President Obama:
Well, good afternoon, everybody. Audience:
Good afternoon. President Obama:
Welcome to the White House,
and welcome to the United States of America. And that includes even
our friends from Ghana, who beat us in the World Cup. (laughter) Where are you? Over there? That's all
right. It was close. We'll see you in 2014. (laughter) It's my great privilege to
welcome all of you to this Young African Leaders Forum. You've joined us from
nearly 50 countries. You reflect the extraordinary
history and diversity of the continent. You've already distinguished
yourselves as leaders -- in civil society and development
and business and faith communities -- and you've got an
extraordinary future before you. In fact, you represent the
Africa that so often is overlooked -- the great progress
that many Africans have achieved and the unlimited potential that
you've got going forward into the 21st century. Now, I called this forum
for a simple reason. As I said when I was
in Accra last year, I don't see Africa
as a world apart; I see Africa as a
fundamental part of our interconnected world. Whether it's creating
jobs in a global economy, or delivering education
and health care, combating climate change,
standing up to violent extremists who offer
nothing but destruction, or promoting successful models
of democracy and development -- for all this we have
to have a strong, self-reliant and
prosperous Africa. So the world needs your
talents and your creativity. We need young Africans who are
standing up and making things happen not only in their own
countries but around the world. And the United States
wants to be your partner. So I'm pleased that you've
already heard from Secretary of State Clinton, and that we're
joined today by leaders from across my administration who
are working to deepen that partnership every day. I can't imagine a more fitting
time for this gathering. This year, people in 17 nations
across Sub-Saharan Africa are proudly celebrating 50
years of independence. And by any measure, 1960
was an extraordinary year. From Senegal to Gabon, from
Madagascar to Nigeria, Africans rejoiced in the streets
-- as foreign flags were lowered and their own were hoisted up. So in 12 remarkable months,
nearly one-third of the continent achieved independence
-- a burst of self-determination that came to be celebrated as
"The Year of Africa" -- at long last, these Africans were free
to chart their own course and to shape their own destiny. Now, 1960, of course, was
significant for another reason. Here in the United States of
America it was the year that a candidate for president first
proposed an idea for young people in our own country to
devote a year or two abroad in service to the world. And that candidate was John F.
Kennedy, and that idea would become the Peace Corps -- one of
our great partnerships with the world, including with Africa. Now, the great task of building
a nation is never done. Here in America, more than
two centuries since our independence, we're still
working to perfect our union. Across Africa today, there's no
denying the daily hardships that are faced by so many -- the
struggle to feed their children, to find work, to
survive another day. And too often, that's the
Africa that the world sees. But today, you represent
a different vision, a vision of Africa on the move
-- an Africa that's ending old conflicts, as in Liberia, where
President Sirleaf told me, today's children have "not known
a gun and not had to run"; an Africa that's modernizing
and creating opportunities -- agribusiness in Tanzania,
prosperity in Botswana, political progress
in Ghana and Guinea; an Africa that's pursuing a
broadband revolution that could transform the daily
lives of future generations. So it's an Africa that
can do great things, such as hosting the world's
largest sporting event. So we congratulate our
South African friends. And while it may have been two
European teams in the final match, it's been pointed out
that it was really Africa that won the World Cup. So once again, Africa finds
itself at a moment of extraordinary promise. And as I said last year, while
today's challenges may lack some of the drama of 20th
century liberation struggles, they ultimately may be
even more meaningful, for it will be up to you, young
people full of talent and imagination, to build the
Africa for the next 50 years. Africa's future belongs to
entrepreneurs like the small business owner from Djibouti who
began selling ice cream and now runs his own accounting practice
and advises other entrepreneurs -- that's Miguil Hasan-Farah. Is Miguil here? There he is right there.
Don't be shy. There you go. (applause) As you work to create
jobs and opportunity, America will work with you,
promoting the trade and investment on which
growth depends. That's why we're proud to be
hosting the AGOA Forum this week to expand trade
between our countries. And today I'll also be
meeting with trade, commerce, and agriculture ministers from
across Sub-Saharan Africa. It's also why our historic Food
Security Initiative isn't simply about delivering food; it's
about sharing new technologies to increase African productivity
and self-sufficiency. Now, no one should have to pay
a bribe to get a job or to get government to provide
basic services. So as part of our
development strategy, we're emphasizing
transparency, accountability, and a strong civil society --
the kind of reform that can help unleash transformational change. So Africa's future also belongs
to those who take charge of that kind of transparency
and are serious about anti-corruption measures. Africa's future belongs to those
who take charge of their health, like the HIV/AIDS counselor
from Malawi who helps others by bravely sharing her own
experience of being HIV-positive -- that's Tamara Banda. Where is Tamara? There she is right there.
Thank you, Tamara. (applause) So our Global Health Initiative
is not merely treating diseases; it's strengthening
prevention and Africa's public health systems. And I want to be very clear. We've continued to increase
funds to fight HIV/AIDS to record levels, and we'll
continue to do whatever it takes to save lives and
invest in healthier futures. Africa's future also belongs
to societies that protects the rights of all its people,
especially its women, like the journalist in Ivory
Coast who has championed the rights of Muslim women and
girls -- Aminata Kane-Kone. Where is Aminata? There she is right there. (applause) To you and to people
across Africa, know that the United States of
America will stand with you as you seek justice and progress
and human rights and dignity for all people. So the bottom line is this:
Africa's future belongs to its young people, including a woman
who inspires young people across Botswana with her popular
radio show, called, "The Real Enchilada" --
and that's Tumie Ramsden. Where's Tumie? Right here -- "The
Real Enchilada." (applause) As all of you go to -- as all of
you pursue your dreams -- as you go to school, you find a job,
you make your voices heard, you mobilize people
-- America wants to support your aspirations. So we're going to keep helping
empower African youth -- supporting education, increasing
educational exchanges like the one that brought my father from
Kenya in the days when Kenyans were throwing off colonial rule
and reaching for a new future. And we're helping to strengthen
grassroots networks of young people who believe -- as
they're saying in Kenya today -- "Yes, Youth Can!" "Yes, Youth Can!" (laughter and applause) Now, this is a forum, so we've
devoted some time where I can answer some questions. I don't want to do
all the talking. I want to hear from you about
your goals and how we can partner more effectively
to help you reach them. And we want this to be the
beginning of a new partnership and create networks that
will promote opportunities for years to come. But I do want to
leave you with this. You are the heirs of the
independence generation that we celebrate this year. Because of their sacrifice,
you were born in independent African states. And just as the achievements of
the last 50 years inspire you, the work you do today will
inspire future generations. So -- I understand,
Tumie, you like to Tweet. (laughter) And she shared words that have
motivated so many -- this is what Tumie said: "If your
actions inspire others to dream more, to learn more,
to do more and become more, then you are a leader." So each of you are here today
because you are a leader. You've inspired other young
people in your home countries; you've inspired us here
in the United States. The future is what you make it. And so if you keep dreaming and
keep working and keep learning and don't give up, then I'm
confident that your countries and the entire continent
and the entire world will be better for it. So thank you very
much, everybody. (applause) All right, with that, I'm
going to take questions. Now, here are the rules -- (laughter) People, everybody
who has a question, they can raise their hand. In order to be fair, I'm going
to call girl, boy, girl, boy. We're going to alternate. And try to keep your
question relatively short; I'll try to keep my
answer relatively short, so I can answer as many
questions as possible, because we have a limited
amount of time. Okay? I'm going to start with this
young lady, right here. And please introduce
yourself and tell me where you're from also. Audience Member:
Okay. Thank you very much. I will express myself
in French, if that is -- President Obama:
That's fine. Somebody
will translate for me? Yes? Go ahead. Just make sure that you
stop after each sentence, because otherwise she will
forget what you had to say. Audience Member:
Thank you very much. (speaking in French) Audience Member:
(as translated)
Mr. President, hello. And hello, everybody. I'm Fatima Sungo (sic) of Mali. I do have a question for
you and I look forward to getting your answer. But before I do so, Audience Member:
(speaking in French) Audience Member:
(as translated)
I'd like to begin by telling you, Mr. President, how truly
honored and privileged we feel to be with you today, and how
privileged we are to express the voices of African youth,
of African young leaders, and of course fully appreciate
your recognizing us and giving us the opportunity to be here,
and also recognizing our own responsibility to take
your voice back home. Audience Member:
(speaking in French) Audience Member:
(as translated)
I'd like to say that I'm convinced this is an
important watershed moment, this is the beginning
of important change, the wonderful initiative
you had to call us all here. I wonder when did you see
that particular light? When did you imagine that
bringing us here would be such a good idea? I'm wondering what your thought
process was, Mr. President. President Obama:
Well, first of all, one of the
things that happens when you're President is that other people
have good ideas and then you take credit for them. (laughter) So I want to make sure that I
don't take credit for my ideas -- for these ideas -- because
the truth is my staff works so hard in trying to find new ways
that we can communicate not just to the heads of state, but
also at the grassroots. And the reason, I think, is
because when you think about Africa, Africa is the
youngest continent. Many of the countries
that you represent, half of the people are under 30. And oftentimes if all you're
doing is talking to old men like me, then you're not
reaching the people who are going to be providing the
energy, the new initiatives, the new ideas. And so we thought that it would
be very important for us to have an opportunity to bring the next
generation of leaders together. That's point number one. Point number two -- and I'm
going to be blunt occasionally during this forum, so I hope
you don't mind -- sometimes the older leaders
get into old habits, and those old habits
are hard to break. And so part of what we wanted to
do was to communicate directly to people who may not assume
that the old ways of doing business are the ways that
Africa has to do business. So in some of your
countries, freedom of the press is still restricted. There's no reason why
that has to be the case. There's nothing
inevitable about that. And young people are more
prone to ask questions, why shouldn't we
have a free press? In some of your countries,
the problem of corruption is chronic. And so people who have been
doing business in your country for 20, 30 years, they'll just
throw up their hands and they'll say, ah, that's the way it is. But Robert Kennedy had a
wonderful saying, where he said, some people see
things and ask why, and others see things that
need changing and ask, why not. And so I think that your
generation is poised to ask those questions, "Why not?" Why shouldn't Africa be
self-sustaining agriculturally? There's enough arable land
that if we restructure how agriculture and
markets work in Africa, not only could most countries
in Africa feed themselves, but they could export those
crops to help feed the world. Why not? New infrastructure -- it used
to be that you had to have telephone lines and
very capital intensive in order to communicate. Now we have the Internet and
broadband and cell phones, so you -- the entire continent
may be able to leapfrog some other places that were more
highly developed and actually reach into the future of
communications in ways that we can't even imagine yet. Why not? So that's
the purpose of this. I also want to make sure that
all of you are having an opportunity to meet each other,
because you can reinforce each other as you are struggling and
fighting in your own countries for a better future. You will now have a network of
people that help to reinforce what it is that
you're trying to do. And you know that sometimes
change makes you feel lonely. Now you've got a group of
people who can help reinforce what you're doing. Okay. It's a gentleman's turn. This is why there are leaders,
everybody has something to say. But you don't have to snap. No, no, no. It's a guy's turn -- this
gentleman right here. Audience Member:
Mr. President, my name is
Bai Best (sic) from Liberia. The late Dr. Solomon Carter
Fuller was the first black -- the first black psychiatrist
in America and probably in the world. In my country in Liberia,
where there are a lot of great people who make landmark
accomplishments both in their nation and in the world, many
of them are not recognized for their accomplishments. Today, Dr. Fuller's name is
etched where there is a medical -- there is a psychiatric
center named in his honor at a place in Boston. There are many other young
African and young Liberian talented people who have great
ideas and who want to come back home and contribute
to their countries, to the development
of their peoples. But many times, their efforts --
their patriotic efforts -- are stifled by corrupt or sometimes
jealous officials in government and in other sectors. It's an age-old problem. Many times, they want to seek
-- that basically leads them to seek greener pastures and better
appreciation abroad instead of coming back home. What are your thoughts on this? President Obama:
Well, look, this is a problem
that's not unique to Africa. Given different stages of
development around the world, one of the problems that poorer
countries often have is that the best educated and the
most talented have opportunities elsewhere. And so there's what's called the
"brain drain" -- people saying, I can make 10 times as much
money if I'm a doctor in London as I can if
I'm a doctor back home. And so this is a
historic problem. Here is the interesting
moment that we're in, though -- if you look at where
the greatest opportunities are, they're actually now
in emerging markets. There are countries in Africa
that are growing 7, 8, 9 percent a year. So if you're an entrepreneur
now with an idea, you may be able to grow faster
and achieve more back home that you could here. Now, it entails greater risk,
so it may be safer to emigrate. But it may be that you can
actually achieve more, more quickly back home. And so the question is for
young leaders like yourselves, where do you want to
have the most impact? And you're probably going to
have more impact at home whether you're a businessman or woman,
or you are a doctor or you are an attorney, or you
are an organizer. That's probably going to be
the place where you can make the biggest change. Now, you're absolutely
right, though, that the conditions back home
have to be right where you can achieve these things. So if you want to go back
home and start a business, and it turns out that you have
to pay too many bribes to just get the business started, at
some point you may just give up. And that's why one of the things
that we're trying to do -- working with my team -- when
we emphasize development, good governance is at the
center of development. It's not separate. Sometimes people think, well,
that's a political issue and then there's an economic issue. No. If you have a situation where
you can't start a business or people don't want to invest
because there's not a clear sense of rule of law, that is
going to stifle development. If farmers have so many
middlemen to get their crops to market that they're making
pennies when ultimately their crops are being sold for
$10, over time that stifles agricultural
development in a country. So what we want to do is make
sure that in our interactions with your governments, we are
constantly emphasizing this issue of good governance because
I have confidence that you'll be able to figure out what changes
need to be made in your country. I've always said the destiny
of Africa is going to be determined by Africans. It's not going to
be determined by me. It's not going to be
determined by people outside of the continent. It's going to be
determined by you. All we can do is make sure that
your voices are heard and you're able to rise up and take
hold of these opportunities. If you do that, I think that
there are going to be a lot of people who -- even if they're
educated abroad -- want to come home to make their mark. All right. Let's see, I'm going to call
on this young lady right here. Audience Member:
(speaking in Portuguese) Audience Member:
(as translated)
Good afternoon, everyone. And thank you, Mr. President,
for this opportunity. President Obama:
That sounds like Portuguese. (laughter) Audience Member:
(speaking in Portuguese) Audience Member:
(as translated)
It is, indeed, from Mozambique, sir. President Obama:
Great. Audience Member:
(speaking in Portuguese) Audience Member:
(as translated)
Knowing, Mr. President, that, of course, America is a
reference point for democracy in the world, and that you, sir,
are, indeed a protagonist in that context today. Audience Member:
(speaking in Portuguese) Audience Member:
(as translated)
I would love to hear from you, sir, what you would recommend to
the young people in Africa and to civil society, in particular. Audience Member:
(speaking in Portuguese) Audience Member:
(as translated)
In terms of following principles of nonviolence and good
governance and democratic principles in our country. Audience Member:
(speaking in Portuguese) Audience Member:
(as translated)
Because, of course, our reality is very often quite
starkly different. There are 80 percent
abstentionism often in elections -- Audience Member:
(speaking in Portuguese) Audience Member:
(as translated)
and elections that, indeed, lack transparency. Audience Member:
(speaking in Portuguese) Audience Member:
(as translated)
And all too often lead, alas, to social conflict. Thank you. President Obama:
Well, let me say, first of all, that if you are -- just as I
said that you can't separate politics from economics,
you can't separate conflict from development. So the constant conflict, often
ethnically-based conflict, that has taken place in Africa
is a profound detriment to development and it's
self-reinforcing. If you have conflict
and violence, that scares off investors. That makes it more difficult
for business people to create opportunities, which means that
young people then don't have work, which means that they
are more prone to be recruited in violent conflicts. And you can get a vicious cycle. So I am a profound believer in
not looking at violence as a solution to problems. And I think the moral and
ethical power that comes with nonviolence when properly
mobilized is profound. Number two, I think the most
important thing that maybe young people here can do is to
promote the values of openness, transparency, honest debate,
civil disagreements within your own groups and your
own organizations, because that forms good habits. If you are part of an
organization -- and I'm going to speak to the men here,
in particular -- if you are part of an organization where you
profess democracy but women don't have an equal voice
in your organization, then you're a hypocrite, right? And that is something that -- (applause) And that is something that
we have to be honest about. Oftentimes, women are not
getting the same voice in African countries, despite the
fact that they are carrying more than their fair
share of burdens. So within your own
organizations, within your own networks,
modeling good democratic practices, listening to
people who you disagree with respectfully, making sure that
everybody gets a seat at the table -- all those things I
think are very important. Because part of what I'm going
to -- what I'm hoping for is that some of you will end
up being leaders of your country some day. And if you think about
it, back in the 1960s, when all these --
your grandparents, great-grandparents were
obtaining independence, fighting for independence,
the first leaders, they all said they
were for democracy. And then what ends up happening
is you've been in power for a while and you say, well, I must
be such a good ruler that it is for the benefit of the people
that I need to stay here. And so then you start
changing the laws, or you start intimidating
and jailing opponents. And pretty soon, young people
just like yourself -- full of hope and promise -- end
up becoming exactly what they fought against. So one of the things that I
think everybody here has to really internalize is the notion
that -- I think it was Gandhi who once said you have to
be the change that you seek. You have to be the
change that you seek. And one of the wonderful things
about the United States is that in my position as President
there oftentimes where I get frustrated, I think I know
more than some of my critics. And yet, we have
institutionalized the notion that those critics have
every right to criticize me, no matter how unreasonable
I think they may be. And I have to stand before
the people for an election, and I'm limited to two terms
-- it doesn't matter how good a job I do. And that's good, because what
that means is that we've got to -- we've instituted a culture
where the institutions of democracy are more important
than any one individual. And, now, it's not
as if we're perfect. Obviously, we've got all
kinds of problems as well. But what it does mean is that
the peaceful transfer of power and the notion that people
always have a voice -- our trust in that democratic process is
one that has to be embraced in all your countries as well. Okay? All right, it's
a gentleman's turn. Let me try to get this
side of the table here. This gentleman right here. I'm not going to get everybody,
so I apologize in advance. Audience Member:
Thank you very much, Mr. President. My name is Felix Milan (sic). I'm from Malawi. Mr. President, HIV/AIDS
is greatly affecting development in Africa. And if this continues,
I'm afraid I think Africa has no future. And I think the young people
like us must bring change. And we really need a strong
HIV prevention program. But, again, access to
treatment must be there. I attended the recent World
AIDS Conference in Vienna, and the critics were saying
that the worst -- the U.S. government is not supporting
enough HIV/AIDS work in Africa through the PEPFAR
and the Global Fund. But, again, on the other side,
other HIV/AIDS activists are saying that Africa on its
own has not mobilized enough resources to fight the HIV/AIDS
pandemic and they are largely depending on the West. I think the challenge for us as
African young leaders is to make sure that this comes to an
end and we really need to reduce the transmission. I don't know -- from
your perspective, what can we do to make sure
that this comes to a stop? Otherwise, it's greatly
affecting development in Africa. President Obama:
Good. Well, let me start by just
talking about the United States and what we're doing. I had some disagreements
with my predecessor, but one of the outstanding
things that President Bush did was to initiate
the PEPFAR program. It's a huge investment in
battling HIV/AIDS both with respect to prevention and also
with respect to treatment. Billions of dollars
were committed. We have built off of that. So when you hear critics -- what
the critics are saying is that although I've increased the
funding of the PEPFAR program, they would like to see
it increased even more, which I'm sympathetic to,
given the fact that the need is so great. But understand
I've increased it; I haven't decreased it -- at
a time when the United States is suffering from the worst
economic -- just coming out of the worst economic recession
that we've seen since the 1930s. Nevertheless, because of our
commitment to this issue, we've actually
increased funding. Now, we have couched it in a
broader initiative we call the Global Health Initiative. Because even as we're
battling HIV/AIDS, we want to make sure that we are
thinking not only in terms of treatment, but also in
terms of prevention and preventing transmission. We're never going to have enough
money to simply treat people who are constantly getting infected. We've got to have a mechanism
to stop the transmission rate. And so one of the things we're
trying to do is to build greater public health infrastructure,
find what prevention programs are working, how can we
institutionalize them, make them culturally specific
-- because not every program is going to be appropriate
for every country. I will say that in
Africa, in particular, one thing we do know is that
empowering women is going to be critical to reducing
the transmission rate. We do know that. Because so often women, not
having any control over sexual practices and their own body,
end up having extremely high transmission rates. So the bottom line is we're
going to focus on prevention, building a public
health infrastructure. We're still going to be
funding, at very high levels, antiviral drugs. But keep in mind, we will never
have enough money -- it will be endless, an endless effort if
the transmission rates stay high and we're just trying to treat
people after their sick. It's the classic story of a
group of people come upon all these bodies in a stream. And everybody jumps in and
starts pulling bodies out, but one wise person goes
downstream to see what's exactly happening that's causing all
these people to drown or fall in the water. And that's I think
what we have to do, is go downstream to see
how can we reduce these transmission rates overall. And obviously --
when I visited Kenya, for example -- just in terms of
education -- Michelle and I, we both got tested near
the village where my father was born. We got publicly tested so
that we would know what our status was. That was just one example of the
kinds of educational mechanisms that we can use that hopefully
can make some difference. All right? Okay, it's a woman's turn. Okay, this one right here. Audience Member:
Thank you, very
much, Mr. President. And greetings from Ghana.
My name is Shameema (sic) We are looking forward
fervently to 2014 -- (laughter) -- for a repeat. And I recollect that I was
hosting a radio program the day of the match. And we have a football pundit
in Ghana -- he doesn't speak English quite well,
but very passionate. And so I was interviewing him
about what the psyche of our boys should be
ahead of the match. And he said to me, Shameema (sic),
"This is not war, it is football. If it were to be war, then maybe
we should be afraid because the might of America
is more than us." (laughter) This is football. They should go out there and
be the best that they could be. And they did. President Obama:
Well, they did an excellent job. They were a great team. Audience Member:
Mr. President, my question
now is that I hear a lot of young African leaders wonder
how committed America would be to a partnership. I hear those who are cynical
about the notion of partnership. They ask -- and always
they ask, partnership? What kind of fair partnership
can exist between a strong and a weak nation? And so as we prepare
ourselves for the future, we ask the same question of
America: How committed is your country to ensuring that the
difficult decisions that young people have to make about
trade, about agriculture, about support, are made -- to
the extent that they may not be in the interest of America? Because they tell me also
that America will protect its interest over
and above all else. Is America committed to
ensuring a partnership that might not necessarily
be beneficial to America, but truly beneficial to the
sovereign interest of the countries that we represent? President Obama:
Well, let me say this. All countries look out
for their interests. So -- and I'm the President
of the United States, so my job is to look out for
the people of the United States. That's my job, right? (applause) Now, I actually think, though,
that the interests of the United States and the interests
of the continent of Africa greatly overlap. We have a huge interest in
seeing development throughout Africa -- because we are
a more mature economy, Africa is a young
and growing economy, and if you can buy more iPods
and buy more products and buy more services and buy
more tractors from us, that we can sell to a
fast-growing continent, that creates jobs here in the
United States of America. We have a huge interest in your
public health systems because if we're reducing greatly HIV/AIDS
transmissions in Africa, then that will have a
positive effect on HIV rates internationally, because of
the transmigration of diseases back and forth in an
international world. And not to mention, if I'm
not spending all this money on PEPFAR, that's money I
can spend somewhere else. So I'm going to be incentivized
to see Africa do well. That's in our interest. And the truth of the matter
is, is that whereas with some regions of the world, we do
have some genuine conflicts of interest -- let's say on trade,
for example -- the truth is that the United States, we don't have
huge conflicts when it comes to trade because, frankly, the
trade between the United States and Africa is so small, so
modest, that very few U.S. companies, U.S. commercial
interests are impacted. That's why AGOA, our trade
arrangement with Africa -- we can eliminate tariffs and
subsidies and allow all sorts of goods to come in partly
because you are not our primary competition. Now, I don't want to pretend
that there aren't ever going to be conflicts. There will be. There's going to be
difference in world views. There are going to be some
agricultural products where there are certain interests in
the United States or there are certain interests in Europe
that want to prevent those from coming in, even
though, in the aggregate, it would not have a huge
impact on the U.S. economy. And so there are going to be
occasional areas of tension. But overall, the reason you
should have confidence that we want a partnership is because
your success will enhance our position rather than reduce it. Also Africa has some of
our most loyal friends. Every survey that's taken, when
you ask what continent generally has the most positive
views about America, it turns out Africa generally
has a positive view of America and positive experiences. So I think that you should
feel confident even if I'm not President that the American
people genuinely want to see Africa succeed. What the American people don't
want is to feel like their efforts at helping are wasted. So if at a time of
great constraint, we are coming up with aid,
those aid dollars need to go to countries that are
actually using them effectively. And if they're not
using them effectively, then they should go
to countries that are. And one of the things that I've
said to my development team is I want us to have high standards
in terms of performance and evaluation when we have these
partnerships -- because a partnership is a two-way street. It means that, on the one hand,
we're accountable to you and that we have to listen to you
and make sure that any plans that we have, have
developed indigenously. On the other hand, it also
means you're accountable. So you can't just say,
give me this, give me that, and then if it turns out
that it's not working well, that's not your problem. Right? It has to
be a two-way street. Okay, looks like this side has
not gotten a question here. So how about this
gentleman right here. Audience Member:
Thank you, Mr. President. My name is Sidney
Chelsea (sic) from Zimbabwe. Currently our government is in
a transition between the former ruling party Zanu PF and the
Movement for Democratic Change. And within this same context,
Zimbabwe is currently under restrictive measures, especially
for those who are party in line with Robert Mugabe
under the ZIDERA Act. How has been the success of
ZIDERA (inaudible) the formation of the inclusive government? Because in Zimbabwe, Robert
Mugabe is still using the rhetoric of sanctions, racist,
property rights abuse, human rights abuse, in
violation to the rule of law. How has been the success of that
towards the implementation -- the success or the
growth of young people? President Obama:
Well, you probably have
a better answer than me. So you should be sharing with
our team what you think would make the most sense. I'll be honest with you -- I'm
heartbroken when I see what's happened in Zimbabwe. I think Mugabe is an example
of a leader who came in as a liberation fighter and -- I'm
just going to be very blunt -- I do not see him
serving his people well. And the abuses, the
human rights abuses, the violence that's been
perpetrated against opposition leaders I think is terrible. Now, Changerai has tried to
work -- despite the fact that he himself has been
beaten and imprisoned, he has now tried to work to see
if there is a gradual transition that might take place. But so far, the results have
not been what we had hoped. And this always poses a
difficult question for U.S. foreign policy because,
on the one hand, we don't want to punish the
people for the abuses of a leader; on the other hand, we
have very little leverage other than saying, if there are
just systematic abuses by a government, we are not going
to deal with them commercially, we're not going to deal
with them politically, in ways that we would with
countries that are observing basic human rights principles. And so there have been
discussions when I've traveled with leaders in the
Southern African region about whether or not sanctions
against Zimbabwe are or are not counterproductive. I will tell you I would love
nothing more than to be able to open up greater diplomatic
relationships and economic and commercial relationships
with Zimbabwe. But in order to do so, we've got
to see some signal that it will not simply entrench the same
past abuses but rather will move us in a new direction
that actually helps the people. And Zimbabwe is a classic
example of a country that should be the breadbasket
for an entire region. It's a spectacular country. Now, it had to undergo a
transition from white minority rule that was very painful
and very difficult. But they have chosen a path
that's different than the path that South Africa chose. South Africa has its problems,
but from what everybody could see during the World Cup, the
potential for moving that country forward
as a multiracial, African democracy that can
succeed on the world stage, that's a model that so far at
least Zimbabwe has not followed. And that's where I'd
like to see it go. All right? How much more time
do I have, guys? Last question? I'm sorry -- last
question. Last question. No, it's a young lady's turn. This one right here. Audience Member:
Good afternoon, Mr.
President, your excellencies. My name is Noshima Hominupti
(sic). I am from Somalia. I came all the way here with
one question, and that is, living in conflict in a country
that has confused the whole world, and being part of the
diaspora that went back to risk our lives in order to make
Somalia a better place, especially with what we're going
through right now -- how much support do we expect from the
U.S.? And not support just in terms of financially or aid, but
support as an ear, as a friend, as somebody who hears and
listens to those of us who are putting our lives
and our families at risk to defend humanity. President Obama:
Well, I think you will
have enormous support from the people of the United
States when it comes to trying to create a structure and
framework in Somalia that works for the Somali people. Now, the history of Somalia
over the last 20 years has been equally heartbreaking,
if not more so. You have not had a effective,
functioning government that can provide basic services. It's been rife with conflict. And now the entire region is
threatened because of radical extremists who have
taken root in Somalia, taking advantage of what they
perceive to be a failing state, to use that as a base
to launch attacks, most recently in Uganda. And obviously the United
States expresses its deepest condolences to the lives that
were lost in Kampala -- at the very moment of the World Cup. And it offered two
contrasting visions. You have this wonderful, joyous
celebration in South Africa at the same time as you have a
terrorist explosion in Kampala. So we desperately want
Somalia to succeed. And this is another example of
where our interests intersect. If you have extremist
organizations taking root in Somalia, ultimately that can
threaten the United States as well as Uganda,
as well as Kenya, as well as the entire region. So right now you've got a
transitional government that is making some efforts. I don't think anybody expects
Somalia anytime in the next few years to suddenly be transformed
into a model democracy. Whatever governance structures
take place in Somalia have to be aware of the tribal and
traditional structures and clan structures that
exist within Somalia. But certainly what we can do is
create a situation where people -- young people are not
carrying around rifles, shooting each other
on the streets. And we want to be a partner
with Somalia in that effort, and we will continue to do so. And some of it is financial,
some of it is developmental, some of it is being able to
help basic infrastructure. In some cases, we may try to
find a portion of the country that is relatively stable and
start work there to create a model that the rest of the
country can then look at and say, this is a different
path than the one that we're taking right now. But in the end, I think that
this metaphor of the success of the World Cup and the bombing
shows that each of you are going to be confronted with two paths. There's going to be a path that
takes us into a direction of more conflict, more bloodshed,
less economic development, continued poverty even as the
rest of the world races ahead -- or there's a vision in which
people come together for the betterment and development
of their own country. And for all the great promise
that's been fulfilled over the last 50 years, I want you to
understand -- because I think it's important for us to be
honest with ourselves -- Africa has also missed huge
opportunities for too long. And I'll just give
you one example. When my father traveled to the
United States and got his degree in the early '60s, the GDP of
Kenya was actually on par, maybe actually higher than
the GDP of South Korea. Think about that. All right? So when I was born, Kenya per
capita might have been wealthier than South Korea. Now it's not even close. Well, that's 50 years that was
lost in terms of opportunities. When it comes to
natural resources, when it comes to the talent
and potential of the people, there's no reason why
Kenya shouldn't have been on that same trajectory. And so 50 years from now, when
you look back you want to make sure that the continent
hasn't missed those opportunities as well. We want to make sure
of that as well. And the United States wants to
listen to you and work with you. And so when you go back and you
talk to your friends and you say, what was the main message
the President had -- we are rooting for your success, and we
want to work with you to achieve that success, but ultimately
success is going to be in your hands. And being a partner means that
we can be there by your side, but we can't do it for you. All right. Okay, thank
you very much, everybody. Thank you. (applause)
