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Friday, November 27, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO AND AFRICA

 

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AFRICA

BUILDING HOPE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD

2.26.20 Building Hope and 610x350

In "Brick by Brick" Karen Sherman tells, not only her own story of moving her family to Kigali, Rwanda in 2012, but also those of women who survived the Rwandan genocide, and how it forever changed her life.

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THE MAKING AND UNMAKING OF SOUTH SUDAN

1.31.19 The Making and Unmaking of South Sudan

Dive into the gripping story of the world’s newest state, South Sudan. Zach Vertin will offer a firsthand account of its creation and the current crisis taking place there, as well as the ongoing challenges of statehood.

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AWARDS DINNER 2018

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Join World Affairs for a special evening as we honor exceptional individuals born abroad who have made outsized contributions to our economy and culture.

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN AFRICA: WHY IT MATTERS FOR SILICON VALLEY

05-31-16-Entrepreneurship-in-Africa-State-photo

Silicon Valley, meet the next big thing: African entrepreneurs. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield provides an introduction between the hub of innovation and the fast growing business sectors popping up across the African continent.

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MARIN | THE SECURITY THREAT IN AFRICA: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

02-25-16-MAR-Security-in-Africa

African nations vary greatly in the degree to which democracy has been established. Captain Paul Shemella (Ret.) of the Naval Postgraduate School will discuss how an effective security structure is crucial to this transition.

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TOWARDS EMPLOYMENT AND DEMOCRACY: DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

Towards Employment and Democracy: Development in Southern Africa

How can governments across southern Africa address the unemployment challenge and lift millions out of poverty for good? Jeffrey Herbst and Greg Mills will offer insights into what progress has been made and how the region can achieve long term growth.

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CITY OF THORNS: LIFE IN A REFUGEE CAMP

City of Thorns

What does life look like for those who call a refugee camp home? Journalist Ben Rawlence will share stories from Dadaab, a group of refugee camps in northern Kenya, and examine the wider political forces that have kept individuals from returning home.

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THE NEXT AFRICA: TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS ON AN EMERGING CONTINENT

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What impact will Silicon Valley have on the tech boom in Africa? Join us for an inside look at the technological innovations that are impacting how we do business on the continent.

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ENSLAVED: A VISUAL STORY OF MODERN DAY SLAVERY

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Hear from humanitarian photographer Lisa Kristine discuss her work documenting the extent of modern day slavery.

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AN ANTI-POVERTY TOOLKIT

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How does promoting gender equality, education and human rights aid in the fight to end poverty? BRAC founder, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, will share his insights on poverty alleviation and the power of education.

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 BIDEN'S PICK FOR UN THOMAS-GREENFIELD - SPEAKS ON AFRICA SDGS 2017


THANK YOU very much Frank and let me
00:10
also start by thanking the British
00:12
chamber and Gareth for inviting all of
00:16
us here today in providing us the
00:18
opportunity to speak at on these very
00:21
important issues at this conference
00:23
today I'm really delighted to be here I
00:26
am NOT Ellen Johnson Sirleaf I know that
00:31
all of you were expecting her and maybe
00:34
second third or fourth best but I can
00:37
tell you that being here is really an
00:41
honor to speak on her behalf and while
00:44
we miss her here today I'm also
00:46
delighted to reunite with my good friend
00:49
ambassador Illinois who was the
00:52
Secretary General Special Representative
00:54
to Liberia during the period that I
00:57
served as ambassador they are from 2008
01:00
in 2012 and it really was a privilege to
01:02
have worked with ambassador law and to
01:05
work with President Sirleaf and the
01:07
people of government of Liberia to
01:09
develop blueprints for cooperative
01:11
growth in Liberia in the years following
01:14
a devastating civil war in this country
01:17
I gained a King passion for Africa over
01:23
my 35 years in the u.s. Foreign Service
01:26
in fact it's hard for me to believe it's
01:28
it's been that long but 35 years in the
01:33
Foreign Service and throughout my
01:36
present tenure at Georgetown University
01:39
where I serve as a senior senior fellow
01:42
my love for Liberia goes back to my time
01:46
as a graduate student doing research in
01:48
Liberia in the 1970s so I have a very
01:52
long history with what the country of
01:54
Liberia this morning I'd like to share
01:58
with you my thoughts about Africa's
01:59
place on the world stage some of the
02:02
challenges facing the continent some of
02:05
the successes of the partnership that
02:08
the United States government has had
02:11
with Africa and where I see
02:12
Africa in in the coming years
02:15
specifically I'd like to discuss how
02:17
Africa can utilize sustainable
02:19
development goes to bolster educational
02:22
opportunities health care and energy
02:24
infrastructure for the next generation
02:26
of Africans the Africa that I have come
02:31
to know and believe in is a continent a
02:34
vast opportunity and that's promised
02:37
it's a continent with tremendous natural
02:40
and human resources and a rapidly
02:43
expanding middle class it is the next
02:46
frontier of global opportunities and it
02:48
is a continent that has made remarkable
02:51
progress over the past decades despite
02:54
the many challenges that the continent
02:56
continues to face I've seen that
02:58
progress firsthand over nearly 40
03:01
decades sorry four decades of work in on
03:06
the continent when I first visited
03:08
Africa in 1978 to do research in Liberia
03:11
the continents population was about 450
03:14
million with 27% living in urban areas
03:18
and now in 2017 the population is over
03:21
1.2 billion with 40% living in urban
03:25
areas the GDP of sub-saharan Africa back
03:28
in 1978 was about 170 million dollars
03:31
sorry 170 billion dollars now it's about
03:34
1.6 trillion dollars the percentage of
03:39
people living on less than a dollar 25
03:41
cents a day in sub-saharan Africa has
03:42
dropped from 56 percent in 1990 to 41
03:46
percent today which is still not not
03:50
high enough when I arrived in Liberia in
03:53
1978 I found the continent that suffered
03:56
from repressive governance military
03:59
coups and violence that was the norm for
04:02
many African countries in those days but
04:04
now I believe we're seeing a different
04:06
African continent we're seeing a
04:08
different picture on the continent of
04:10
Africa Liberia has emerged as a champion
04:15
of democracy and peace and in 2005 it
04:18
elected Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the
04:20
continents first woman ever to be
04:23
elected president in Africa
04:25
and she served two turns ending in a
04:30
transition hopefully at the end of the
04:32
year and it will be historic for Liberia
04:37
because it will lead to one sitting
04:40
president democratically elected
04:43
transferring power to another
04:46
democratically elected elected president
04:49
later in the year
04:50
Liberia has never had that in its entire
04:52
history in the health arena life
04:55
expectancy in Africa was about 47 years
04:58
in 1978 and now it's 60 the child
05:01
mortality rate has dropped 52 percent
05:04
between 1990 and 2015 and the maternal
05:06
mortality rate has fallen to fallen 49
05:11
percent in education sub-saharan Africa
05:14
has made greater improvements in access
05:16
to education than any other region in
05:19
the world since 1990 the proportion of
05:22
children in world in primary or
05:24
secondary school has risen 54 percent
05:27
over the past 25 years these are
05:29
incredible statistics given a
05:32
substantial progress in these critical
05:34
areas and others Africa is being
05:37
becoming a global player the world is
05:41
sitting up and taking notice of what is
05:44
happening on this continent and there
05:46
has been an explosion of investment and
05:48
interest in Africa over the last two
05:50
decades and I know that's the reason we
05:53
have so many of you from the private
05:54
sector in this room today the truth is
05:58
we can't meet today's global challenges
06:02
without Africa Africa's success is
06:05
pivotal pivotal to international efforts
06:09
to end poverty to fight extremism and to
06:13
boost economic growth looking ahead
06:15
where Africa ends up on the world stage
06:18
in the next century will depend on how
06:21
well the continent tackles its own
06:24
challenges this century it will also
06:27
depend on how the international
06:29
community partners with Africa to
06:31
promote and to implement the SDGs and to
06:35
help achieve Africa's promise
06:38
so let's take a look at some of the
06:40
challenges Africa faces thank you and
06:43
how to address them through the frame
06:46
framework of SDGs in 2014 the African
06:50
Union adopted the common Africa position
06:53
the cap on the post-2015 development
06:56
agenda the caps stressed the need to
06:59
learn from Africa's experience with the
07:02
Millennium Challenge goals the
07:03
Millennium Development Goals over the
07:06
previous 15 years the cap called for a
07:09
more inclusive formulation of the agenda
07:12
and the honoring of international
07:14
commitments made for its implementation
07:16
it also emphasized that the post-2015
07:19
development agenda the member state
07:22
driven and reflect African priorities
07:25
and programs achieving sustainable
07:29
meaningful development remains one of
07:32
the top priorities of every country on
07:34
the continent of Africa African
07:36
countries have been proactive in
07:38
incorporating SDGs into the national
07:41
plans and into strategies in addition
07:44
the African Union has developed a
07:46
strategy to assist its member states in
07:49
reaching their SDG goals through
07:51
targeted implementation of agenda 2063
07:55
this is the AU strategic framework for
07:58
the socio-economic transformation of the
08:00
continent over the next 50 years the
08:03
SDGs are much bigger than any single
08:05
government of course to be truly
08:08
sustainable they will require sustained
08:10
commitments from all sectors including
08:13
advocacy international trade and
08:16
investment research and development
08:18
organization and also from the next
08:21
generation of African leaders so let us
08:25
look at some of some of the challenges
08:28
facing Africa today and how advancement
08:31
of SDGs can mitigate these challenges
08:34
and I'd like to first address the most
08:36
important stakeholder in this process
08:39
and that is Africa's youth Africa is a
08:42
young young continent half of all
08:44
Africans are under the age of 19
08:47
Africa's population is projected to
08:49
double to 2 billion people by
08:52
by 2050 and this is a double-edged sword
08:55
it is there are great possibilities for
08:58
a huge population but there are also
09:00
some downsides so how do we ensure that
09:04
this youthful population contributes to
09:07
Africa's prosperity and not become a
09:10
source of conflict I believe we need to
09:14
start by creating opportunities for
09:15
Africa's youth that means creating jobs
09:19
it also means strengthening education
09:21
systems it means mentoring and providing
09:25
opportunities for Africa's youth in
09:27
spite of recent progress there's still
09:29
significant education gaps an education
09:32
deficit in Africa countries need to
09:35
invest more in education including
09:37
primary school and particularly for
09:40
young girls we catch ocation means weak
09:43
opportunity and when youth have no
09:44
opportunity they are susceptible to
09:47
extremism they are susceptible to
09:50
trafficking they are susceptible to
09:54
criminality and as you all know they are
09:58
susceptible to getting on boats fleeing
10:00
to Europe on on across the Mediterranean
10:03
and across the Sahara Desert taking
10:06
their lives into their own hands young
10:08
people in Africa are eager for
10:10
opportunities for education I saw this
10:13
every day when I served as the US
10:15
ambassador to Liberia and I think Ellen
10:17
can also comment on this as well where
10:20
we saw young people with very few tools
10:24
really passionate about about education
10:28
and passionate about learning in its
10:30
commitment to working with African
10:32
partners to improve education the United
10:35
States has launched efforts to improve
10:37
reading skills for primary school
10:39
children by also providing support for
10:42
for education programs we're making a
10:45
huge push for girls education where only
10:48
51% of women over the age of 15 are able
10:51
to read and write and if women can't
10:53
read and write
10:54
they can't contribute to their country's
10:56
growth there's a need to put a greater
10:59
focus on girls education to ensure that
11:02
girls can enroll and more importantly
11:05
then enrolling that they remain in
11:07
school through the President's Emergency
11:09
Plan for AIDS relief dreams program
11:12
we're investing in keeping girls in
11:14
school in 10 sub-saharan African
11:16
countries and this is part of a package
11:19
of interventions designed to reduce new
11:22
HIV infections in adolescent girls and
11:25
young women by 40%
11:27
USAID education programs have had a huge
11:30
impact on Africa and Liberia for example
11:33
schools were closed between August 2014
11:35
and February 2015 in an effort to
11:39
prevent Ebola transmission USAID
11:43
facilitated educational access by
11:46
distributing teaching and learning
11:48
materials and helped 220,000 children
11:51
return to school following the outbreak
11:53
we have to ensure that African countries
11:56
prioritize education an investment is
11:58
pivotal to this to this end
12:01
African countries need to take a hard
12:03
look at education budgets they need to
12:05
compare their education budgets to their
12:07
security budgets and they need to make a
12:09
determination that education is as
12:12
important as security and consider
12:14
whether giving more money to education
12:17
should be a priority programs that
12:19
support youth such as the young African
12:21
leaders initiative which was a program
12:24
that we put together focused on bringing
12:27
young African leaders to the United
12:29
States to give them leadership training
12:31
in programs across US universities has
12:35
been quite successful in creating
12:37
concrete opportunities that will help
12:40
Africa's future leaders be prepared for
12:43
leadership Yali has committed
12:45
significant resources to propel this
12:48
next generation of African leaders by
12:50
ensuring that we buster their commitment
12:53
to entrepreneurship and to to leadership
12:56
we also have created for Yali leadership
13:00
centers in higher education higher
13:03
education institutions in Ghana in Kenya
13:06
and Senegal as well as South Africa and
13:09
these organizations are helping to train
13:14
mentor and helping young people to
13:16
network with each other across
13:18
the continent of Africa and already
13:21
we've had about 450 young people who
13:24
participated in these read regional
13:26
training centers but we've had close to
13:28
3,000 young Africans come to the United
13:32
States we currently have a thousand who
13:34
are at about 30 universities across the
13:36
United States who are participating in
13:39
leadership programs this this summer
13:41
when I leave here tomorrow I'll be
13:44
heading to Madison Wisconsin and to
13:47
Minneapolis Minnesota where I will be
13:49
speaking to some of these young people
13:51
to encourage them and to help them and
13:54
mentor them as they prepare for their
13:56
roles as leaders on the continent of
13:58
Africa and the next generation Africa's
14:00
youth are its greatest resource and they
14:03
are a force for good African leaders
14:06
should view them as a treasure as a
14:07
source of dynamism to bring their
14:10
countries out of poverty and into strong
14:12
and prosperous nations and to help build
14:15
successful government if we can ensure
14:18
Africa's youth are engaged and
14:20
contributing to to their countries
14:22
Africa's economies will grow and we know
14:25
that their people will prosper if we
14:28
look in the healthcare arena improving
14:30
education will also improve healthcare
14:33
outcomes as well because that the two
14:36
are very much intertwined with each
14:38
other we saw the link clearly during the
14:41
Ebola outbreak where lack of education
14:44
about disease transmission led to poor
14:47
health decisions during the Ebola
14:49
outbreak throughout Africa many
14:51
challenges persist in the health care
14:54
arena sub-saharan Africa has the highest
14:56
rate of maternal and child deaths of any
14:59
region in the world
15:00
and only 32 percent of sub-saharan
15:03
African populations has basic access to
15:06
to power and this deficit prevents
15:09
progress in both health as well as
15:11
education sectors therefore
15:13
strengthening Africa's healthcare
15:15
infrastructure and human resources for
15:17
health is a critical priority as we move
15:19
to to implement the SDGs PEPFAR has made
15:24
great strides in combating hiv/aids
15:26
saving lives of millions of Africans and
15:29
bringing an age
15:30
generation within reach in on the
15:34
continent of Africa Africa has
15:36
contributed to the significant progress
15:39
made toward eradicating polio around the
15:42
world yet polio re-emerged in northern
15:45
Nigeria in 2016 representing a set back
15:48
to global polio eradication efforts a
15:52
polio free Africa is in sight though and
15:55
through vigilance and increased
15:58
resources I think that we can achieve
16:01
the goals that we hope to achieve in
16:03
that area the Ebola epidemic in Liberia
16:06
exposed the fragility of the health
16:08
sector and it also exposed the fragility
16:12
of the economy in Liberia that was
16:15
really set back over the 14 month period
16:19
in which they were dealing with Ebola
16:21
Ebola killed thousands it drained lively
16:25
needed resources it slowed economic
16:27
growth in a delayed key development
16:29
projects and one of the hard learn
16:31
lessons of the Ebola crisis is that good
16:34
governance which includes allocating
16:36
funds for health is key to mitigate
16:39
mitigating epidemics like like Ebola the
16:43
death toll from Ebola in Liberia and
16:45
neighboring countries was at red was a
16:47
tragedy in itself and it thought it
16:50
progress on achieving the SDG goes while
16:54
the international community responded to
16:57
the Ebola crisis we need to translate
17:00
the effective emergency response to
17:02
Ebola into an effective long-term health
17:04
care system across the continent of
17:06
Africa and we hope to continue to
17:09
support the establishment of an African
17:11
Center for Disease Control and
17:13
Prevention a so called Africa CDC which
17:16
will reinforce increasingly capable
17:18
health and science sector in Africa and
17:21
we hope that the Africa CDC will serve
17:23
as a platform for sustainable public
17:26
health capacity efforts like these we'll
17:28
build a capacity of local healthcare
17:31
systems so that they can effectively
17:33
respond to challenges like Ebola but
17:35
this goal is ultimately the
17:37
responsibility of African countries
17:39
themselves of their governments and of
17:41
their people sustainable local
17:44
finance healthcare system is the best
17:46
long-term solution to dealing with
17:48
situations like Ebola let me talk a bit
17:51
about the energy infrastructure energy
17:54
is a major constraint to economic growth
17:56
and Community Development on the
18:00
continent of Africa the United States is
18:02
working very closely with African
18:05
governments but also partners around the
18:07
globe to prioritize and address key
18:10
legal regulatory and policy constraints
18:12
to investments and to implement measures
18:15
that will sustain growth and enable
18:18
successful governance of a growing power
18:21
sector throughout sub-saharan Africa I
18:23
think one good example of a promising
18:26
initiative comes from Liberia when I
18:29
served in Liberia from 2008 to 2012
18:33
Liberia started out having provided no
18:36
electricity for for his people and they
18:41
put streetlights and Ellen will recall
18:43
this as well
18:44
there were streetlights that were put
18:46
around the city and you could go around
18:47
the city anytime during a during the
18:50
night and you would see young people
18:52
studying under under streetlights
18:56
it could be pouring rain outside and
18:58
they would be out there under their
18:59
streetlights trying to make sure that
19:03
they committed themselves to their
19:08
education and this was an incredible
19:11
sight and it occurred to me if
19:14
streetlights could encourage students
19:16
what would happen in Liberia if there
19:20
was electricity in schools and
19:22
electricity and homes and and in
19:24
hospitals and how much more could be
19:26
achieved in Liberia if the private
19:27
sector had access to reliable and
19:30
affordable energy the United States
19:33
after I left Liberia but something that
19:36
I worked on diligently while I was
19:38
there's fine day 257 million Millennium
19:41
Challenge corporation impact come back
19:44
in 2015 the compact seeks to improve
19:49
road infrastructure and bolster access
19:51
to reliable affordable electricity and
19:55
we work with the government of Norway
19:56
and with
19:57
you and with the UN to rehabilitate the
20:01
Mount coffee hydroelectric plant which
20:04
is also part of a power Africa
20:07
initiative and it more than doubled the
20:10
availability of electricity in Liberia I
20:13
was back in Liberia in December where we
20:15
cut the ribbon on the first turbine of
20:18
of the power plant and it was an amazing
20:23
accomplishment that I know will
20:25
contribute to Liberia's ability to
20:28
implement their own SDG goals
20:31
energy will continue to be instrumental
20:33
to Africa's growth and success in the
20:36
coming years finally I have to say a
20:39
word about politics in Africa because
20:41
politics is is everything on this
20:44
continent and we know that establishing
20:46
strong democratic governance and
20:48
eliminating corruption will also be
20:51
crucial to advancing SDGs in Africa and
20:54
while we've seen progress in some places
20:57
too often we have witnessed setbacks one
21:00
of those setbacks being South Sudan
21:02
where again Allen served as the
21:05
secretary-general Special Representative
21:07
a country where we all celebrated their
21:10
accomplishment in achieving independence
21:13
in 2011 and two years after that they
21:17
were embroiled in a horrible civil war
21:21
leading to thousands of deaths and and
21:24
many more thousands of people being
21:27
forced from their homes
21:29
Liberia's upcoming presidential and
21:31
legislative elections will also as I
21:33
noted earlier mark a historic moment in
21:36
deference to the Constitution and to
21:38
ordinary Liberian citizens and with a
21:41
commitment to peaceful transfer of power
21:43
President Sirleaf will step down after
21:47
her two years her two terms in office
21:50
the credibility of this important
21:53
election hinges on the maintenance of
21:54
peace which will include the gracious
21:57
confession of the unsuccessful
21:59
candidates we fortunately saw that
22:03
happen in the case of Nigeria in 2015
22:05
and most recently in the case of Ghana
22:08
in December
22:10
this year but in order for democracy and
22:12
economic growth to flourish throughout
22:14
Africa you need more than peaceful
22:16
elections as well we also need to work
22:19
with African countries to combat
22:21
corruption that remains rampant across
22:24
the continent of Africa and I know that
22:26
it's businesspeople you know how
22:29
difficult it is for you to do business
22:32
in countries where corruption is the
22:34
order of the day
22:35
corruption actively works against
22:38
justice it promotes exclusion and
22:41
poverty and it denies the most
22:43
vulnerable people in Africa their their
22:45
basic needs in their basic rights and it
22:48
stifles development and implementation
22:50
of the SDGs so we have to work as
22:54
international partners we have to work
22:56
with governments - in corruption by
22:59
holding people accountable and helping
23:01
governments to recover stolen stolen
23:03
funds when we look at some of the cases
23:06
and the amount of money that has left
23:09
the continent of Africa because of
23:11
corruption we know that we can change
23:13
the trajectory of this continent if we
23:15
dealt with these issues so following let
23:18
me conclude on a more positive note I've
23:21
always tried to be positive about Africa
23:24
and I do feel positive I want to
23:27
emphasize that I am very optimistic
23:29
about where I see this continent going
23:32
in the future and my optimism comes from
23:35
a number of areas it comes from the fact
23:38
that we do have this dynamic population
23:40
of African youth who we know have
23:43
tremendous possibilities and we know
23:46
that we have a continent that has great
23:49
natural resources both in terms of their
23:52
people but also in terms of their youth
23:55
and if Africa can effectively harness
23:57
these resources I'm confident that we
24:00
see a bright future for this continent
24:02
the SDGs will be instrumental in
24:05
advancing Africa's goals in terms of
24:08
education health care and infrastructure
24:10
and they will also create an environment
24:13
for good governance and we think that in
24:16
that environment countries can flourish
24:19
however implementation of SDGs must be
24:22
african-led
24:23
and I think that's the point that you
24:25
may when you're reading from the
24:27
statement earlier that they must be
24:29
Africa it must be an african-led
24:30
progress and it must be for the African
24:33
people African leaders however cannot do
24:37
this alone they need to have for success
24:41
they need to have strong relationships
24:45
and continued engagement with
24:46
international partners and this is a
24:49
team effort it's a team effort that and
24:52
that's the reason I think all of us are
24:54
here today international partners
24:57
whether you are in government business
24:59
media civil society will be instrumental
25:02
in supporting Africa's efforts to
25:04
implement SDGs and regardless of whether
25:07
you are inside government or outside
25:10
government every single person in this
25:12
room has a role to play in ensuring that
25:15
international partnership with Africa is
25:17
successful Africa needs all of our ideas
25:21
it needs our passion