In the last week, I've travelled from Johannesburg to Cape Town to Addis Ababa. Along the way, I've been struck over and over again by the ingenuity, entrepreneurship, and innovation of the people I have met -- from townships to capital cities, from villages to major metropolises. Innovation parks are taking a place next to factories, investment banks next to mobile phone banking kiosks, and internet startups next to mom-and-pop store fronts. As I touched down in Ethiopia for the World Economic Forum on Africa, I was struck by the thought: Africa is emerging.
Buoyed by a decade of growth and bullish predictions for the future, Africa is on track to become the next big investment destination. The Economist indicates that six of the… more »
What always energizes those of us who work on exchange programs for professionals is seeing the passion of emerging foreign leaders. This week, 20 Young African Leaders, participants in the International Visitor Leadership Program, arrived in Washington. In conversations with U.S. government officials -- including Grant Harris, Senior Director for African Affairs at the White House, and Ronan Farrow, the State Department's Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues -- the participants shared their experiences, gained a better understanding of U.S. policy, and discussed ways to keep the dialogue going after their program is over. Just as importantly, they talked about how their efforts are contributing to the changing impressions the world has about Africa.
Last year PEPFAR and UNAIDS joined with other partners to launch the Global Plan, an initiative to eliminate new HIV infections among children and keep their mothers alive. Last week I was proud to take part in a two-day mission to Nigeria with Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS Executive Director. (As I described in this post last week, our visit was interrupted by the tragic bombings.)
Each year, nearly 400,000 children are born with HIV globally, and prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) is a particular challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, an area characterized by weak health systems. Incredibly, Nigeria alone bears about one-third… more »
I am writing from Abuja, Nigeria, where all are mourning the victims of the tragic bombings of a local newspaper's offices here and in the city of Kaduna. Innocent lives were lost to these terrible acts of murder. At the time of the blast, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe and I were commemorating the victims of the 2011 United Nations House bombing, which also took the innocent lives of primarily the UN's Nigerian staff.
I can't help but reflect on the juxtapositions life sometimes presents after experiencing this tragic event. It not only occurred while we were having a ceremony for our fallen UN colleagues, but during a mission to strengthen the Nigerian plan to reduce the 72,000 pediatric HIV cases born each year. To have such a senseless loss of life, in one brief moment, made me reflect on how fragile and precious life is. And it sharpens my resolve to ensure… more »
In these videotaped remarks, President Obama sends an important and very clear message to the people of Sudan and South Sudan: conflict is not inevitable. The people of Sudan and South Sudan still have a choice, a chance to avoid being dragged back into war. Sudan needs to halt all military actions, including aerial bombardments; give aid workers unfettered access to people in need; and end support for armed groups. Similarly, South Sudan must end its support for armed groups inside Sudan and cease its military actions across the border. All parties fighting -- including in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States -- must recognize that the only way to achieve real and lasting security is to resolve their differences through negotiation.
President Obama is gravely concerned by the situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, especially as the violent clashes continue along… more »
About the Authors: Victoria Holt serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, and Annie Pforzheimer serves as Director for UN Peacekeeping in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.
In countries recovering from war, it is normal to see UN blue helmeted military units -- they're big, obvious, and a reassuring presence.
But in Liberia, where President Johnson-Sirleaf was re-elected to a second term, that reassuring presence should be the uniform of a Liberian police officer -- with a blue helmet backing them up.
A long-term peace, I was reminded during my visit to Liberia in mid-March, doesn't come from soldiers, but… more »
Flying into Abidjan, you see that Cote d'Ivoire is back in business. Streets are lit, cars are new, and the downtown has the vibrancy and neon signs of a busy capital. Plans for development -- such as a new bridge to link the city across its lagoons -- are the government's focus.
Little of this was imaginable a year ago, when the country faced a dramatic crisis of leadership -- and a questionable future -- after its November 2010 elections. For months, the UN peacekeepers, backed by the international community and French Licorne forces, held the line against a defiant former leader who refused to step down despite losing the Presidential elections to his rival. Yet today, with former President Gbagbo in the Hague for war crimes, President Ouattara is moving forward to put the past behind and build a united nation.
Beyond the bright lights, much work remains.… more »
In March, the United States turned over to the Republic of Seychelles 15 suspected Somali pirates for prosecution in connection with an attempted January 5 attack on the M/V Sunshine in the northern Arabian Sea and the abduction of 13 Iranian mariners rescued by the U.S. Navy aboard their captured fishing vessel Al Molai. The successful resolution of this incident marks another step forward in working with our international partners to see that pirates are brought to justice and underscores our ongoing commitment to promoting freedom of navigation worldwide.
As part of the United States' commitment to working with the international community in countering piracy, I traveled last week to New… more »
In November 2011, the government of Burundi reached a major milestone in its recovery from decades of civil war with the announcement that their country had reached "landmine-free" status. Now, with the help of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Burundi has embarked on a new initiative to build on these gains by improving security of its military and police forces' inventories of small arms and light weapons, such as assault rifles and pistols.
Since 2006, the United States has invested approximately $2.7 million in assistance for weapons stockpile security training, the destruction of 9,000 of its excess weapons, and destruction of 75 tons of its obsolete and excess ammunition in Burundi. This also included… more »
Meet Jack Nielsen, former Police Chief of Albany New York. These days, as Deputy Police Commissioner for the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) he oversees over 1,300 police advisers and officers serving as peacekeepers, from over 40 countries. Jack is from Albany, New York, where he had a law enforcement career that spanned over 30 years. He had seen and done it all.
A specialist in both community policing and the administrative functions of a major police department, Jack is one of those great public servants who have taken their skills overseas. After retiring he offered his talent to UN missions and U.S. assistance projects in Haiti and in Liberia, where he has toiled since 2007.
Jack believes in the good work he is doing but there are frustrations… more »
May 24: Secretary Clinton and Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Michael Posner will release the 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices at 10:30 a.m. more »
May 23: The State Department, through its office of the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), is pleased to announce $1.5 million in funding to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to support open governance and political participation in the Middle East and North Africa. more »
![In this photo taken, Nov. 8, 2011, a woman poses with her Blackberry mobile phone in Johannesburg. The woman says she cherishes her phone as a link to family and friends, and also sees it as a radio, a library, a mini cinema, a bank teller, and more. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0510_africa_innovation_m.jpg)
![Charfie Habib Doutoum of Chad and Akere-Maimo Joseph Eno-Ebie of Cameroon outside the White House in Washington, D.C., May 2, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0504_yal_ivlp_m.jpg)
![Nigerian mother, a victim of AIDS, holds her HIV-free daughter, at the Abuja National Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria, July 12, 2003. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0430_nigeria_pmtct_m.jpg)
![Ambassador Eric Goosby and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe remember lives lost during the 2011 United Nations House bombing in Nigeria, April 26, 2012. [Photo Courtesy of UNAIDS/P.Ekpei]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0427_goosby_nigeria_m.jpg)
![United Nation's peacekeeping policewomen, from India, arrive at the airport in Monrovia, Liberia, Jan. 30, 2007. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0411_unmil_liberia_m.jpg)
![An aerial view of the central Plateau neighborhood of Abidjan, Cote d Ivoire, Jan. 4, 2011. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0406_io_cote_divoire_m.jpg)
![Somali government coast guards patrol the coast of Mogadishu, Somalia to keep a watch for pirates who hijack ships off the coast, Dec. 6, 2009. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0406_piracy_somalia_m.jpg)
![Peacekeepers of the U.N. mission in Burundi prepare to destroy assault rifles, guns, grenades, mortars, mines and ammunition, pictured, on Dec. 27, 2005 on the outskirts of the capital Bujumbura. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0405_burundi_ammunition_m.jpg)
![Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Tori Holt speaks with U.S. civilian police officer Jack Nielson on board an airplane in Liberia, March 2012. Nielson, the former Police Chief of Albany, New York, serves as Deputy Police Commissioner of UNMIL, the UN Mission in Liberia. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0404_NielsonIO_m.jpg)
