Unless the so
we we started Formula Shabaab cannot
be terrorists anywhere . They are
cannot be defeated militarily only
military is a very important component
for the for their defeat . But in the
case of Somalia we decided there are
two other important factories or
variability that has to be added into
the equation which is ideological war
Shabaab we have in Somalia is a faith
based organization , that's what they
claim hiding themselves in Islam ,
which is not true . So we decided to
establish campaign that we make our
people understand these are not what
they are propagating is not islam and
has nothing to do with Islam . There
are group of mafia covering themselves
with a blanket of islam . So the
responsibility of the state and the
elite group was to uncover this so that
the people can see these are not . So
that's one area that we started and
organized the community . The other way
was economic , they were collecting
huge number amount of revenue from the
local people . Closing those types of
the financial resources was another
target . So this three front
war is what's going on in Somalia . And
so far for the last five months , what
we are receiving is success is not yet
complete but its success that motivated
the people and it has effect has
created a cascading effect . And since
among the society , those who are not
liberated yet even they are saying now
you see that part is there and they
have liberated themselves . We have to
do the same . So this is what is more
important now mobilizing the society .
And I've been telling my colleagues
today that engaging the society
and the community is what makes the
terrorists like a fish that run out of
water . They cannot exist without the
community . And if the community stands
up they have no choice but to run away
until today they are running away .
Somalia is a large country of 637
square kilometers all over . So it's
not an overnight business to finish
them . But soon we will be , we will
see and you will hear definitely
Somalia without Al Shabaab . Thank you .
Thank you . Your excellency um your
marks really capture the importance of
community based approaches to
security um to governance and to
stability and how to deliver these
democratic dividends . Um Let me turn
now to his excellency , the President
of the Republic of Mozambique . Your
excellency , you heard what the
distinguished leaders just highlighted
both of them have highlighted uh
community based , they've highlighted
the importance of economic dividends to
society . How can the dividends of
democracy and inclusive governance be
enhanced through integration of
innovative initiatives to include
regional cooperation for peace and
security ? How can economic and
business development levers be used to
stabilize communities and sustain peace ?
Thank you .
I would like to start by thanking
divided administration for inviting us
to take part in this dialogue . Very
productive dialogue . We've
had a number of experiences and
we had the
first internal conflict after gaining
our independence and now we have a
problem of terrorism in the northern
reaches in cabo Delgado ,
in the north of Mozambique . Normally ,
when problems such as that
arises , the tendency is
to search for a reason , a motive and
oftentimes studies undertaken that
offer some answers such as its
poverty ,
unfair distribution of wealth ,
poverty that leads to crime
that affect the well , there are
wealthier and less wealthy areas of the
country , but in our country in
Mozambique ,
we are currently experiencing in the
north in Colorado
province is terrorism .
And when terrorism started there , no
one in Southern Africa had any
experience with this , No country had
been hit by terrorism up until that
point . And so we didn't
know if it was terrorism or internal
strive for just a group of criminals of
thieves ? Well , time ended up giving
us a concrete answer and it's terrorism
plain and simple . How can we combat
terrorism ?
Not only
militarily we have to
find the motives so that all the people
who are involved in this system
can find some comfort . Now ,
unfortunately , this is a region
in the northern region where we harness
gas , where the big mega
projects are being built with the
discovery of natural gas .
So what we have done is
to create an environment in which the
whole region is involved now
fighting terrorism , setting a
different example using a multilateral
force working with and bi lateral force
as well . This is a unique case . This
is an african problem . We have to find
solutions within our own continent
naturally . The european union and the
US have supported us in training
namely , but the important thing here
is to lay a foundation so that we can
train more educated , more young people
create community programs so that young
people are busy , are occupied and they
don't see poverty as being a rationale
for turning to terrorism because the
message that terrorists
send your suffering
government isn't answering your needs
with .
So that's why we are offering more
training in the communities for defense
and security at the same time that we
are
working with the same in force
bilateral and we have taken back
some of these areas and now we
have the refugee population that is
returning and return process . We
offer support to schools hospitals that
were destroyed . So this is a joint
effort we need to
create forward movement development for
that Northern Kabul Delgado
region . I stand by for further
questions . Thank you . Thank you very
much your excellency and thank you for
pointing out the important role of
partnerships both within the region
with Sadiq and bilaterally . I assume
with Rwanda as well as with the U . S .
And the european Union partnership is
absolutely critical for fighting global
terrorism wherever it shows up in
whatever region . So we've heard from
our illustrious leaders , the
challenges and extraordinary commitment
it takes at all levels to secure the
dividends of peace , stability and
effective governance . Let me turn to
one who is no stranger to the
complexities of political
transitions and the coordination of
strategies for peace and security .
Whether those are between leaders and
their societies or across the different
communities in societies , the vertical
level as well as the horse Zonta level
across these societies . At the African
Union , he has played a key role in
developing the security architecture to
operationalize and sustained stability
and good governance . His Excellency ,
the right honorable musa Ahmed Faqih ,
the Chairperson of the African Union
Commission please Sir , you're
cordially invited to come to the stage
and to the podium and provide key
remarks and recommendations . Please
stand and welcome chairperson Faughey
to the podium .
Thank you .
Excellent ,
excellent heads of state and government
ministers . Ladies and gentlemen ,
I want to start by thanking the
organizers of this meeting , my friends
Secretary of state antony Blinken
secretary , my dear
friend Samantha of power . The U . S .
A . I . D .
Uh
leads to a number of
questions . We have three heads of
states here and those
their countries are facing
terrorism . President ba zoom in the
region from President Mohamed Hassan in
the Horn of Africa and uh
the president of uh
in the southern Zone . This leads to a
lot of reflection and we have to talk
about democracy , governance and peace .
And it is useful to start with
one note , the
establishment in Africa
Peace and Security architect
architecture and an architecture for
governance in addition to the basic
instrument for for the African Union
and the constitution of the system .
The African system has become richer .
You remember that uh there was the
declaration of algiers and lome when it
comes to the changes of government .
And there was a chart of democracy and
government that was implemented in
2011 and recently , a few
months ago we a establish a declaration
of chakra which led to an incredible
summit of the African Union last
May on the which dealt
with uh terrorism and
the efficient way of fighting anti
constitutional government changes .
So we see in our
country , five african countries have
uh gone through non constitutional
changes chad mali burkina faso Sudan
and Guinea . That is a terrible
record . And so the piece
architecture which was the
expression of our search for
african solutions to African problems
and we is due to a
panel of Wise men special envoys
and we're waiting for a special the
establishment of a special permanent
force And in in view of
terrorism , we've established a number
of adult mission in the uh
Black Lake check Basin and then in
Somalia and then in
Mozambique , which is Super Sadiq and
Rhonda . We also have the G five Alien
force and recently we have the Opera
Initiative which is probably going to
mobilize forces to face terrorism in
the gulf of guinea . These mechanisms
are giving results . So
frank's to the African mediation . We
have made progress in Sudan , although
things were reversed later on , we've
had a result in Ethiopia . We've
established a mechanism to support
Libya in the reconciliation
process which is under earth way . And
we have uh we have
obtained funds to support this process .
We have also in on the
regional level uh mechanisms that are
being operate , analyze what's
happening now , has to do with
democratic change of power . There has
been elections organized in a number
african countries . Look at in spite
of its security problems today , there
is a change of governments . Democratic
government . Uh we have a
civil society which uh
is expressing itself under very
condition . So in Africa every
day that people are have a
stronger commitment to democracy and
human rights but there are still
details to settle and the
path forward is not easy . I want to
make three comments . The first one has
to be has to do with the link between
governance and the factors of
instability of peace everywhere
where there is no inclusive development
and no good government . Then terrorism
and anti constitutional change have
taken place . This relationship
um which exists between
terrorism and
poverty and terrorism is a pretext for
an anti constitutional change and
so this should not be
accepted . It should be brought against .
The second point has to do the
obsolescence of the world
peacekeeping system . First of all , to
maintain peace , peace has to exist
and maintain peace maintenance .
Peace maintenance has changed a
lot . And
so since we have several
operations in Africa and the
results are questionable . The fight
against terrorism , the criminality .
All of this requires methods that are
more flexible , more um
offensive . And this is why
we have to reform the system and
transform it completely . The third
issue . And I want to stop here has to
do with funding peacekeeping operations .
Everyone recognizes the
universality of these peace issues .
But what happens in X on the ground ,
there's a double standard everything
happens as the terrorists in the life
check basin in Mozambique
or in the gulf . We're not the same
terrorists as in the Middle East or
Asia .
So no one is listening to the cries of
Africa when it comes to the extension
of the United States supports a
number of african country on the
bilateral level . Mozambique .
Somalia chad , it should be
recognized that African armies are
still under equipment . Samantha
in an old chadian army helicopter
from Jamuna to bongo . It
was not safe for acceptances
funding of African
missions . Uh don't lead to
anything . So that's the question
on this double standard has disastrous
consequences for Africa . And therefore
for people to serve democracy in Africa ,
we must contribute to re establishing
peace and destroy this double standard .
This double injustice in Africa .
Before ending , I want to talk about
the link between peace , security ,
good governments and development . If
our summit uh starts
giving an answer to these questions .
This summit will be a success . Our
discussion today will have had a
memorable scope and I hope
that this will be the cake . Thank you
very much .
Thank you very much . Chair person for
those who are extremely important um
intervention , particularly drawing
attention to the need for a new
architecture for global peace ,
stability and making the point about
the nexus between stability , security
and governance so strongly we thank you
for your intervention um and look
forward to the United States continuing
to work very closely with the African
Union which has taken such a leadership
role uh in uh supporting peace and
stability on the continent . So now
let's uh let's thank you all again ,
the illustrious leaders for your
comments . And I'd like to turn now to
the Cabinet secretaries and have them
talk a little bit about um partnership
with Africa and what the United States
is doing . And so let me start with
Secretary Austin first , on behalf of
all the participants here and those who
will be served by this dialogue . Let
me thank you for D . O . D . Is taking
the initiative , working with State
Department and U . S . A . I . D . In
the White House to organize this is
this very important forum on governance ,
peace and stability . So my first
question is how does D . O . D .
Security assistance enable a
coordinated three D . S approach of
defense diplomacy and development to
respond to the shared security concerns
and threats on the African continent ?
Well , first of all , um Ambassador ,
let me say that I'm delighted to be
able to join such distinguished leaders
today uh and also to be joined
by my colleagues uh Secretary Blinken
and administrative power were no
obviously no strangers to each other
because just about every tough problem
that we take on uh and try to
address , we are working together and
I'll come back to that in a minute . So
we actually live by the three D . Model .
It is not just a slogan to us , it's
who we are and what we do . Um you
know , let me recognize upfront the
leading role that African countries
play and addressing some of the
challenges that are most important to
the world and they include climate
change , also strengthening democratic
institutions and the protection of
human rights . Um it is clear to us
that , you know , the countries across
the continent are working hard on on
those issues , and many more on on a
daily basis . And so we recognize and
appreciate that uh and as we kind of
narrowed in on some of the most
pressing challenges that we're facing
that you are facing today , uh they
include the challenges presented by
Russia and china , as well as uh
transnational terrorist challenge that
uh that , you know , all of you
mentioned earlier , um and and also
climate change . Um so regarding
Russia and china , you know , the PRC ,
we're witnessing the PRC expand its
footprint uh on the continent
on a daily basis . And as they do that ,
they're also expanding their economic
influence . Troubling piece there is
that they're not always transparent in
terms of what they're doing , and uh
and that creates problems that will be
eventually destabilizing if they're not
already . Um
in turning to Russia , we see Russia
continuing to peddle cheap weapons . Uh ,
some of that was mentioned before by
one of our our senior leaders here ,
and also , um
we see Russia employing
mercenaries across the continent . And
and that is destabilizing as well .
Uh and and so the combination of those
activities by those two countries , I
think uh that bears watching . And
certainly I think their influence again ,
can be destabilizing . We've already
addressed the challenges in part
presented by transnational terrorism ,
uh let me applaud the work that's being
done in each of the countries . Uh I
think , you know , that uh that we have
a small but persistent footprint in uh
in Somalia , that's working with uh the
President's forces there and uh and and
doing a great job empowering his forces
to address his most pressing issues .
But all three countries are helping us
D . O . D . By by allowing us
to , you know , based some soldiers are
some some military uh they're in their
countries . And uh and so we appreciate
that . We appreciate the help that you
continue to provide us um as we
approach things on the continent , it's
the same way we approach approach
things everywhere . The first thing
that we always want to do from a
department standpoint is develop the
right relationships that that will be
conducive to promoting stability and
security . And as we develop those
relationships , we wanna listen , I
want to listen to what's important to
the leaders in the in in in the region ,
in the in the specific countries . And
and we want to understand what's really
important to you and going further . We
want to make sure that we are doing the
things to develop and empower
your your security
forces uh and and help you work on your
security architecture uh in ways that
you think benefit you and and that
certainly will promote regional
stability . So uh we want to make sure
that we're doing the things that you
think are important . We want to make
sure that we're empowering and enabling
your forces uh to to address what you
think you need most . Um and then going
beyond that , the the next big
challenge is of course climate change .
Um One of the things that we have done
in terms of the United States is we
address climate change in our national
Defense Strategy , which which is our
guiding document uh and uh and as we
interact with other countries , we we
certainly encourage them to do the same
thing because climate change does a
number of things like uh
causing mass migration in some cases
causing greater competition for for
resources . We had a great discussion
this morning with the President of this
year about the impact of climate change .
And uh it's very very interesting to to
hear his insights because they directly
match our insights and our concerns .
Um So , you know , it's it's very
interesting in terms of the interaction
of these three things Defense
development and diplomacy , that's
the way we live . But it's fascinating
to hear our guests , each one of them
make that case said , you know , just ,
you know , security providing
additional security alone won't solve
the problem . We really have to do the
right things in terms of diplomacy uh
and uh and and providing assistance and
aid to create the longstanding uh
conditions that that we're looking for
the long standing peace , peace and and
stability that we're looking for . So
and and again I think the president of
Somalia made that case very very well .
As he said , you know , we we address
this with security forces initially but
that that that did not stand and it
wont stand unless you go back and
address the underlying currents . So
defense in most cases can set the set
the conditions so that uh you know we
can Samantha can come in with the right
capabilities to do the right things in
terms of development and and clearly it
enables uh Secretary Blinken to come in
and do the right things in terms of
diplomacy . I don't ever want to see a
day when we're not re sourcing our
diplomats to the full extent that they
need to be resourced because that's
gonna make me buy more bullets because
you know , you can't you can't solve
every problem with a military solution .
And certainly if you're not addressing
the longstanding long term issues ,
whatever solution you put into place
will will not be will not prevail . So
this is a way of way of life for us .
And we think it's the way that you have
to you have to do business . And it's
certainly the approach we're taking on
the continent . And I want to applaud
all the leaders who are here who have
embraced that concept as well . Thank
you sir . Thank you . Secretary Austin
in again the organization of this form
and the leadership of D . O . D . In .
In making this happen is a real
testament to that commitment to the
continent into the three D approach ,
Secretary Blinken , you've been at the
forefront at calling for a shift from
reactive and often crisis driven
security approaches in africa to
collaborative and sustainable
strategies . President ba Zoom has
discussed how is confronting immediate
and serious threats from terrorism ,
climate and extreme property while
simultaneously safeguarding the long
term future of his country . Can you
speak to the linkage between building
and sustaining democratic institutions
and good governance and realizing long
term peace and prosperity , what can be
practically done through us
partnerships today ? Thank you very
very much . And uh first it's really uh
an honor to share this platform with
the three presidents and also with my
friend the Chairman , Chairman Faqih ,
um they are each evidence
of the difference that leadership can
make in tackling these challenges . Um
and really I want to pick up from where
Lloyd left off and also reflect on some
of the things that I heard our
colleagues saying that I took note of
look , I think the link between
actually having sustainable peace uh
and sustainable opportunity and
development , good governance and
institutions is very clear , the child ,
the real question is how to get there
And how to get there in effect when um
as our friend from Nigeria said you're
trying to do it while you're flying the
plane at 60,000 ft . Um and you're
trying to do it at a time when
virtually all of the challenges we face
are interconnected and unfortunately
reinforcing each other . And you just
heard Lloyd talk about this and others
talk about this . Whether it is the
combination of climate , uh food
insecurity , energy and security that
in different ways , drive migration ,
drive fights over resources , drive
conflict all of these things ,
reinforcing each other . The challenge
for for governance is to be able to
deal with them effectively in the
moment , but at the same time get the
balance right , so that we're also
dedicating resources time and attention
to trying to build a stronger
foundation , a stronger foundation of
good governance of strong institutions
of development , not simply emergency ,
humanitarian response . Uh that's what
makes peace sustainable , that's what
makes opportunity real . So I think one
of the things that we're driving at as
we're thinking about this with our
African colleagues is how do we do this
more effectively in partnership uh with
Africa , you heard um uh Secretary
Defense say this , the solutions that
are made just in the United States are
not likely to be sustainable . We're
focused on listening to our our
partners , what are their needs , what
our local requirements ? How do we
build together on that on that basis ?
That's one critically important thing .
And it animates everything . We're
doing second . We're looking at making
genuine investments because again , a
response to the immediate is necessary ,
but it is insufficient and it's not a
long term solution . We're dealing now
with a massive food and security crisis .
It's the product of a lot of things ,
as we all know , it's the product of um
climate change . It's the product of
Covid , it's a product unfortunately ,
of conflict , including Russia's
aggression against Ukraine . And so we
have uh an immediate emergency response ,
especially as we're looking at
historical last droughts in different
places . Uh we're looking at famine
conditions in a number of countries and
the United States has been leading the
way on that . But what I've heard time
and again , especially talking to
African colleagues , we brought
together um leaders from around the
world back in May at the Security
Council when we were in the presidency
of the Security Council and um focused
on food insecurity uh and in a session
that I had with African colleagues .
The thing I heard again and again again
is , yes , we need to address the
emergency situation . But what we want
even more is a genuine investment in
our own productive capacity and our own
self sufficiency . So that's driving ,
for example , to feed the future
program that uh that we have , it's
driving a lot of the work that we're
doing around around the world . Same
thing on global health . We've been
we've gone through this pandemic . Um
and what we know from that is it's
insufficient simply to deal with the
immediate challenge we have to help put
in place and have to help Africa put in
place , the foundations to be able to
deal with that themselves going forward
so that there's not a reliance on
others to build the productive capacity .
So we've helped establish uh from South
Africa to Senegal , uh , the capacity
to for example , produce vaccines uh in
Africa for Africans . Um , we're
investing in young people . Um , As
everyone knows , majority of population
in Africa is young . We have been going
back to initiatives that President
Obama started invested in young African
leaders . There are now 700,000 young
Africans who are part of the Ali
Network , virtually , it's incredibly
powerful because it's building
connections between them among them uh ,
and building up partnerships um for the
future , a big piece of this and the
investments for making women and girls
something we can talk about at greater
length . And then finally , I would say
there , you know , there's no one model
of good governance , there's no one
model for how to build strong
institutions . I think we have to be
informed by each other , We have to be
informed by uh , local uh conditions ,
local , local needs and from the
perspective , the United States , uh
this is also not about a competition
with others . This is not about saying
to our friends and partners , you have
to choose , this is about offering a
genuine choice , offering a genuine
partnership and hopefully together
building a race to the top , not a race
to the bottom . That's what we're
animated by . We put out a strategy for
sub Saharan Africa a few months ago and
it really does bring together uh , the
three pieces that are represented here .
The last thing I'll say is this um it's
interesting when you're in the
situation room as you know very well .
Um oftentimes the diplomats are saying ,
gosh , we could use a little bit more
defense and security or a little bit
more development . And then Secretary
of Defense is saying we need some more
diplomacy to deal with this . And so
we're constantly playing off of each
other . But it's really increasingly in
response to what we're hearing From our
friends , from our colleagues , from
our partners . That's what's animating
us , that's the only way I think we're
going to be successful in building this
plane as our friends are flying at
60,000 ft . Yes , thank thank you very
much , secretary Blinken and thank you
very much for putting the emphasis on
the quality of the partnership , the
content of that partnership , the
nature of that partnership and what the
United States is doing to build it with
all of Africa . Um now let's turn to
administrative power . Many countries
including those represented in this
session , face diverse challenges that
contribute to uncertainty and ripen the
environment for instability and
conflict . We've heard about those
already , including economic crisis ,
food insecurity governance challenges
and the fracturing of social cohesion .
Usa I . D . Has demonstrated an early
commitment to partnerships and
development as an essential component
of a holistic integrated response , how
has this approach been applied in areas
to prevent the further further spread
of instability and what lessons have
been learned uh to prevent the spread
of violence and extremism . Thank you
so much gender . I and and thank you
for your leadership over so many years
uh in this space . I mean , it's
evident today , uh this your fluency in
these issues , but you've really put it
all on the line in your career . And so
thank you and thanks so honored to be
among these heads of state who are
leading in this space and bringing a
more holistic and integrated approach
themselves , recognizing the
impossibility of Silos Chairman Faqih
about that helicopter , you said it was
safe at the time . So I'm not sure now ,
nearly 20 years later that I'm getting
the memo , that that wasn't quite the
case . And just to underscore what
Secretary Blinken , Secretary Austin
have stressed , which is the
inextricable , inextricable links and
the inextricable itty of these issues .
Development , diplomacy , defense . I I
often talk about it like a three legged
stool um where you can
have economic opportunity if you're
lucky and governance you can aspire to
those things . But if you don't have
security , the stool is gonna topple
over , you can have security and hope
for economic opportunity for all these
young people on the continent . But if
you don't have governance is gonna make
it very challenging to sustain security
and economic gains over time . And so
to uh there absolutely has to be an
economic dividend on security
consolidation and on governance . You
know , when you have leaders in place
who are trying to deliver for their
people , um I just wanted to make uh
three points here . Beyond that . The
first is on the centrality of
governance and I think it's really
important that we heard from the
chairman . Um the reference not only to
Africa's peace and Security architect
architecture , but the recognition of
the connection between security
and the anti coup policy that the
African Union has taken for so long .
Uh the recognition that norms and
standards and justice in the wake of
conflict or in the wake of atrocities .
How important that is , how challenging
it has been to deliver . But
nonetheless , that standard setting is
so important from the U . N . But also
especially closer to home from from the
au So thank you for your leadership on
that . It's so , so important . But
when you think about the vicious cycle
of the relationship between governance
and security as it tends to play out ,
So let's say you get lackluster
governance , uh there's corruption ,
uh government may have not come to
power legitimately or may have extended
itself in perpetuity , uh popular
discontent rises . Maybe people come
out to the streets in a situation where
the rule of law is shaky or you see
democratic backsliding , what is the
first tool in circumstances like that ?
Often security forces taking a heavy
hand with the people who are coming out
wanting more for themselves , more for
their kids . Then what happens if a
crowd is fired on ? As has happened in
so many , so many countries in so many
parts of the world ? Certainly not just
in Africa . Uh , there tends to be the
excessive use of force , not the
accountability around the excessive use
of force . Does that ever work ? Really ?
I mean , do people really ever go home ?
Well , maybe then it's a more heavy
handed approach , but more likely more
people come out to the streets then ,
you know , here we are with initiatives
like Prosper Africa , trying to gin up
enthusiasm among the diaspora to bring
their businesses back home uh , to
Africa to try to attract private sector
investment , the Development Finance
corporation , which both state and U .
S . Aid . Our state is the chair of the
Board of the D . F . C . U . S . A . Is
the vice chair trying to hustle up
patient capital . And yet , what
happens when you start to see that doom
loop with governance , the excessive
use of force ? It just gets harder and
harder and same with corruption , you
know , fundamentally , it's not
something that can be pushed off to the
side if we're serious about drawing the
kind of economic investment that we
want to see on the continent that too
has to just be so central to the
governance agenda to the rule of law .
So just to say everything is connected
to everything else . But it's very hard
to see our way out of security
conundrums and economic difficulties of
the kind we see today without
governance reform of of the kind that I
think the leaders up here are
championing and others are as well .
But we have to be honest , the trends
are not great and many say , oh but in
tough economic times , governance can
wait , no , no , no , no , no . If
we're going to address these economic
headwinds , these these issues have to
be tackled in parallel . Second point ,
just very briefly , is we do agenda
asked the question about programming
around extremism and conflict
resolution so forth . We have a lot of
programming branded as such , but I
think the way we have to approach it ,
it yet us aid is in this much more
holistic way . I mean , Tony mentioned
feed the future , our flagship billion
dollar food security program , which is
about helping farmers get access to
satellite data from Nassau . So they
know the quality of their soil , giving
them seeds drought resistant seeds ,
heat resistant seeds so they can better
withstand climate change . I mean ,
that's an investment in counter
extremists fundamentally , that's about
livelihoods , that's about economic
opportunity . It's about withstanding
the effects of climate change . Pepfar
flagship program , you know , that's an
investment fundamentally in preventing
radicalization , remember when life
expectancy in so many countries was in
mid thirties for some in some
communities that was not . I remember
actually D O D coming out and speaking
about HIV aids and and the threat
actually opposed to security because
life was so short uh and so fleeting in
those circumstances . So um and climate
change programming , you cannot talk
about any of the issues and everybody
has touched upon this in some way , but
as these pastoralist livelihoods
shrink and shrivel up and and we asked
major questions now about the
sustainability of that lifestyle in
places where it has lived and thrived
for millennia . You know , our efforts
together to partner with you following
your lead to figure out what is the
transition for those communities now ?
How do we bring that about ? So , it's
just that we can't think about security
programming uh and counter extremism
programming without thinking about the
ecosystem . And President zoom
mentioned the ecosystem of tension ,
but really it's the ecosystem of
development that has to envelope
communities that are grappling with
these , you know , really , really
difficult circumstances right now in
many cases and they have so much
dynamism and potential that just needs
to be unlocked . Um third and final
point is just to end by because I was
just in Somalia visiting the President
and his team not so long ago a couple
months ago , where again the country is
facing fifth straight season of
fifth straight failed rainy season ,
breaking all records potentially
heading into a six . This is the
climate and it's even to say shock
anymore . I'm not sure , I think a
shock has to be this . But when the
shock is a constant , I'm not sure it
counts as a shock anymore . But this
perennial uh climate drain on the
entrepreneurship and and dynamism again
of of the people of Somalia , the
people of all the countries that we've
been talking about here and yet against
that very , very difficult backdrop to
see the security forces with Secretary
Austin's teams support to see the
diplomacy that you have done . Mr
President coming out and saying , we
will be at peace first with our
neighbors and and and with ourselves .
We will be will be at peace with our
neighbors and ourselves . I love that .
And to have the secretary's team
backing that up trying to coordinate
donors who are going as always in in a
million directions rather than
necessarily , you know , squaring up
our investments with your needs , which
is what we must be doing . But as you
have launched the successful military
operations . The point you make again
and again , how critical it is to come
in and make sure that there is
livelihood support . What is
stabilization . Yes , stabilization is
security for sure . But it's again the
three Ds and it's those three legs of
the stool and so figuring out as a as a
broader international community that
wishes to see an end to radicalism and
an end to al Shabaab and an end to the
terrorist groups that are that are
terrorizing so many innocence in these
countries and beyond . It is going to
take bringing all tools in the toolbox
together at the right time and not
missing opportunities like those that
exist when the defense and the
diplomacy come together . And so that
is our our need is not only to do it
ourselves with our resources which we
we are doing , but to get other
countries to see that this this is an
opening and it can be proof of concept
for how it can be done elsewhere . But
we have to seize that opening . Thank
you so much . Thank you , administer
your power . Thank you very much for
your engagement and your leadership of
U . S . A . I . D . Um We know how much
the men and women of the U . S . A . I .
D . Are doing on the ground in Africa
and they are often the first phase of
the US policy and US diplomacy and U .
S . Development all of it . So thank
you Very much for your leadership . Now .
We have just about 10 minutes left and
I'm gonna do something that it's
dangerous . But I want to do it in
terms of time management . I would like
to give the leaders at least one minute
each to reflect on anything that you
think is necessary in terms of the
partnership and engagement that you
just heard from your host , our cabinet
secretaries . But please just one
minute or else I'm in trouble . So
we'll start with the president now ,
you see now you see please .
Well ,
thank you very much . But what I would
like to say in this moment is very
important . We're evaluating that .
It's you need to invest for peace in
for the involvement of everybody in
invest in democracy .
And we expect
everything to happen for for Africa and
europe at the right moment . And uh ,
we need the investments and direct
investment to our economy and this
investment they have to trudge human
capital , which is essential for all
countries and to develop men and women
in our countries . And and that's what
I would like to
add
from his Excellency the prison . What
he said , investing the human capital ,
investing in peace is true , but
investing in human capital is the best
option . And this is a very serious
challenge to Africa , particularly
where the fiscal capability or the
revenue capability is very limited ,
providing service delivery to the
people , increasing the quality of
education and health and issues like
that is very investing the civil
society groups . These are the issues
where changing the mindset of the
society is the fundamental issue . That
is the bottom that if you push so many
things will change and I think it is
the people whom we need to concentrate .
How do we change the mindset of the
people . Thank you . Thank you sir .
President position please .
Uh Corporation military
security take it for
jess
is unique on the grand capacity .
It's a
conversation that we need to carry out
and the international debate on climate
change , how the U . S . Can intervene
with all their might to ensure that
countries such as ours that need to
promote their agriculture because we
have a lot of water resources can have
access to the credit that will allow us
truly to have a renewable
energy in a sizable manner and
education in our country . We need
a general mobilization in order to
promote education and fight against
demographic growth . We need to teach
young girls girls need to go to school ,
stay in school so that this
slippage that we have under
this huge demographic growth which
affects all our opportunity to ensure
development in our country to to be
able to confront that challenge . Thank
you . Thank you . Thank you mr
President . And this has really been an
excellent dialogue just to end with a
couple of the highlights the necessity
of good governance to counter violent
extremism with an implication that the
coup regimes will fail to deliver
security and peace . Another one is an
international partnership is key to
support African security capability .
With the implication that there is a
requirement for innovation and an
alignment with Africa's priorities .
And then finally , inclusive
development is required is a required
ingredient for stability and can be
accelerated by regional cooperation and
strong quality international
partnerships . Please join me in
thanking the leaders and the
secretaries for again such an
outstanding dialogue . It is the middle
of the dialogue because all I know all
of them have already been engaging .
This now includes all of this forum ,
and then we'll continue to carry it
forward . Thank you very much .
Thank you .