DOCSLIB.ORG

519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 CONGO-2013/02/11 1 THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION FINDING A LASTING SOLUTION TO INSTABILITY IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: A CONVERSATION WITH U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE JOHNNIE CARSON Washington, D.C. Monday, February 11, 2013 PARTICIPANTS: Introduction: MWANGI S. KIMENYI Senior Fellow and Director, Africa Growth Initiative The Brookings Institution Moderator: MICHAEL O'HANLON Senior Fellow and Director of Research, Foreign Policy The Brookings Institution Featured Speaker: AMBASSADOR JOHNNIE CARSON Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of African Studies U.S. Department of State * * * * * ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 CONGO-2013/02/11 2 P R O C E E D I N G S MR. KIMENYI: Good afternoon. I’m Mwangi Kimenyi. I’m a senior fellow here and also the director of the Africa Growth Initiative, and I would like to welcome you to this event on the DRC with—a conversation with the Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson, who is with us here today. Just as a note before I introduce, this event is live Webcasted, so it’s already on the webcast, and we have a hashtag, it’s #DRCsolutions, so for those of you—those people watching us on Webcast—can send their Tweets and messages to us. So, as we all know, the DRC has been a big issue in Africa and it’s a very important country, and its stability is crucial to the development of the entire region, and we are very happy that Assistant Secretary, Ambassador Johnnie Carson has accepted to come and discuss this very important issue with us this afternoon, and we think we will give the audience time to ask him questions and he will give us insights. As you see, the title of his talk is “Finding a Lasting Solution to the Instability in DCR.” I would like to introduce Ambassador Carson, who was sworn in as Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs on May 7, 2009. Prior to this, he was the national intelligence officer for Africa at the NIC, after serving as senior vice- president of the National Defense University in Washington, DC. Ambassador Carson’s seven-year—that seven year Foreign Service career includes ambassadorships to Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda, and Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs. He has also served as desk officer in the African Section at State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, staff officer for the Secretary of State, and staff director for Africa Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives. ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 CONGO-2013/02/11 3 Clearly, a lot of service to the U.S. in Africa. After his comments, the discussion will be moderated by our own Mike O’Hanlon, a senior fellow and director of research in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution where he specializes in U.S. defense strategy, the use of military force and American foreign policy. He is also a visiting lecturer at Princeton University and adjunct professor at John Hopkins University, and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is a member of General David Petraeus’ External Advisory Board at the Central Intelligence Agency. If I were to read everything for Mike it would take us a long time, so I’ll stop there except to say he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Congo, Kinshasa, then Zaire, from 1982 to 1984, where he taught college and high school physics in French. That seems like contradiction of what I know Michael does. So, Ambassador Carson, welcome to Brookings again. Please come to the podium. (Applause) AMBASSADOR CARSON: Good afternoon, everyone, in a very, very crowded audience. I want to first of all thank Dr. Kimenyi for his warm introduction and also the Brookings Institution for agreeing to host today’s event. I would be remiss if I did not recognize three individuals who are here with us this afternoon including the ambassador from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ambassador Mitifu, the ambassador from Rwanda, Ambassador Kimonyo, and also the ambassador from the newest country in Africa, but also in the world, the ambassador from South Sudan. I know there are a number of other distinguished individuals in the audience with us this afternoon, please pardon me for not recognizing you by name, but I will warmly welcome your presence here this afternoon. ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 CONGO-2013/02/11 4 The Brookings Institution has long, long been a center of excellence in public policy and in foreign policy, and its African Growth Initiative Program, drawing on the knowledge of both African and American scholars and researchers, is now making significant contributions to our understanding of some of Africa’s most challenging economic and social problems. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, or the DRC as it is commonly known, is one of those countries that deserves greater research and attention, as well as a higher place on our foreign policy priority list. Since its independence on June 30, 1960, the DRC has been mostly a poster child for many of the problems that have afflicted Africa over the past five decades: military coups, rampant corruption, anemic development, health pandemics, runaway inflation, conflict minerals and poor governance. After many years of looking at and trying to deal with a string of recurring crises in the DRC, many people have ignored or written off the country as simply hopeless. That would be a serious mistake for the people of the Congo, for those countries in Central Africa who neighbor and border it, and the global community who recognizes that we have a stake in promoting stability and social progress around the world and that the instability in the DRC is not cost free to the United States. Your presence here today reflects your interest and concern about finding lasting solutions to the instability, social upheaval and unrealized economic potential that has plagued the DRC for so many years. I think there is a very strong constituency among Americans, Africans and the broader international community that wants the DRC to reach its true potential. And I believe this Administration has parallel support within Congress to elevate the issues affecting the DRC to a new level of importance. ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 CONGO-2013/02/11 5 Today, I would like to discuss why I think the world should redouble its efforts to end instability in the DRC. I also would like to lay out some ideas for your consideration for moving forward. First, a little background: The DRC should be one of Africa’s economic and political powerhouses. It is the second largest nation in sub-Saharan Africa and home to the third largest population after Nigeria and Ethiopia. The DRC has some of Africa’s most fertile soil and possesses almost unparallel hydroelectric potential. The country also contains many of Africa’s most precious materials and sought after land. In fact, if you brought a cell phone with you into this room today, you may have some of the DRC in your pocket or in your purse in the form of coltan. But as all of you know, the DRC is not one of Africa’s political and economic powerhouses. It has had a recurring U.N. peacekeeping presence since independence in 1960. It has the fifth-highest child mortality rate in the world, the 17th highest maternal mortality rate, and less than 2,000 miles of paved road. The DRC’s poverty, infrastructure deficits and other development benchmarks are among the worst in the world. The Congo is ranked last, number 187, on the United Nation’s Development Program’s Human Development Index. Instead of peace and prosperity, the Congolese have been plagued by decades of mismanagement, corruption, poor governance and recurring civil strife. These problems, as the proliferation of foreign armies, rebel groups, ethnic violence, arms trafficking and illicit mining have exacted a horrifying toll on the DRC and its people. The international community has invested huge sums of money into the DRC over many years with sometimes little to show for it. Why should we continue to do so when there are so many other competing and compelling global challenges out there? ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 CONGO-2013/02/11 6 First, no other conflict or act of violence since World War II has come close to taking so many lives. Rwanda, Somalia, the civil war in the Sudan and the conflict in Darfur all have commanded our attention. Eight hundred thousand people were killed in Rwanda in the summer of 1994, just over one million in Somalia’s two-decade long conflict, 300,000 in Darfur, and two million people were killed in the conflict between North and South Sudan before the Naivasha Peace Treaty was signed in January of 2005. However, in the DRC, conflict and resulting disease have killed more than five million people since 1998. Let me say that again. Since 1998, more than five million people have died in the DRC as a result of violence. I think that the international community has a moral imperative to act more effectively in the DRC to break this cycle of death and suffering and to address the other consequences of this violence, the unmitigated rape and sexual violence against women and children, the nearly two million internally displaced people, the approximately 450,000 Congolese refugees who have been forced to flee into neighboring countries, and the absence of secure and prosperous lives for virtually the entire country.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Congressional Record—Senate S1432
    S1432 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 25, 2019 a second staff person to accompany him or letter signed by 58 former national se- nancial Intelligence from 2011 to 2015 and as her on the dais he or she must make a re- curity officials, who served under Re- Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence quest to the Chairman for that purpose. publican and Democratic administra- Agency from 2015 to 2017. RULE 8. COINAGE LEGISLATION l. Eliot A. Cohen served as Counselor of the tions, criticizing President Trump’s U.S. Department of State from 2007 to 2009. At least 67 Senators must cosponsor any declaration of a national emergency to m. Ryan Crocker served as U.S. Ambas- gold medal or commemorative coin bill or build a wall on our southern border be sador to Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012, as resolution before consideration by the Com- printed in the RECORD. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq from 2007 to 2009, as mittee. There being no objection, the mate- U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan from 2004 to EXTRACTS FROM THE STANDING RULES OF THE rial was ordered to be printed in the 2007, as U.S. Ambassador to Syria from 1998 SENATE RECORD, as follows: to 2001, as U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait from RULE XXV, STANDING COMMITTEES 1994 to 1997, and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon JOINT DECLARATION OF FORMER UNITED from 1990 to 1993. 1. The following standing committees shall STATES GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS be appointed at the commencement of each n. Thomas Donilon served as National Se- We, the undersigned, declare as follows.
    [Show full text]
  • Supplemental Statement Washington, DC 20530 Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, As Amended
    Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 05/11 /2018 4:10:50 PM OMB No 1124-0002; Expires May 31,2020 ' I.S. Department of Justice Supplemental Statement Washington, DC 20530 Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended For Six Month Period Ending 3/31/18 (Insert date) I-REGISTRANT 1. (a) Name of Registrant (b) Registration No. The Livingston Group, LLC #6344 (c) Business Address(es) of Registrant 499 S. Capitol Street, SW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20003 2. Has there been a change in the information previously furnished in connection with the following? (a) If an individual: (1) Residence address(es) Yes □ No □ (2) Citizenship Yes □ No □ (3) Occupation Yes □ No □ (b) If an organization: (1) Name Yes Q No H (2) Ownership or control Yes Q No 0 (3) Branch offices Yes □ No 0 (c) Explain fully all changes, if any, indicated in Items (a) and (b) above. IF THE REGISTRANT IS AN INDIVIDUAL, OMIT RESPONSE TO ITEMS 3,4, AND 5(a), 3. If you have previously filed Exhibit C*1, state whether any changes therein have occurred during this 6 month reporting period. Yes □ No S If yes, have you filed an amendment to the Exhibit C? Yes □ No □ If no, please attach the required amendment. 1 The Exhibit C, for which no printed form is provided, consists of a true'copy of the charter, articles of incorporation, association, and by laws of a registrant that is an organization. (A waiver of the requirement to file an Exhibit C may be obtained for good cause upon written application to the Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division, US.
    [Show full text]
  • Johnnie Carson
    1 Statement of Ambassador Johnnie Carson Assistant Secretary of State Bureau of African Affairs Senate Foreign Relations Committee June 28, 2012 "Economic Statecraft: Embracing Africa’s Market Potential" Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to address the committee on what I feel is an important and timely topic. The U.S. government is committed to expanding trade and investment in sub-Saharan Africa and the numbers show our commitment. U.S. trade to and from Africa has grown significantly in the past ten years. U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa tripled from just under $7 billion U.S. dollars in 2001 to over $21 billion dollars in 2011. As Secretary of State Clinton said at the annual AGOA Forum two weeks ago: “twelve years ago, the United States passed the Africa Growth and Opportunity act because we believed that the countries of Africa had tremendous untapped economic potential that could and should be developed. We shared a vision with many of you of a future in which economic growth in Africa would fuel growth and prosperity worldwide…trade and investment would multiply…and 2 people across the continent would have new opportunities to start their own businesses, earn higher salaries, improve their lives, and lift the fortunes of their families and communities.” In large part, this vision is becoming reality. It is my firm belief that Africa represents the next global economic frontier. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to weather the global economic crisis more successfully than other regions, and is home to six – and soon to be seven – of the ten fastest growing economies in the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Joint Declaration of Former United States Government Officials
    JOINT DECLARATION OF FORMER UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS We, the undersigned, declare as follows: 1. We are former officials in the U.S. government who have worked on national security and homeland security issues from the White House as well as agencies across the Executive Branch. We have served in senior leadership roles in administrations of both major political parties, and collectively we have devoted a great many decades to protecting the security interests of the United States. We have held the highest security clearances, and we have participated in the highest levels of policy deliberations on a broad range of issues. These include: immigration, border security, counterterrorism, military operations, and our nation’s relationship with other countries, including those south of our border. a. Madeleine K. Albright served as Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001. A refugee and naturalized American citizen, she served as U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1993 to 1997. She has also been a member of the Central Intelligence Agency External Advisory Board since 2009 and of the Defense Policy Board since 2011, in which capacities she has received assessments of threats facing the United States. b. Jeremy B. Bash served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Defense from 2011 to 2013, and as Chief of Staff of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2011. c. John B. Bellinger III served as the Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State from 2005 to 2009. He previously served as Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council from 2001 to 2005.
    [Show full text]
  • Telephone Directory
    United States Department of State Telephone Directory This customized report includes the following section(s): Organizational Directory 5/2/2011 Provided by The Office of Global Publishing Solutions, A/ISS/GPS Cover UNCLASSIFIED Organizational Directory United States Department of State 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520 Office of the Secretary (S) Editor Editor 7516 202-647-1512 The Watch 7516 202-647-1512 Secretary Crisis Management Staff 7516 202-647-7640 Secretary Hillary Clinton 7th Floor 202-647-5291 Emergency and Evacuations Planning 7516 202-647-7640 Office Manager Claire Coleman 7226 202-647-7098 Emergency Relocation 7516 202-647-7640 Counselor and Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills 7226 202-647-5548 Military Representative Lt. Col. Paul Matier 7516 202-647-6097 Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Huma Abedin 202-647-9572 7226 Office of the Executive Director (S/ES-EX) Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Jacob Sullivan 7226 202-647-9572 Scheduling Lona Valmoro 7226 202-647-9071 Executive Director, Deputy Executive Secretary 202-647-7457 Lewis A. Lukens 7507 Scheduling Linda Dewan 7226 202-647-5733 Deputy Executive Director Mark R. Brandt 7507 202-647-5467 Executive Assistant Joseph Macmanus 7226 202-647-9572 Personnel Officer Cynthia J. Motley 7515 202-647-5638 Special Assistant Laura Lucas 7226 202-647-9573 Budget Officer Reginald J. Green 7515 202-647-9794 Special Assistant Timmy T. Davis 7226 202-647-6822 General Services Officer Dwayne Cline 7519 202-647-9221 Staff Assistant Lauren Jiloty 7226 202-647-5298 Staff Assistant Daniel Fogarty 7226 202-647-9572 Ombudsman for Civil Service Employees (S/CSO) Executive Secretariat (S/ES) Ombudsman Shireen Dodson 7428 202-647-9387 Special Assistant to the Secretary and the Executive 202-647-5301 Secretary of the Department Stephen D.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding US Policy in Somalia Current Challenges and Future Options Contents
    Research Paper Paul D. Williams Africa Programme | July 2020 Understanding US Policy in Somalia Current Challenges and Future Options Contents Summary 2 1 Introduction 3 2 What Is the US Mission in Somalia? 7 3 How Is the US Implementing Its Mission in Somalia? 10 4 Is US Policy Working in Somalia? 15 5 What Future for US Engagement in Somalia? 21 About the Author 24 Acknowledgments 24 1 | Chatham House Understanding US Policy in Somalia Summary • The US has real but limited national security interests in stabilizing Somalia. Since 2006, Washington’s principal focus with regard to Somalia has been on reducing the threat posed by al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist insurgent group seeking to overthrow the federal government. • Successive US administrations have used military and political means to achieve this objective. Militarily, the US has provided training, equipment and funds to an African Union operation, lent bilateral support to Somalia’s neighbours, helped build elements of the reconstituted Somali National Army (SNA), and conducted military operations, most frequently in the form of airstrikes. Politically, Washington has tried to enable the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) to provide its own security, while implementing diplomatic, humanitarian and development efforts in parallel. • Most US resources have gone into its military efforts, but these have delivered only operational and tactical successes without altering the strategic terrain. The war against al-Shabaab has become a war of attrition. Effectively at a stalemate since at least 2016, neither side is likely to achieve a decisive military victory. • Instead of intensifying airstrikes or simply disengaging, the US will need to put its diplomatic weight into securing two linked negotiated settlements in Somalia.
    [Show full text]
  • Occasional Paper Series from Moi to Kibaki: an Assessment of The
    AFRICAPROGRAM occasional paper series From Moi to Kibaki:An Assessment of the Kenyan Transition No.1 Ambassador Johnnie Carson September 11,2003 Senior Vice President, National Defense University An Introduction from Howard Wolpe: embraced and brought into America’s inner circle As the new Director of the Woodrow Wilson of new African partners. International Center's Africa Program, I am pleased to Despite our sometimes tepid approach toward present the first of a series of “occasional papers” of inter- the government in Nairobi over the last 15 years, est to those concerned with Africa, and with American and our correct criticism of the government’s policy toward Africa. “From Moi to Kibaki: An human rights record, Kenya has been our most sta- Assessment of the Kenyan Transition” provides a ble and reliable partner in the Greater Horn of remarkably clear and incisive analysis by one of the U.S. Africa. More importantly,it has served as a regional Foreign Service's most distinguished Africa specialists.We platform for advancing important U.S. bilateral and felt that Ambassador Johnnie Carson's public lecture multilateral interests. deserved a wider audience, and was an ideal vehicle for Without the use of Kenya’s airports and harbor the first of our series of occasional papers. in Mombasa, the United States would not have been able to provide famine relief to drought rav- ished Somalia between 1988 and 1993 nor massive In my opinion Kenya is the most important coun- emergency and humanitarian assistance to hundreds try in East Africa. However, over much of the last of thousands of Hutu refugees in the eastern Congo decade and a half, Nairobi has not received a great and western Tanzania after the Rwandan genocide deal of serious or sustained attention from senior of 1994.
    [Show full text]
  • Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson 5 April 2011 Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC
    - 1 - Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson 5 April 2011 Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC I would like to thank Steve McDonald and the Woodrow Wilson Center for inviting me to speak today. It’s a pleasure to see many longtime friends and colleagues. The Woodrow Wilson Center plays a vital role in providing policymakers like myself with the deep thinking and analysis that helps guide our work. My original goal for today’s talk was to provide you with a broad overview of the major issues and policies we anticipate for the coming year. Before I do that, however, I would like to first draw your attention to two situations of grave and immediate concern to the United States. The first has largely been eclipsed by developments in places such as Japan, North Africa, and the Middle East. It is not making big headlines or receiving much coverage on the news networks. Nonetheless, it is something on which we should all be focused. I’m talking about the elections in Nigeria. - 1 - - 2 - Nigeria is one of the two most important countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and what happens in Nigeria has consequences for Africa, the United States, and the global community. This past weekend Nigeria was to have held the first of a series of elections that will shape the direction of Africa’s most populous country and second-largest economy. Nigeria has not had credible national elections since 1993, and overcoming this negative legacy remains a significant challenge. This challenge was manifest on Saturday, as Nigeria’s independent electoral body, INEC, intervened a few hours into the polling to postpone the first round of voting for the National Assembly.
    [Show full text]
  • Department of State
    DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2201 C Street NW 20520, phone 647±4000 MADELEINE KORBEL ALBRIGHT, became the 64th Secretary of State on January 23, 1997, the first female Secretary of State and highest ranking woman in the U.S. government; B.A., Wellesley with honors in Political Science; studied at the School of Advanced Inter- national Studies at Johns Hopkins University; received Certified from the Russian Institute at Columbia University; Masters and Doctorate from the Department of Public Law and Government, Columbia University; fluent in French and Czech, with good speaking and reading abilities in Russian and Polish; research professor of international affairs and director of Women in Foreign Service Program, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service; taught undergraduate and graduate courses in international affairs, U.S. foreign policy, Russian foreign policy, and central and eastern European polices; United States permanent representative to the United Nations (presenting her credentials at the UN on February 6, 1993); president, Center for National Policy; awarded fellowship, Woodrow Wilson International Center for scholars at the Smithsonian Institute, 1981±82; senior fellow, Soviet and eastern European affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; staff member on the National Security Council and White House staff member, 1978±82; senior fellow, Soviet and eastern European affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; staff member on the National Security Council and White House staff member, 1978±81; chief legislative assistant for Senator Edmund S. Muskie, 1976±78; selected writing: Poland, the Role of the Press in Political Change (New York; Praeger with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, 1983; The Role of the Press in Political Change: Czechoslovakia 1968 (Ph.D.
    [Show full text]
  • U.S Congress and Boko Haram Written by Caitlin Poling
    U.S Congress and Boko Haram Written by Caitlin Poling This PDF is auto-generated for reference only. As such, it may contain some conversion errors and/or missing information. For all formal use please refer to the official version on the website, as linked below. U.S Congress and Boko Haram https://www.e-ir.info/2013/11/06/u-s-congress-and-boko-haram/ CAITLIN POLING, NOV 6 2013 The attack on the United Nations building by Boko Haram in Abuja, Nigeria sent the nascent terrorist group into the headlines worldwide in August 2011. The attack also sent the group to the top of the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee’s (HHSC) priority list. The Committee’s Chairman Peter King had long been concerned with emerging threats to the U.S. Homeland. He believed this attack signaled a threat to U.S. and Western interests once Boko Haram showed that it was capable of staging an attack like that which took place in Abuja.[1] Following the bombing in Abuja, HHSC staff began studying Boko Haram more closely, receiving briefings from the Council on Foreign Relations, Congressional Research Service, National Counterterrorism Center, and the Sahel Blog.[2] Their research and attention to the issue culminated in a HHSC report and hearing on Boko Haram, several letters to the Obama Administration, and legislation on a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation for the group. Prior to the HHSC hearing and report released in November 2011, Boko Haram received little attention on Capitol Hill. Before the U.N.
    [Show full text]
  • Testimony of Ambassador Johnnie Carson Assistant Secretary of State
    Testimony of Ambassador Johnnie Carson Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights November 2, 2011 Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Payne, honorable Members of the Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you concerning the situation in Zimbabwe and U.S.-Zimbabwe relations. Zimbabwe is a country of enormous economic, agricultural, and regional potential. Unfortunately, a history of fiscal mismanagement, poor governance, and a culture of political violence have limited that potential for nearly 15 years. While some visible improvements have been made, serious challenges remain. After a deeply flawed and violent election in 2008, Zimbabwe’s former opposition parties are now part of a transitional coalition government that has lasted nearly three years. This coalition government was established under the stewardship of the Southern African Development Community as a key tenet of the Global Political Agreement, which was negotiated between the opposing parties to end political violence and move past contested elections. Although significant challenges remain on the political front, there has been progress. A tri-partisan parliamentary committee has sought input for a new draft constitution from millions of Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe’s economy, which dollarized in 2009, has made a remarkable recovery. The International Monetary Fund estimated that Zimbabwe’s Gross Domestic Product grew at nine percent in 2010. Humanitarian need has decreased significantly since 2009, when 7 million people received humanitarian aid. In January 2012, the number of people needing humanitarian assistance is projected to be just one million. Schools and health clinics previously closed due to a lack of staff and supplies have re-opened and are providing vital social services to the Zimbabwean people.
    [Show full text]
  • U.S. Trade and Investment Relations with Africa Outlook for the AGOA Forum
    U.S. Trade and Investment Relations with Africa Outlook for the AGOA Forum May 13 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm (Registration at 8:30 am) B-1 Conference Room A/B CSIS 1800 K. St. NW, Washington, DC 20006 Speaker List U.S. Trade and Investment Relations with Africa Outlook for the AGOA Forum Featuring With an introduction by Keynote Speaker Ambassador Demetrios Marantis The Honorable Jim McDermott Deputy United States Trade Representative Member, U.S. House of Representatives (D-WA) Office of the United States Trade Representative With presentation by Ambassador Johnnie Carson Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State and panelists Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi Former Minister for Trade and Industry, Republic of Kenya The Brookings Institution Callisto Madavo Visiting Professor, African Studies Program, Florie Liser Georgetown University Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, Office of the United States Trade Representative Jack Edlow Stephen Lande President, Edlow International President, Manchester Trade Co-Chair, Trade Advisory Committee on Africa Mark Neuman Ambassador John Simon Global Trade Policy Advisor, Retail Industry Partner, Total Impact Advisors Moderator Nils Tcheyan Director, Africa Energy Policy, GE Energy Meredith Broadbent Scholl Chair in International Business, Moderator Center for Strategic and International Studies Jennifer Cooke and International Studies Director, Africa Program, Center for Strategic Trade and Investment Relations with Africa Outlook for the AGOA Forum May 13, 2011 AGENDA 9:00 a.m. Introductory Remarks The Honorable Jim McDermott, Member, U.S. House of Representatives (D-WA) Keynote Address Ambassador Demetrios Marantis, Deputy US Trade Representative, Office of the United States Trade Representative Question and Answer Session 10:00 a.m.
    [Show full text]