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
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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
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