Good morning i am the president and ceo here at the us institute of peace im delighted to welcome you here for a very important conversation to prevent violence in a fragile world. Our speakers here today i want to extend a special welcome to mark green we are honored to have them here today and a very warm welcome to Madeleine Albright who is been a fierce champion of ours for years and many thanks to the National Endowment for democracy that makes todays event possible with your generous support and our good friends and partners in the george w. Bush institute. Its wonderful to have them cohost the event with us today. Thirtyfive years ago funded by congress nonpartisan National Institute dedicated to the notion that peace is practical and possible. We firmly believe todays challenges require partnership across the aisle. Last Year Congress asked to host a bipartisan congressionally mandated with the request to a comprehensive plan in the worlds most fragile state. The principle of recommendation is the us should adopt a policy of prevention with a strong focus on government so passing the global fragility act to take those Task Force Recommendations to create a binding commitment to a longterm prevention strategy. Its good to know action is possible and then to talk more about the opportunity to seize that momentum we have before us. We have a Great Program plan for you. I am delighted to introduce a very good friend and our next speaker, the president of the National Democratic institute , a distinguished and very dedicated Public Servant and author. Please join me to welcome him. [applause] thank you so much its wonderful to be back at usaid. We want to think nafta to organize this event this morning and with a tremendous contribution with the task force has made to advancing the cause of violence and conflict prevention of fragile states that passed it on passage of the fragility act is just one indicator allied of influence so congratulations to you all and to the Bush Institute for these endeavors we are engaged in around the world and also to acknowledge the National Endowment of democracy for enduring support we are part of the fact these days. I do want to thank mark green as a tireless advocate to move countries on the path of fragility for selfreliance and thank you for your leadership and the continued support of democracy and finally with that collaboration as we mentioned i would like to thank the courts corine from us ip in her very own Lauren Vanmeter we shirt say we are doing this early in the new year. Thank you for working through the holidays to make this happen. The genesis secretary albright served as a Task Force Member to be an outspoken preventing violent extremism is a security issue its a governance challenge. It is embedded and the findings of the report the task force reports democracy and Good Governance is at the heart of any prevention strategy must be central to any and all strategies and extremism. And to forge new relationships to have new innovative ideas defense partners to recognize the rise of fragile states to support those states that have chosen and as they have alternative models with the corrupt elite interest this book of conflict prevention of the global fragility act the act itself acknowledges even failures with the need to learn from experience as we go but the conversation is to proceed in that spirit thank you for joining us today. Now to introduce my colleagues of the Human Freedom Initiative of the george w. Bush institute. Having years of experience in human rights and democracy at our Sister Organization also extensive experience working for several members of congress and a terrific partner in this event in many other initiatives please come up. Thank you all very much. [applause] i have the longest title in the room its a mouthful f left we are proud to be partnering with this and also for the Financial Support provided. We hope this is a kickoff with a longer partnership how democracy can combat violent extremism around the world. To that Human Freedom Initiative to stand with those living under tyranny and to develop leadership in democracies and from one of our scholars from tunisia. I have the honor of introducing from the keynote address the 18th administrator since august 2017 and has the unmatchable cv with his experience a congressman from wisconsin and ambassador to tanzania and my all matter that Republican Institute to see the Governance Program the president and ceo for the institute for global development, director for Global Leadership council on and on. But before he was confirmed in his testimony investor greene said violent extremism in many parts of the world make our work far more dangerous and expensive. So today the challenge makes it even more imperative. After his remarks he has agreed to take a few questions please welcome him to the stage. [applause] thank you for those kind words. And also to be with my friend secretary albright is daunting to be with her. The first time i spent any considerable time with her would be the first Election Observation for iraq after a couple of weeks and its just as daunting today. Madam secretary its great to be with you. It is an honor to be joining you for these important discussions that you are undertaking we are at a historic moment for america on the world stage we look around us there is an awful lot those challenges of every corner of the world so to feel like the consumer at the millionaires pool party he had a party around his Swimming Pool it was filled with man eating alligators and then said i will give 1 million to the first man to some across the pool silence then sure enough there was a guy in the water pushing the alligators out of the way got out climbing dripping wet and said thats the most courageous thing ive ever seen he said i just want to know who the hell pushed me in the pool. [laughter] we feel like that sometimes. [laughter] but in reality many of the problems that we see while they have their own distinct context those underlying causes many, if not most to be profound the innate desire to have a meaningful voice in their own future and where that desire for example i understand by what are confounded in the eastern drc. To operate there is now the second deadliest in history that continues to claim lives dash claim lives even though we are promising treatments to see Community Protest of those officials and facilities leading the response. The insecurity is so great the healthcare workers are unable to get to the hotspots. I understand why we are confused that these are the same communities. Drc has from surveying every day people it is so broken that most of the communities were allowed to vote in the last elections and that joseph and his family still appears to be Holding Hundreds of millions of dollars. I appreciate the peopl people, frustrated or bewildered what is happening less than 600 miles from our shore. Time and again. Let alone to author reforms. Ey lead to the investment that never quite reaches the people and outside peacekeepers was even sexual misconduct. On a recent flight i took from portauprince during orphanage, i asked my helicopter pilot how he would describe. He paused and then and even puzzled by whats going on in hong kong. Pretty well economically. The income is among the highest in the world, unemployment less than 3 . When they tried to push through the law authorizing expedition to the mainland and system of justice in the name of peace and stability everyday citizens especially students immediately took to the streets. They seem to believe the protests would quickly and quietly fade away tha but citizs willing to surrender individual liberties for the mainland version of tranquility. 1 million then by some accounts, 2 million even in the face of teargas andubbetear gas and rubd bombs and more. Since the expedition to appear seven months ago, more than 2,000 protesters have been injured and 6,000 arrested. When hong kong helped the district elections in the midst of all of this, the results were historical and unambiguous. Now the District Councils dont have a lot of power so they generally dont see much in the way of turnout sending the clearest possible signal and the value they place on democracy 3 million turned out to vote, the highest turnout in hong kong history. They captured 17 of the district. Some would argue this. We certainly didnt push hong kong into the streets, but i think that in reality we realized the health, freedom and democracy does the fact our own interests and fortunes. History tells us states with more democratic characteristics are more prosperous, stable and reliable partners for my bitter Economic Partners because they possess the characteristics that we believe are vital for economic vibrancy and sustainable growth. Or Strategic Partners because they are citizens an citizens cg them less likely to produce terrorists, provo surveyed weapons of mass destruction or engage in armed aggression. Conversely, authoritarian regimes are at best unreliable partners and at worst for the significant risk to peace and stability. Authoritarian regimesay give rise to the forced migration and refugees burdening and potentially destabilizing them. Regimes like these and like iran oppress their people by isolating citizens from outside influences and i. They often attack directly or indirectly, physically or digitally outside our borders to present the freedom that they fear. As we look to tribal lands in financial terms fragile turf thats why we are facing a new and Even Stronger emphasis fostering democratic governance, citizen responsiveness we believe it is crucial. Weve institutionalized through the transformation process and the aim is to build among other things we are launching a bureau for the element of innovation to bring together expertise of the agency and serve as a onestop a onestop shop for Technical Support and designing solicitations in the programs and as its name implies it will elevate democracy and governance with the goal of promoting human liberty and citizen responsiveness in all of our programming and offerings. It will feature a focus to carry the soutcarrythe south like ther youth and Inclusive Development of the center for equa equal bue and womens empowerment. Thanks to President Trump and with bipartisa the bipartisan sf the senate. You can also see a strong emphasis on democracy and democratic governance in the country by country message that we are assembling that we used to guide our investment in priority is. A country road maps as we call them incorporate metrics to elements like freedom of expression, association, who was law, protection of Civil Liberties and government transparency. Countries that score well in these areas challenge us to ask if we are dedicating enough resource. If they score well, that will challenge us to find the best leverage their strengths. In the coming months you will also see the greater emphasis on democracy in the new democracy focused communication plan that im announcing today. That campaign will highlight the democratic governance investments all around the world as well as how this work tackles the underlining challenges and causes ive mentioned, and how all of this serves americas strategic interest. In the selfgovernance thathe sn prevent or extinguish brush fires seem to be burning in so many places and feature personal stories of individuals promoting democracy and human rights in their own communities and countries. People like the tireless advocates and First Basic Court the largest District Court in kosovo will tell their stories to help americans understand our story. That campaign will run through democracy september 15. But most importantly, you will see our stronger commitment to democratic governance in a programmatic offering. What will this look like . Im going to take a few minutes to do a brief overview. In many countries, particularly those struggling to emerge from an authoritarian shadow, we want to emphasize programs that help bring Greater Transparency to institutions. Unless i think we are go see it too often assuming that transparency and openness and decisionmaking is a natural state of governance. For countries that are emerging from say communism, there is no tradition of openness. And its never really occurred to officials that they might want to keep their citizens effectively informed. We are looking at ways to train a new generation of officials to make routine such matters as the public release of the schedules and reporting that shows compliance with the rules in decisionmaking. My recent visit to albania, my minister told me how much he appreciates all the investments usaid and the larger governments have made over these years and then he said that is no longer what we need. When you look at the metrics they were off the charts. He said we need help to fight corruption. We need help to restore peoples faith in governments and their leaders. We plan to respond to him with tools and Technical Assistance that can help foster a true culture of government transparency. Spending congressional approval, we are looking to partner with deferments to establish the u. S. Albania Government Data transparency academy. We hope this academy can focus on three pillars. Promoting Budget Transparency in government, insuring public visibility on Government Procurement and creating the demand for transparency. The second focus in the programming is fostering and supporting genuine choices. We want to invest in political pullers on, and strengthened electoral integrity. These days authoritarians know they can host elections outright. They even support democracy. They want elections. Then they work to bend them andt work than any way they can. The events of the elections in cambodia, for example, not only does all of the main opposition in banning it from politics but elected and jailed this leader and the same time he announced he actually won the reelection and wanted to bring observers in, they would see how smooth elections can be especially when youre unopposed. Traditional democratic voices in canada and europe all of us take part. China which purchased the election was only too happy to oblige. Chinese praised the election as quote on quote. We look for ways to support Electoral Systems and Observation International objective standards and we will express dismay at those not. Third, we want to support a citizen responsiveness. When the citizens see little hope in the officials who listen and respond to their needs and priorities. On the other hand, disagreements have the chance to remain civil when citizens believe they are at least heard. The programs that help new leaders become better driven officials. One of the most uplifting things that i have seen is meeting with a young woman mayor in guatema guatemala. At a particular way of conducting town hall meetings. She would have her team come to the town hall and then when someone would say i hav a pothole, sh she was played and whilwould point andwhile the tog on, but i would go and fix the potholes. I kept thinking to myself i have a use for a person like that. We cannot all be as action oriented as the mayor, but we can teach such modest things as town halls, how to utilize polling and surveys and issuebased platforms that are clear and lead to accountability for those in the activities we look to fund. Fourth, inclusiveness. No democracy can be called representative citizen and listening to all of its people. No ptemolitics truly stable if it dehumanizes large segment of its population. Stability isnt merely the absence of conflict. It requires an environment in which all have a clear stake in the systems survival and success. And so we will work to support and foster civic space and help counter dialogue and to vilify the vulnerable and reinforce the independence of journalists and media organizations. We will pay special attention to the largest mobilized community in the world, women. We are ramping up the work of the Womens Global Development and Prosperity Mission which aims to empower girls and women in numerous ways. We will support investments in n Women Education and training and expand to b. Can expand access to the Market Opportunities and tackle the barriers to economic participation like the laws that prevent women from holding property. We will also work to operationalize a framework for most women, peace and security. It shows reconciliation and dispute resolution have women at the table almost always produces more sustainable results. Furthermore, we know that women are often times the best Early Warning indicators of the rise of extremism. They are closer to their families, their closer to their sons so they can help stop trouble before it became. Finally, there is no more important work for building stability, tackling marginalization and reinforcing the bond between citizens and their government creating pathways for the engagement. Young people in the world are eager to make their mark and be heard. They are anxious to be in a world in which they have a realistic chance to