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Clinton Spotlights Africa's Development on 7-Nation Tour
FrontLines - September 2009
By Angela Rucker
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Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton plants
flowers in front of a house
under construction in
Khayelitsha, South Africa.
The house is being built by
women who are members of
the South African Homeless
People’s Federation,
which helps impoverished
communities apply for housing
subsidies, and provides
construction expertise.
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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton turned the spotlight on some successful development programs in Africa during her 11-day, seven-country visit to the continent in August.
She toured an agriculture research facility in Kenya and revisited a housing redevelopment
project in South Africa she first saw 12 years ago as first lady. She also emphasized transparency in government, denounced corruption, and used herself and President Barack Obama as an example of how political foes can put differences aside and find common ground.
And Clinton said economic successes—from million dollar trade agreements to small-time entrepreneurs making good—showed that U.S. partnerships with African countries are producing
results.
“At the State Department and USAID, we are actively exploring how we can fund, design, [and] implement development and foreign assistance that produces measurable, lasting results, while also helping people in the short run,” Clinton said in a speech during her first stop in Kenya.
“In Africa and elsewhere,” she said, “… we will focus on country-driven solutions that give responsible governments more information, capacity, and control as they tailor strategies to meet their needs.”
After Kenya, Clinton went to South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia, and Cape Verde. She also discussed Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and other African countries during visits with officials.
The overarching message: “President Obama and I are committed to making the development
and democratization of Africa a priority in our foreign policy,” Clinton said during one of several interviews, roundtable discussions, and town hall-style meetings.
She also told heads of state, particularly in oil-rich Nigeria and Angola, it was necessary for African leaders to root out corruption
and embrace democratic reforms.
Efforts backed by USAID took center stage during several stops.
- In Kenya, Clinton toured a program that prepares women for prominent roles in agricultural
development. African Women in Agricultural Research and Development receives support
from USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Africa’s women farmers produce as much as 80 percent of food, but account for just 5 percent of those who receive training.
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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gestures as she stands
with survivors of the bombings against the U.S. embassy in
Nairobi that killed 213 people in 1998. She took part in a wreathlaying
ceremony Aug. 6 where she renewed the administration’s
commitment to combat extremism in the region and elsewhere.
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Clinton tours the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute near Nairobi during her 11-day, seven-country
visit to the African continent in August. While there, Clinton noted the work of a USAID-backed
program that prepares women to take on key roles in food security and agricultural research.
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“Investing in women is the smart solution to Africa’s hunger,”
said Kenyan horticulture professor Mary Abukutsa-Onyango. “It will help ensure that U.S. development resources yield maximum returns in reducing food insecurity and poverty.”
Clinton was joined by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to tour the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute’s (KARI) National Agricultural Research Laboratories.
USAID and the World Food Program are spending $90 million this year to increase food security in Africa—an initiative highlighted by Obama during his July G8 talks. KARI in particular is focusing on Kenya’s food security and agricultural
development. There, Clinton, Vilsack, and other officials viewed a soil-testing laboratory and maize research plot, and held discussions
with KARI researchers, seed industry representatives, and female scientists on cutting edge agricultural research and training.
- In South Africa’s Gauteng Province, the Cullinan Clinic provided a backdrop for Clinton to talk about USAID’s health assistance, funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Since 2006, $575,000 in PEPFAR funds helped the clinic provide prevention and treatment for people with HIV/AIDS as well as family planning.
“Some people say that [being] HIV positive is the end of the world; it’s not,” said Simangele Ncumbe, who attended the event with Clinton and was diagnosed with HIV in 1994. “With your support, here I am and I look good. I started my ARVs [antiretrovirals]
in 2005 at a district hospital.
I am fine. I walk tall.”
“I have challenges,” she added. “Stigma is killing our communities; pushing down people. I didn’t let it get to me.”
Clinton also visited the Victoria Mxenge housing project with USAID’s Southern Africa Director Carleene Dei—where 12 years earlier she and Dei helped lay the first bricks. The construction
effort has gone on to complete
50,000 homes nationwide with support from USAID in partnership
with the South African Homeless People’s Federation.
- In Angola, Clinton signed an agreement with government officials to expand PEPFAR assistance to $17 million from $7 million, and presided over a ceremony to mark a $5 million alliance between the Agency and Chevron Corp. focusing on agriculture.
- In the DRC, Clinton made an unprecedented stop in Goma, visiting two rape victims and denouncing sexual attacks that are committed in times of civil war. (See sidebar, page 9).
- In Liberia, where Clinton received perhaps the most enthusiastic
greeting, the secretary touted the progress the country has made since its civil war. Improvements have come in infrastructure, governance,
and education, but more work remains in these and other sectors, Clinton said.
“There are no quick-fixes for countries making the transition from violent conflict to lasting peace and stability,” Clinton told lawmakers there who interrupted
her talk with applause and cheers. “But … Liberia has the talent, the resources, and the resilience to succeed if everyone works together on behalf of the common good.”
She also said Liberia could serve as a model for other African countries.
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