WEBVTT

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your secretary . It is my pleasure , my

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sincere pleasure to welcome you to the

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Africa Bureau Family and virtually to

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us missions Nigeria and kenya . My name

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is Elizabeth fitzsimmons and I'm the

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acting Principal Deputy Assistant

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Secretary in the Bureau of African

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Affairs . I have the pleasure of

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moderating your town hall this morning

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with our staff posted in Abuja Lagos

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and Nairobi . We're grateful that you

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can spend this time with us and we look

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forward to a vibrant exchange . As we

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begin , I'd like to please introduce my

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chief submission my colleagues . So

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I'll begin . Mr Secretary with

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introducing you to U . S . Ambassador

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to Nigeria . Mary Beth Leonard .

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Hello Mr Secretary and welcome to

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Nigeria . Great to see you mary Beth a

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first . I'd like to take the

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opportunity to introduce you to our

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Consul General in Lagos . Claire Pier

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Angelo . Good morning Mr Secretary

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Claire good to see you . Good to see

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you sir . Really pleased to see you as

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well . So as we say in Nigeria , you

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are welcome readings from one of our

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largest consulates in the world With

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our team of local staff Marines , seven

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agencies and all our family members .

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We are here to take care of America's

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business at the consulate general in

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Lagos . So Ambassador Leonard thank you

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and back to you . Thank you so much

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Claire and once again mr Secretary ,

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the warmest of welcomes to Mission

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Nigeria . We are 1 2250 employees

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american and locally engaged from 12

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agencies and ably supported by our

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families who sustain us . On the

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Nigerian side , our colleagues come

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from every one of Nigeria's 36 states

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and the federal capital territory in

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the United States we come from 43

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states to territories and D . C . And

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we are also proud to represent the

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United States to sub Saharan Africa's

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giant . This country has the biggest

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economy , the largest population , it's

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the largest democracy and we know that

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our work saves lives from hunger from

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illness from violence and thereby

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reducing threats to the United States

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from international terrorism and border

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ignorant health risks . We know that we

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are partners in creating shared

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prosperity between the United States

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and Nigeria . There are second largest

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trading partner . More Nigerian

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students study at colleges in the

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United States than from any other

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country in Africa and they spend about

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half a billion dollars a year in their

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universities and surrounding

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communities across our country . Our

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commercial interests are helping to

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drive the diversification and growth of

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Nigeria's economy , particularly in

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areas like it and power and agriculture

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and usually in ways that help drive

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down climate damaging emissions And

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more also we're here at a time when

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this African giant is reasserting its

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preeminence in African and worldwide

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multilateral Fora at the same time that

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the U . S . Is in re engaging in these

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fears with new energy and optimism . So

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Mr Secretary for all these reasons ,

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thank you so much for coming to visit

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us and taking some time in our world .

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We're so looking forward to hearing

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from you and we hope you'll enjoy the

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rest of your stay with us . Thanks so

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much . Thank you so much . Ambassador

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Leonard Secretary Blinken , we're going

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to whisk you virtually now over to East

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Africa . I have the pleasure of

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introducing my colleague the charge

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d'affaires at US embassy kenya eric

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Kneedler morning Mr Secretary eric good

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to see you . Great to see you as well

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and on behalf of the 1800 people and 34

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agencies and offices represented here

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at Mission Nairobi , I'd like to offer

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you a warm virtual welcome to Kenya .

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Mission Nairobi is your largest embassy

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in the Africa Bureau and we're proud of

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the work are diverse and talented team

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carries out on behalf of the american

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and Kenyan people . Mission Nairobi

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stands shoulder to shoulder with our

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Kenyan friends , countering terrorism ,

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creating jobs for both of our countries

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battling infectious disease , expanding

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the deep and enduring people to people

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ties mr Secretary I know you need no

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further introduction but with your

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permission , I'd like to add one more

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biographic notes for the benefit of our

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community . Well , I think most are

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aware this is our first town hall

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virtually with the Secretary of State .

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They're probably not aware that this is

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also our first town hall of any kind

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with a musician you can actually listen

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to on Spotify , It's a true story . You

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can access the secretary's music on

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Spotify under abe Lincoln that's A B L

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I N K E N And since it is now nearing

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the end of the day here in kenya , I

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hope our town hall viewers can enjoy a

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few of the Secretary's songs . So with

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that Mr Secretary , I'd like to thank

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you once again for taking the time to

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be with us today and turn it back over

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to Elizabeth . Thank you so much .

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Charge Kneedler Secretary Blinken . The

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floor is yours . Thank you all so very

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much . And eric if I notice a dramatic

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spike in in my Spotify account from 0

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to 3 or four listeners , I'm going to

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know where it's coming from . So I

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thank you and I just want to assure

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everyone listening in today that that

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wasn't a setup . But I would also

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suggest that you may find other better

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venues for listening to music ,

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especially to start to start the

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weekend . But in all seriousness , it's

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wonderful to be with everyone . And

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there is at least one benefit uh having

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to meet virtually . We can all be

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together in one very big town hall

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meeting . Um I suspect we're also going

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to give new meaning for this virtual

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visit to to what wheels up party is all

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about . I don't know if we need to

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change the terminology , do we call it

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a satellite down party , but we'll have

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to figure that out at some point . But

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I really I really do want to start by

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thanking a few people thanking our

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target of ferric Kneedler in Nairobi .

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Uh Ambassador mary Beth Leonard from

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Embassy of Asia and Principal Officer

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Claire P angelo from the Consulate

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General in uh in Lagos . Thank you .

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Thank you . Thank you . And Elizabeth ,

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thank you to you are acting PDS from

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the African Affairs Bureau , not just

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for serving as RMC today but for

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serving , in a sense is R . M . C . Uh

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every day uh in carrying out the

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extraordinary mission that we have in

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american engagement with Africa . I

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also very much want to thank three Cite

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officers who made the town hall

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possible . Samuel Aronson in Abuja ,

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Bill Bridgeman in Lagos and Christopher

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s stock in Nairobi . Thanks to all

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three of you . Thanks to everyone who's

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been able to help us put this together .

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It means a lot to have this chance to

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connect with so many members of our

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missions overseas . Whether you're a

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direct hire , a contractor , locally

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employed staff or a family member ,

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whether you work for the State

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Department or one of the many other U .

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S . Government agencies represented

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here from D . O . D . To the CDC to usa ,

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I'd I'm deeply grateful for your

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service and I have to tell you it's not

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an accident that I am making this

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virtual trip to kenya . Nigeria near

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the start of my time as secretary , our

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administration , the biden Harris

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administration is committed to

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elevating and increasing our engagement

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across Africa . We're reinvigorating

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our diplomacy , restoring respectful

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engagement with our partners ,

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reaffirming our support for democracy

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and economic growth across the entire

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continent . And as part of this virtual

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trip , I'm meeting with representatives

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from the clean energy sector in kenya

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and with young people from several

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countries through Yali . Because the

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rising generation of African leaders

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literally will shape the future . Not

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just of their countries , but I believe

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of the world have a chance to visit

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with health experts and patients in

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Abuja because public health is a

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significant component of the

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partnership between Nigeria , the

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United States , Especially during COVID

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19 . I'm also meeting with Nigerian and

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kenya senior officials because our

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governments work together closely on so

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many issues that all of you are engaged

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in every day , but most important ,

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working together on issues that are

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actually critical to the people of our

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respective countries that are having an

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impact on their lives . I know that

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many of you have done a lot of work

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often late into the evening to make

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these events happen . And so I just

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want to say there too , thank you very ,

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very much . Uh this itinerary

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represents just a small fraction of the

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work that you're doing every day in

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Nairobi , in Abuja and Lagos to advance

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american interests , to build

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cooperation between our countries and

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to represent our values . These are

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vital diplomatic relationships and the

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fact is you're the ones making them

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possible even at a less eventful time .

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I know the work you do is often very

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challenging And then comes COVID-19 to

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make your jobs even harder . We've lost

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people dear to us . Uh , and I know for

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example , uh , that includes uh George

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camera who served as the director of

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the Information Resource Center And the

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American Center at Embassy Nairobi for

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20 years . We're so grateful for his

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dedication and support and I know that

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his memory will long long endure .

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We had the recent news of the death of

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a member of our State Department family

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on temporary assignment in kenya ,

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which is deeply saddening and

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distressing and a reminder of how

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important it is for us to be there for

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each other and to seek help if we need

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it . Without shame . The

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global authorized departure policy

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meant that many of you were separated

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and isolated from your family members

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as well as from each other . And kenya

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is dealing with heightened security

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concerns in Lagos and Abuja . Your

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movements outside the city centers are

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restricted now , even more so in short ,

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none of this has been easy . Um , in

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the past few days , as I plunged into

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this virtual trip , I've learned a

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little bit more about the culture of

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your missions and culture is so

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important to the missions and to our

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department as a whole . I've heard

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about the Betsy Ross and the foggy

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bottom boats that some of you take to

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work in Lagos . I've heard about the

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magnificent locally employed staff

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choir in Nairobi , which I hope to

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actually here and the recycling program

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at embassy Abuja that helped send at

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risk kids to school . But most of all

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what I'm hearing across the board is

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about your perseverance and commitment .

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You've kept essential work going

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throughout the pandemic . You've helped

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americans get home , you've helped

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mission personnel stay safe . It's

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really remarkable . And all of us back

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here at home , deeply appreciated in

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my in my first remarks as secretary , I

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said that we have some work to do

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across the department to build trust

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and morale . We've got to do a better

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job listening to the people of the

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State Department . When we're making

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policy , we've got to invest in

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diversity and inclusion . We've got to

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build a workplace culture of

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collegiality , teamwork , respect .

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And I want to be clear that doesn't

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just apply to Washington D . C . It

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applies to you and all your colleagues

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and embassies and consulates around the

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world . We are all a part of this

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community and I'm committed to doing

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everything that I can to support you ,

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to support your work , to support your

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families . So thanks again for the work

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you've done just to make this virtual

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visit to Nigerian kenya's success , but

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especially for the work you're doing

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every single day to serve our country ,

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to serve the american people