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News From the World Bank in Africa

View it in a web browser World Bank Africa Region Tuesday, February 21, 2012 VISIT THE WORLD BANK AFRICA REGION HOMEPAGE Removing... 

UN Secretary-General Ban joined by IOC President Rogge to visit grassroots sports projects in Zambia

UN Secretary-General Ban joined by IOC President Rogge to visit grassroots sports projects in Zambia Geneva, 21 February 2012 __________________________________________________________________ On... 

Subject: Remarks – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AND POSTING U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesperson For Immediate Release                                                                    ... 

★ WHITNEY HOUSTON FUNERAL NEWARK NEW JERSEY ★ (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

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Selection of the President of the World Bank Group

  Selection of the President of the World Bank Group Opening of Process    WASHINGTON, February 17, 2012 - The Board of Executive Directors of... 

International Organizations: Supporting the Empowerment of Women and Girls Globally

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President Obama to Deliver Remarks at the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

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The First Black Female U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter Pilot

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Africa Loses Billions in Potential Trade Earnings, Falls Short of Vast Promise in Cross-Border Business-New World Bank Report

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News From the World Bank in Africa

World Bank Africa Region

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

VISIT THE WORLD BANK AFRICA REGION HOMEPAGE

World Bank Unites to Combat Tropical Diseases

Removing Barriers to Trade in Africa

A new World Bank report highlights opportunities for African countries to trade goods, services and investments with one another.

Feature

Africa’s Pulse: Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa is Positive

Barring a serious deterioration in the global economy, the outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa is positive, with a predicted uptick in growth for 2012 and 2013. Find Out More

Nigeria: Education Project Credited With Surge in Academic Improvement

For the past two years, junior and senior public school students throughout Lagos State have been showing marked improvement in school, with more students passing core subjects and college entrance exams than ever before. Read the Story

DRC: New School in Katanga Province Represents Real Social Change

A new school in the Katanga Province is the latest completed project that reflects real change for the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Find Out How

We Want to Know …

What can the World Bank do to support civil society’s engagement with governments?
Give Us Your Input | Learn More

In the Blogs

What Can We Do to Help Africans Trade With Each Other?

To break through barriers to intra-African trade, policy makers have to move beyond the conventional and drive a more holistic process to deeper regional integration. Find Out More

Africa’s 2012 Growth Prospects Appear Bright, But Risks Could Dampen Momentum

Most African countries rely on the European Union for two or three primary commodities, so a sharp economic downturn in Europe could lower growth rates in Africa.ᅠ Get the Details

Sierra Leone: Beating the Global Economic Downturn

Can Sierra Leone use two major reforms — the completion of the Freetown dam and the arrival of submarine cable for enhanced telecommunications — to beat the threat of a global economic downturn?Decide for yourself

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Video: Marcelo Giugale, Director, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management

Africa is coming to a crossroads in its trade strategy as a continent, Giugale says. Watch

Video: Nora Dihel, Senior Trade Economist

Regional integration is a key objective for Africa, with significant implications for growth, development and poverty reduction, Dihel says. Watch

Video: Beyond the Nakumatt Generation in Kenya

The liberation of distribution services in the 1990′s was a major catalyst for change in Kenya, but the country is ready for the next phase of growth in the sector. Watch

UN Secretary-General Ban joined by IOC President Rogge to visit grassroots sports projects in Zambia

UN Secretary-General Ban joined by IOC President Rogge to visit grassroots sports projects in Zambia

Geneva, 21 February 2012
__________________________________________________________________

On Saturday 25 February 2012, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and hisSpecial Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, Wilfried Lemke, will jointly – together with the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge – visit community sports projects in Lusaka, Zambia. They will be accompanied by other high-ranked IOC and Zambian Government officials.

The landmark visit follows an invitation extended publicly by Secretary-General Ban to President Rogge in his keynote address at the 2nd International Forum on Sport, Peace and Development in Geneva on 11 May 2011.

“I know that the Olympic Movement has many excellent development projects in Africa […]. With a view to further strengthening our cooperation in the implementation of sports for development projects, I should like to invite you to join me and my Special Adviser in one of my future trips to Africa to show us a concrete project on the ground,” he declared.

On Saturday, 25 February 2012, the delegation will start by visiting a United Nations-supported initiative focusing on the rehabilitation of street children and out-of-school children and young people through sport.

Hosted at the Fountain of Hope centre, the project is run by the NGO Sports in Action, one of UNICEF’s implementing partners, as part of the ‘International Inspiration’ programme, the official legacy programme of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

That afternoon, the delegation will visit the Olympic Youth Development Centre in the northern outskirts of Lusaka. The multi-purpose sports complex is a pilot project of the IOC’s ‘Sports for Hope’ programme and was inaugurated in May 2010.

The objective of the IOC and the Zambian government is that the centre can offer athletes professional training opportunities while also offering a wide range of educational programmes, health services and community activities.

Before heading to Zambia, Mr. Lemke will travel to Nairobi, Kenya, where he will take part in the filming of the documentary GOLD. The film depicts the story of three paralympic athletes, their social engagement and follows them on their way to the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Last Tuesday, 14 February, Mr. Ban and his Special Adviser held a meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York. During his visit to New York, Special Adviser Lemke also conducted a series of multilateral and bilateral meetings with senior government representatives.

He then continued to Los Angeles, where he attended the 5th World Conference on Women and Sport, organized by the IOC. Also present at the event, Ms. Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), delivered a speech at the panel discussion on “Leadership Views on Women in the World of Sports”.

Subject: Remarks – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AND POSTING

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesperson
For Immediate Release                                                                                                                                                                     February 16, 2012
2012/238
Remarks
 

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

At the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
 
February 16, 2012
Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, D.C.
 
SECRETARY CLINTON:  Well, good afternoon, everyone.  I am so pleased to see all of you here.  There are a number of familiar faces who have been working on this and other related issues for a number of years, and a lot of new and young faces, which is especially welcome.  I think that the fact that you are gathered here with us to mark the first ever event at the State Department concerning the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation is a great step forward to raise visibility, to create a great movement that will support the brave women and men who understand the need for this practice to stop.
And it’s especially gratifying for me to be on this stage with Ambassador Melanne Verveer, our first ever ambassador on behalf of our country standing up for the rights of women and girls around the world – (applause) – and Joe Crowley, who, as you might gather, is a good friend of mine, has been for many years.  He and his wife and his family are very close to me and my family, and I’m very proud that he is here on behalf of his legislation.  I think it is also very important that Representative Dent is here as well.  And this is the kind of a united front on behalf of an issue that we are extremely proud to see.
When I think about what we are doing, I know it is not the work of this day or this year, but of a generation.  But the good news is progress is being made.  And through education, through outreach, through advocacy, we see that progress taking place.  You will hear in just a few minutes from some of the real leaders in this movement who understand the issues, who have been working in the science, research, health fields, who have been working in the grassroots, in the villages, in the legislatures of countries.  And it is, for me, a great honor to have all of our panelists with us.  There are a number of people, as Melanne just said, watching us through the miracle of technology far beyond the Ben Franklin Room, and they will have a chance to participate in the discussion later.
I think that the importance of this event is really proven by the quality of the panelists, by the representatives of ambassadors and leaders in so many fields.  I am especially pleased to see from UNICEF Geeta Rao Gupta, because UNICEF has a very big role to play in the work to end this very terrible practice that has gone on for too long.  I’ve also, though, seen for myself how progress can be made.  You’ll hear in a minute from Molly Melching.  Molly is a real hero of mine, a friend of mine.  She will be talking about the excellent community-based work that the international organization Tostan that she began in Senegal is doing.
 
I first got to see this work in 1997 when I was in Senegal, and Molly took me to a village where the village elders had really been thinking deeply about what the implications were of FGM on their daughters and their granddaughters.  And they were reaching the conclusion by asking a lot of hard questions about what does this do to a girl’s health, what does this do to her future ability to be a mother, what does this do to the quality of life of her family.  And what they were learning was leading them to conclude that this practice really had to end, even though it had gone on for as long as anyone could remember.
 
And what was so striking about my visit with Molly that day in that village was that Tostan and Molly were putting this very impressive discussion into the context of democracy, and there was a wonderful skit that was being performed about what democracy meant and who got to have a voice and what kinds of concerns should be brought to the village.  I know Molly reported that one woman said, “What do we do with this democracy,” and what the women decided with the support of the men in the village was to change the custom of cutting their girls.  So they organized their arguments and they went to the male leaders and they talked from personal experience about the pain of the procedure, about the lasting psychological damage it causes, about the health complications during childbirth, including the risk of death.
 
They asked their local mullah to participate, and he then began to study and look to the Qu’ran and to talk with others, concluding there was no religious basis for the practice in Islam.  And eventually, the village voted to outlaw it.  Then they took to the road and the male leaders went from village to village, starting a discussion about the harm from female cutting, talking to neighbors who, just like them, had accepted it because their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents had accepted it.
 
And by the time I returned to Senegal a little over a year later, several villages had renounced the practice through this wonderful conversation that was started.  It wasn’t somebody coming from the outside pointing fingers, saying how terrible they were.  It was people from both outside and inside asking questions about why do we do this, and is it something we should continue to do, and is there another way perhaps to think about giving our girls what they need, like education, to be good mothers when their time comes.
 
Then they decided to petition Senegal’s president to ask for national legislation outlawing FGM.  I remember being so impressed by this grassroots democratic movement that had taken to the road and gotten all the way to the capital of Dakar.  And I invited the very first villagers from that village I had visited to come to a meeting, to sit at the same table with powerful officials and representatives of NGOs, and I was so proud to introduce them because they really had walked the walk.  They were living the hard work of human rights activism.
 
All these years later, I am still very proud of the work that I saw and that is being done in so many places.  Let’s be clear – this is a deeply entrenched practice in many places.  So we have to be both unrelenting in our efforts to end it and understanding about what works and what doesn’t work.  And I think you’ll hear that firsthand from the panelists.  We enter into this with a lot of humility because we have to empower those people in those villages to make the decisions.
 
Now we cannot excuse this as a cultural tradition.  There are many cultural traditions that used to exist in many parts of the world that are no longer acceptable.  We cannot excuse it as a private matter because it has very broad public implications.  It has no medical benefits.  It is, plain and simply, a human rights violation.  And as we think about the rights of young girls to be free from both physical and mental violence, we can understand why this is such an important issue that deserves attention from the United States Congress and from leaders across the globe.
 
I think that for me, the honest and direct conversation that we are having, especially hearing from those with firsthand experience, is what makes this different.  Our partners from the UN will be leading efforts to raise international awareness.  We will be looking at laws and resolutions. We will be looking at what can be done in families and villages.  We will be making the case, this is not a women’s problem, this is not a women’s issue.  This affects the human family, and therefore, we all have a stake in it.  When a mother dies in childbirth due to complications caused by FGM, everyone in the family suffers.  When women are sick from infections or girls miss out on their education, communities also suffer.  And what we have seen in Senegal and elsewhere is that when men understand the trauma that FGC causes, they are among the most effective activists for ending it.
So we’re elevating this issue, but it’s part of our overall elevation of the role of women and girls in our foreign policy economically, strategically, politically.  Every aspect of our policy is intending to highlight and promote the role of women.  And we are funding community-based programs that involve women and men in public awareness campaigns about the dangers of FGC.  We’re working in refugee camps and other humanitarian settings. Through USAID, the United States cofounded the international Donors Working Group on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, which needs continued high-level international support, and we will redouble our efforts.
I’m very proud to announce today that we will join with the University of Nairobi to fund a pan-African Center of Excellence in Kenya, which will advance African research and strategies to address FGC.  This center will focus on developing local solutions to end the practice and offer medical training on how to support the women who have been hurt and damaged by it.  I hope others in the business and international communities will join the United States in supporting this very important new initiative based in Africa, where we think it needs to be.
Now, Kenya has just passed an outright national ban on FGC, becoming the 18th African country to do so.  Last year, the African Union called on the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution banning it, and we will certainly work in any way we can to support the African Union in that.  There is more to be done.  We need more advocacy, more interaction between policy makers and those in the field.  We need to empower men and women, and especially girls, to speak up for themselves.  We need to ultimately overcome the deeply-rooted gender inequalities that, either tacitly or actively, permit and promote such practices.
So this is a very important day here at the State Department, and I’m especially delighted that we can have people here speaking about this, as well as others throughout Africa by means of the internet, so that we can become stronger in numbers and understanding and effectiveness.  It is my hope that we can certainly see the abolition of this practice even sooner than within a generation, but no later than within a generation, and that we also do everything we can to create conditions for every child, girl and boy, to have the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential.  Thank you all very much.  (Applause.)

★ WHITNEY HOUSTON FUNERAL NEWARK NEW JERSEY ★ (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

Selection of the President of the World Bank Group

 

Selection of the President of the World Bank Group
Opening of Process 

 
WASHINGTON, February 17, 2012 - The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank met today under the Chairmanship of its Dean, Mr. Abdulrahman M. Almofadhi, to discuss the selection of the next President of the World Bank Group, following the announcement of the current President, Robert B. Zoellick, that he would not seek reappointment at the end of his term which expires on June 30, 2012.
 
The Executive Directors expressed their deep appreciation to President Zoellick for his leadership of the World Bank Group and its very significant accomplishments during his tenure, including: an agile, decisive, and effective response to the food and financial crises; increased support for disaster recovery, fragile states, gender equality, and climate change adaptation and mitigation through the launch of the Climate Investment Funds; renewed focus on private sector development, including the creation of the International Finance Corporation’s Asset Management Company; changes in the shareholding structure to enhance the voice and representation of developing and transition countries; the first general capital increase in over twenty years; and two record replenishments of the International Development Association (IDA), the Bank Group’s concessional window.
 
In 2011, the Board of Executive Directors approved the process for selection of the President. It reconfirmed the importance of a merit-based and transparent process with all Executive Directors able to nominate and then consider all candidates.http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DEVCOMMINT/Documentation/22885978/DC2011-0006(E)Governance.pdf
 
The Executive Directors agreed that candidates should meet the following criteria:
 ·         a proven track record of leadership;
·         experience of managing large organizations with international exposure, and a familiarity with the public sector;
·         the ability to articulate a clear vision of the World Bank Group’s development mission;
·         a firm commitment to and appreciation for multilateral cooperation; and,
·         effective and diplomatic communication skills, impartiality and objectivity in the performance of the responsibilities of the position. 
Nominations should be submitted by close of business on Friday, March 23, 2012, and may be made by Executive Directors, or by Governors through their Executive Director. Candidates must be nationals of the Bank’s member countries.
 
Following the close of the nomination process, the Executive Directors will decide on a shortlist of up to three candidates, and publish the names of the shortlisted candidates with their consent. Formal interviews by the Executive Directors will be conducted for all shortlisted candidates with the expectation of selecting the new President by consensus by the Spring Meetings of 2012. 
 

Under the Bank’s Articles, the President of the World Bank is chief of the operating staff of the Bank and conducts, under the direction of the Executive Directors, the ordinary business of the Bank. The President is also responsible for the organization, appointment and dismissal of the officers and staff, subject to the general control of the Executive Directors.  The President, officers and staff of the Bank, in the discharge of their offices, owe their duty entirely to the Bank and to no other authority.

 
The President of the World Bank is ex officio chair of the Board of the Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). The President is also ex officio chair of the Board of Directors of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the Administrative Council of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). 
  Contacts:
In Washington: David Theis, (202) 458-8626    For Broadcast Requests: Natalia Cieslik, (202) 458-9369 

International Organizations: Supporting the Empowerment of Women and Girls Globally

International Organizations: Supporting the Empowerment of Women and Girls Globally

02/16/2012 07:23 AM EST

 

Supporting the Empowerment of Women and Girls Globally

Remarks

Esther Brimmer
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Organization Affairs
Spelman College
Atlanta, GA
February 15, 2012

 

As prepared

Dr. Meadows, thank you for that introduction.

I greatly appreciate this opportunity and want to thank Spelman College and its Department of International Studies for hosting this event and the very warm welcome. I want to thank the students and faculty from Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College for joining us today.

It is truly an honor for me to be in Atlanta at America’s oldest historically black college for women, particularly during Black History Month, to discuss some of the many ways the President and Secretary of State are supporting the empowerment of women and girls globally.

You already know that Spelman is widely known as a tireless advocate for the advancement of women and girls – that’s why you’re here! And I should add that some of Spelman’s notable and accomplished alumnae have risen to become prominent U.S. diplomats, including Ambassadors Adrienne O’Neal, Aurelia Brazeal, and Ruth Davis. And not only have your women alumnae done great diplomatic work, your current Diplomat in Residence Mr. Terrence Williamson and former DIR Paul Rowe have also made tremendous contributions to diplomacy at the State Department. So it is entirely appropriate that I be here today to talk about issues that you are learning about, researching, and that are affecting so many fellow women and men around the world.

As Secretary Clinton and officials across this Administration have stated repeatedly, the major security, governance, environmental, and economic challenges of the 21st Century cannot be solved without the participation of women and girls at all levels of society.

As women progress, everyone in society benefits, including men and boys. Tapping into the limitless potential of women and girls is not only the right thing to do but it is the smart thing. That is why the United States and our international partners are invested in a historic effort to empower women globally.

As the Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs, I am responsible for U.S. engagement across the United Nations system as well as with other multilateral institutions. In all those institutions, we are hard at work to find new ways, new actions, and new energy to empower millions of women and girls across the world.

In that context, allow me to make a bold statement:

The United States is not an island. Now, that may confirm what you all learned in third grade geography, but it may not resonate in the same way when we talk about political geography, cultural geography, economic geography, or environmental geography.

When President Obama was elected, he made clearly very early his intent to reengage with the multilateral community – the community of international organizations including the UN, with international civil society, with the global business community. He expressed that intent with a keen understanding of some important global truths, which I will summarize.

  • First, today’s shared challenges demand shared solutions. Consider just a few examples. Climate change, food security, water, public health, trade, transportation. Our modern world faces numerous challenges that cannot be effectively addressed or resolved in the absence of international conventions and agreements. That isn’t to say that international organizations are a guaranteed path to international cooperation, but it does indicate that the United States cannot stand on the sidelines while the rest of the world plays the big game.
  • Second, we must engage actively in international arenas because there are plenty of nations willing to fill any void we provide. New centers of power are emerging around the world to play larger roles on global issues. India, China, Brazil, Indonesia, Russia, and others. If we are not at the table, at all the various tables where global issues are addressed, we cannot assume that our interests will be represented.
  • Third, I would note that non-state actors are playing more important roles in international affairs. There are many places where this is becoming obvious. Violent extremism remains a threat, as does piracy and other forms of transnational crime. Regional and sub-regional organizations such as the African Union and the Organization of American States are playing more influential roles on their issues.
  • And finally, I would note that in our globalized world, power and influence increasingly stems from being part of a networks. As a generation more connected, more wired that any previous, you understand what I mean. U.S. influence must now be much, much more than simply sending an Ambassador to Country X and relying on that relationship to guide our affairs. We must be part of multiple, overlapping conversations between governments, publics, academic institutions, NGOs. And as we have demonstrated over the last few years, when the United States engages actively with those networks, we can accomplish a great deal.

Now, to the issue at hand. Women and girls around the world face a breadth of challenges – lack of education and basic literacy skills, sexual and gender-based violence, rampant discrimination, the lack of economic opportunities and political participation, and more. –

Access to education is another challenge on which we are working multilaterally to address. Today, women, mainly in the world’s poorest communities, represent about two-thirds of the nearly 800 million illiterate adults around the world. That is why the United States is working the specialized agencies such as United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to expand girls’ and women’s access to education. Seeking to end this imbalance, Secretary Clinton spoke at to UNESCO last May to launch the Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education. In Paris, she joined UNESCO’s Executive Director Irina Bokova, world leaders, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, including American companies, in pledging to support education for women and girls.

As the Secretary pointed out at the Global Partnership launch, “No society can achieve its full potential when half the population is denied the opportunity to achieve theirs.” We know that opening the door for women and girls to greater education leads to more choices, opportunities, and useful information in how to live their lives. Indeed, we also know that birth rates, HIV infections, incidents of domestic violence and female cutting all decline when education rises.

That is why we are deeply committed to the Partnership because it has the power to transform the lives of women. Together, we are working to ensure that money and resources are best used to promote basic literacy training and secondary education for girls around the globe. Working together with other governments, NGOs, and private partners also allows us to multiply our impact, reaching more women and girls in meaningful ways than if we acted alone. It is because of the power of these partnerships that we have been at the fore-front of bringing together diverse groups of governments, foundations, and corporations.

For example, the United States helped broker an agreement between Procter and Gamble and UNESCO to fund literacy training for girls in Senegal. Today only 33% of Senegalese women are literate. This modestly funded agreement will impact 40,000 women in Senegal enhancing their literacy and increasing their income and quality of their environment.

We also have partners, like Nokia, with whom we work in multiple venues. Nokia is a partner in the UNESCO Global Partnership, but they are also one of our partners in the mWomen program. This initiative – led by the Cherie Blair Foundation and the GSM Association, a mobile telephone industry group – aims to reduce the gender gap in access to mobile technology of 300 million in the developing world, by 50 percent, in the next three years. By increasing women’s access to cell phones, the programs enables them to gain access to mobile education and mobile banking, which are critical tools for girls and women to strengthen their education and participate in developing markets.

Not only has this administration focused on how to help address the challenges that women face, this administration has also focused on ensuring that more women are holding leadership positions. We have seen progress on this front; year after year we see more women entering government and taking on senior positions, including heads of state. There is still much work to do, the road forward remains rocky and the numbers disproportionate given that women make half of the global population. When women are not serving in governments, when their voice and experience are muted, when they are not at the negotiating table their absence has direct impact on society, on peace and security, on strengthening democracy in the communities, nations and world in which we live.

The Administration is implementing policies and programs to bolster women’s leadership capacity in all areas of political participation and decision-making. To that end, we have worked to strengthen the institutional arrangements and mechanisms at the UN for support of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

We were at the forefront in 2009 and 2010 in leading efforts at the UN to support the consolidation of the UN’s existing gender-related institutions into a single more effective women’s agency. It was our goal at the UN to elevate women’s issues to their rightful status.

Our efforts were successful; UN Women formally began operations on January 1, 2011 with a comprehensive mandate to work on all issues related to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Its Executive Director, Michelle Bachelet, is an impressive leader, as you know she is the former President of Chile.

UN Women has several strategic priorities, one of which is expanding women’s leadership and participation. The events of the Arab Awakening have focused international attention on the importance and fragility of women’s political participation. In some cases, gains previously made by women in the Middle East and North Africa are being challenged, and women who had taken part in democracy movements are now excluded from negotiations on future systems of government. These trends jeopardize political stability, economic security, and human rights in countries undergoing transition.

To address these concerns, UN Women, in conjunction with the United States and other partners, held a high-level roundtable discussion during the UN General Assembly last September to examine the role of women during periods of political transition, like in the Middle East and North Africa. This meeting was the first debate on gender equality since the formation of UN Women in January 2011 convening several high-level government representatives from UN Women, the United States, Brazil, the European Union, and other member states.

Additionally, the Administration supports UN Women efforts to advance women’s political participation through technical assistance, research, and training, with a focus on countries in transition, including countries in the Middle East. We hope to complement ongoing UN Women projects aimed at greater political participation for women in Latin America and in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Another UN Women strategic priority is enhancing women’s economic empowerment. Executive Director Bachelet has often said that women’s economic security is a precondition for further improvements in their lives.

Every day, women are starting their own businesses. Between 1997 and 2008, women-owned businesses in the U.S. grew at twice the national average for all other business types. An estimated 10.1 million companies, 40% of all privately-owned firms, were owned by women as of 2008.

What we know is that women-run small and medium sized businesses in the U.S. and internationally accelerate economic growth, and many countries have made progress on laws and regulations concerning inheritance and property ownership, working hours, and retirement ages. Yet women face barriers in the U.S. and globally starting these businesses, including challenges connected with access to training, mentors, finance, technology, and markets. These challenges need to be addressed in order for women to fulfill their potential to increase their livelihoods and contribute to the broader economy.

This Administration continues to address some of the most troublesome challenges facing women and girls, such as the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women, the role of women in peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peace-building and combating sexual and gender-based violence.

It is a priority for the U.S. in areas of post-conflict and transition, to ensure that women participate in peace processes, political transitions, new constitutions, and the electoral process. Thus, we have been blunt in urging others join us in implementing the series of UN Security Council resolutions on these topics, including those we have taken leadership on, such as Resolutions 1325, 1888 and more recently 1960.

As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton promised during the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in October of 2010, the United States has developed a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security that will guide our approach to this issue in the coming years. It focuses on the four pillars of 1325: participation, prevention, protection, and relief and recovery, and outlines how the principles of 1325 will be integrated and institutionalized in the United States’ work in conflict-affected environments over the next several years. Our ultimate objective is to fully incorporate women and girls into our diplomatic, security, and development efforts – not simply as beneficiaries, but as agents of peace, reconciliation, development, growth, and stability.

The NAP is accompanied by an Executive Order mandating that, within five months, key departments and agencies will develop comprehensive agency-level implementation plans. Secretary Clinton gave two speeches on December 16 and 19 highlighting the critical role of women in building peace around the world, particularly in conflict-affected zones.

In making this promise, the Secretary also committed nearly $44 million in U.S. funding to a set of initiatives designed to empower women, with a large share of the funding to support civil society groups that focus on women in Afghanistan. The U.S. has been adamant that rights of Afghan women will not be sacrificed.

Resolution 1888 was a major achievement for the Administration because it established a Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sexual Violence in Conflict as well as a team of experts to support accountability mechanisms targeting impunity for rape as a weapon of war. The Special Representative position is currently held by Margot Wallstrom.

Resolution 1960, passed at U.S. urging last December, further empowered the UN to address sexual violence in armed conflict by establishing monitoring, analysis, and reporting arrangements, and mandating annual reports to the Security Council on progress towards implementing resolution 1888.

Today we are continuing to work hand in hand with Special Representative Margot Wallstrom to lead and coordinate efforts to end conflict-related sexual violence against women and children.

The United States is also playing a leading role, along with international partners, in supporting empowerment of women, within the UN system, through our participation in the Commission on the Status of Women. The theme of the spring 2011 UN Commission on the Status of Women session was “Access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science, and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work.”

At that Commission meeting, the U.S. pointed out that the emerging green economy is shaping employment opportunities, and women can gain a stronger position in the workforce through green jobs. The Department of Labor is leading efforts domestically along with policy-makers, employers, workforce professionals, educators, and trainers to focus their efforts on having women participate in and benefit from the new green economy. Women have made great strides in some male-dominated occupations, but still make up only a small portion of the workers in these jobs.

At the Spring session, and with the goal of further advancing the capacity of women in addressing climate change policy, our delegation led by Ambassador Melanne Verveer, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, announced a new international exchange program, which will target women climate leaders from the developing world and the critical role they play in developing climate-related policies.

Participants will travel to the United States for three weeks to learn about the development of new policies related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as information about cutting edge small scale clean technologies and how to promote women’s entrepreneurship opportunities and markets for them in their countries.

Building on the Administrations’ strong commitment to expand educational exchanges and new opportunities in entrepreneurship and science, the U.S. launched the TechWomen Program in 2011 to promote professional development and sustainable relationships for women technology leaders from the Middle East and North Africa. Some of the most prominent U.S. technology companies are committed to participating in the program. Last summer we saw the first graduates from this program, thirty-seven women from places such as Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the West Bank and Gaza. Building on the success of the TechWomen program Secretary Clinton also announced a similar initiative called TechGirls that will bring teenage girls from the Middle East and North Africa for educational programming in the United States.

Earlier this month, we commemorated the Ninth Annual International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. Female genital mutilation/cutting occurs in many countries around the world transcending cultures and religions. In addition to causing intense pain and psychological trauma, the procedure carries with it severe short and long-term health risks: including hemorrhaging; infection, including increased risk of HIV transmission; birth complications; and even death. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stressed, violence toward women and girls isn’t cultural — it’s criminal. We have supported efforts to abandon this egregious practice since the early 1990s, and consider it not only a public health issue, but a violation of women’s rights and dignity.

Challenges like FMG reveal why institutions like the UN are essential. Through multilateral engagement, we can exchange ideas and rally international support to address these issues.

Before concluding, I want to highlight the Obama administration’s firm commitment to working with the United Nations and international partners, as well as the NGO and private sector communities to advance the rights, freedoms and opportunities of women. President Obama’s 2010 National Security Strategy recognized that “countries are more peaceful and prosperous when women are accorded full and equal rights and opportunity. When those rights and opportunities are denied, countries lag behind.”

We know our goal to empower women and girls is an historic effort that will not be achieved overnight. It will require persistence and a long-term commitment of the United States and international community to realize the lasting change we seek for women and girls on a global scale.

President Obama to Deliver Remarks at the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Subject: President Obama to Deliver Remarks at the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2012
President Obama to Deliver Remarks at the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, February 22, the President will deliver remarks at the construction site of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.  The museum is scheduled to open in 2015 and will be the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, art, history and culture. The event is by invitation only and not open to the public; the entire ceremony will be webcast.
Members of the media who wish to cover the President’s remarks should RSVP by 12:00 noon, Sunday, Feb. 19, to NMAAHC-PublicAffairs@si.edu. For media questions, please contact either Becky Haberacker (haberackerb@si.edu; (202) 633-5183) or Abigail Benson bensona@si.edu; (202) 633-9495). Freelance journalists must submit proof of assignments from their editors before receiving a credential.
For more information on the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture please visit http://newsdesk.si.edu.
 
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The First Black Female U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter Pilot

La'Shonda HolmesLa’Shanda Holmes

Age: 26

Place of Residence: Los Angeles, Calif.

Why she is a local hero: Holmes overcame early adversity in her life to become the first Black female helicopter pilot in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Holmes’ early life was difficult to say the least: Her mother committed suicide when she was 2, and after abuse occurred in the foster home where she lived, Holmes was separated from her sibling. Afterward, Holmes bounced through the foster care system until she found stability at 17 with the people she still calls her “parents.”

Once Holmes graduated high school at the top of her class, she attended Spelman College. It was there that she became interested in the Coast Guard while volunteering at a career fair. The Coast Guard helped pay her way through college with their pre-commissioning program, and while she was working on a Coast Guard cutter, the seed of becoming a pilot began to sprout in her mind.

“I was used to people telling me what I couldn’t do. We moved around a lot, and I think it fueled my ambition to live better and work harder. It just gave me more motivation to succeed,” Holmes told the Coast Guard’s blog.

The first time she was out over the water in a helicopter, Holmes knew she was hooked.

“We did hovering and flying low over the water. I was like a little kid. It was like nothing I had ever done or seen before. It was awesome,” she said. “Everyone in the aviation community was so close. There was a real sense of camaraderie that I wanted to be a part of.”La'Shonda Holmes

The culmination of her years of hard work were realized when she received her wings at graduation. Pinning her was Lt. Jeanine Menze, the Coast Guard’s first Black aviator.

“It was a really emotional experience. Both of our eyes were watering and she asked me, ‘Are you ready for this?’ I can’t think of a more awesome moment in my life,” says Holmes.

The people in Holmes’ life have no doubt she will succeed.

“I knew she would be successful. She had already overcome far greater challenges than flight school. I had the opportunity to do a familiarization flight with her, and where most folks might get a little frustrated, she drank it all in. She was eager to improve and I had no doubts she would do well,” says Coast Guard Commander Mark Murray.La'Shonda Holmes

Holmes knows that being the first is special. She is aware that her accomplishments will inspire countless young people coming up behind her. Now, Holmes is stationed in Los Angeles, where she will sometimes fly dangerous missions to protect this country.

“I know I’m the first, but nothing has sunk in yet. People may have expectations, but for me, mainly, it is about taking on responsibility and knowing I have something to prove [as a pilot]. I just want to keep flying well and working hard to make my community, family, and sisters proud of me,” says Holmes.

Former Katanga Province governor Katumba Mwanke

A private jet belonging to former Katanga Province governor Katumba Mwanke crashed at 1pm yesteday near the airport of Bukavu, South Kivu Province. According to state radio and television broadcaster RTNC, Katumba Mwanke, the pilot, and the copilot were killed.

Katumba Mwanke was a senior advisor to President Joseph Kabila and a former Member of Parliament.

Finance Minister Matata Ponyo, the governor of South Kivu Province, Marcelin Cishambo, and itinerant Ambassador Antoine Ghonda were seriously injured in the accident.

According to witnesses, the plane arriving from Kinshasa missed its landing and ended in the Kulanga River. The witnesses say the plane was carrying several Congolese politicians. The number of passengers who were on board is unknown.

Congolese army soldiers, the police and MONUSCO peacekeepers are providing security at the crash site.

Africa Loses Billions in Potential Trade Earnings, Falls Short of Vast Promise in Cross-Border Business-New World Bank Report

Subject: Africa Loses Billions in Potential Trade Earnings, Falls Short of Vast Promise in Cross-Border Business-New World Bank Report

Africa Loses Billions in Potential Trade Earnings, Falls Short of Vast Promise in Cross-Border Business―New World Bank Report
Washington, February 7, 2012 – With African leaders now calling for a continental free trade area by 2017 to boost trade within the continent, a new World Bank report shows how African countries are losing out on billions of dollars in potential trade earnings every year because of high trade barriers with neighboring countries, and that it is easier for Africa to trade with the rest of the world than with itself.
According to the new report―De-Fragmenting Africa: Deepening Regional Trade Integration
in Goods and Services―regional fragmentation could become even more costly for the continent with new World Bank forecasts suggesting that economic slowdown in the Eurozone could shave Africa’s growth by up to 1.3 percentage points this year. As the authors write,“while uncertainty surrounds the global economy and stagnation is likely to continue in traditional markets in Europe and North America, enormous opportunities for cross-border trade within Africa in food products, basic manufactures and services remain unexploited.”
The reports says this situation deprives the continent of new sources of economic growth, new jobs, and sharply falling poverty, factors which accompanied significant trade integration in East Asia and other regions. The cross-border production networks that have spurred economic dynamism in other regions, especially East Asia, have yet to materialize in Africa.
“It is clear that Africa is not reaching its potential for regional trade, despite the fact that its benefits are enormous—they create larger markets, help countries diversify their economies, reduce costs, improve productivity and help reduce poverty.” says Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, The World Bank’s Vice President for Africa, and a former Nigerian Minister of Extractive Industries. “Yet trade and non-trade barriers remain significant and fall most heavily and disproportionately on poor traders, most of whom are women. African leaders must now back aspiration with action and work together to align the policies, institutions and investments needed to unblock these barriers and to create a dynamic regional market on a scale worthy of Africa’s one billion people and its roughly $2 trillion economy.”
In a special World Bank video at: http://vimeo.com/32976732 produced for the new report, women traders on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighboring countries in the Great Lakes region describe how they routinely encounter violence, threats, demands for bribes, and sexual harassment, at the hands of the large numbers of customs and other government officials at the border. As one egg and sugar trader from Goma says on the video: “I buy my eggs in Rwanda; as soon as I cross to Congo I give one egg to every official who asks me. Some days I give away more than 30 eggs!”
Barriers blunt trade in goods as well as services
 
The report says that until the onset of the financial crisis, most sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries grew rapidly and often at much higher rates than the world average. Economic growth in these countries was robust and driven by the boom in commodity prices, which led to very high growth in export values, especially for minerals, to new fast-growing markets such as India and China.
While exports have grown strongly over the last decade, and the region’s trade has recovered well from the global crisis, the impact on unemployment and poverty has been disappointing in many countries. Unemployment remains around 24 percent in South Africa. In Tanzania, extreme income-poverty appears to have remained broadly constant at around 35 percent of the population. This shows that export growth has typically been fueled by a small number of mineral and primary products with limited impacts on the wider economy and that formal sectors remain small in many countries.
As a result, the report suggests that Africa will have to diversify its exports from depending solely on precious metals and other commodities and encourage more people to trade goods and professional services in accounting, law, education, healthcare, among others. The region’s large number of young people also calls for significant numbers of new jobs, intensive trade, and growth.
“Imagine the benefits of allowing African doctors, nurses, teacher, engineers and lawyers to practice anywhere in the continent, but responsibility for making this happen lies with countries first and foremost,” says Marcelo Giugale, the World Bank’s Africa Director for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. “The final prize is clear: helping Africans trade goods and services with each other. Few contributions carry more development power than that.” 
Changes are needed in three areas
 
To escape the current straightjacket of trade fragmentation, the report says that African leaders, most of whom will attend this week’s regional integration summit in Ethiopia hosted by the African Union, need to pursue changes in three key areas.
1.     Improving cross-border trade, especially by small poor traders, many of whom are women, by simplifying border procedures, limiting the number of agencies at the border and increasing the professionalism of officials, supporting traders associations, improving the flow of information on market opportunities, and assisting in the spread of new technologies such as cross-border mobile banking that improve access to finance.
2.     Removing a range of non-tariff barriers to trade, such as restrictive rules of origin, import and export bans, and onerous and costly import and export licensing procedures
3.     Reforming regulations and immigration rules that limit the substantial potential for cross-border trade and investment in services.
In one notable example of trade barriers, report co-editors Paul Brenton and Gozde Isik of the World Bank describe how the South African supermarket chain Shoprite spends US$20,000 a week on import permits to distribute meat, milk, and plant-based goods to its stores in Zambia alone. For all countries it operates in, approximately 100 (single entry) import permits are applied for every week; this can rise up to 300 per week in peak periods. As a result of these and other requirements, there can be up to 1,600 documents accompanying each truck Shoprite sends with a load that crosses a border in the region.
As the co-editors write, “lack of coordination across government ministries and regulatory authorities also causes significant delays, particularly in authorizing trade for new products. Another South African retailer took three years to get permission to export processed beef and pork from South Africa to Zambia.”
How the World Bank supports regional integration
Trade and regional integration are core elements of the Bank’s new Africa strategy, launched in March 2011, to help countries create opportunities for their transformation and sustained growth. The Bank has doubled its investment in regional integration from US$2.1 billion in 2008 to US$4.2 billion in July 2011, and it will rise to $5.7 billion by July 2012.