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 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 page 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. Failures and the need to learn from experience as we go, we thank everyone for joining us today. Director of the Human Freedom Initiative, and the George Shelby bush initiative, lindsey has years of experience in human rights and democracy work at our Sister Organization and the lindsey also has extensive experience working for several members of congress including house leadership, he has been a tremendous partnership in this event and lindsey please come up and introduce yourself, thank you very much. Good morning i have the longest title so i think that, director of human freedom at the giorgio Bush Institute, its quite a mouthful, so the bush industry is really proud to be a partner of this and are also grateful for usaid for all the Financial Support they have provided. We have this is a kick off for a longer Partnership Look at how our democracy and governance can combat violent extremism around the world. We add the Bush Institute to try to do three things we aim to stand with People Living under tyranny, we argue for fostering greater American Leadership throughout the world and we develop leadership in emerging democracies including some people will hear from today, one of our scholars from tunisia, this morning i had the honor of introducing marc green for his remarks for the keynote address he has been the 18th administrator in u. S. Id since august of august 2018 and brought this job an unimaginable cbd in terms of his background experience, hes a congressman from wisconsin as well as other things and the initiative on hiv and aides in africa, he was ambassador for tanzania he served as president for the Republican Institute where he oversaw democracy and governance programs around the world, presidency for the institute of Global Development and director of the School Leadership counsel and director of the child corporation, on and on and for us he also served on our council at the Bush Institute but before he was confirmed, in his testimony ambassador green said violent extremism in many parts of the world, hostility to Civil Society and attacks on the values we hold dear has made our work far more dangerous and more expensive, i think hell agree that today the challenge of violent extremism makes work for the usaid more imperative. We are going to take questions as, well so please join me in welcoming the honorable margaret into the stage. applause lindsay thank you for those kind words its good to be with all of you and its great to be with my old friend, secretary madame albright, a bit daunting to be with, her i will say that the first time i spent any considerable time with her was actually my very first election observation, i had been on the job for a couple weeks and here i was with Madeleine Albright in ukraine watching the elections there. Quite frankly its just as daunting today, so 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 obviously here at a historic moment for america and your role on the world stage, look around us there is an awful lot to process, challenges of sorts in nearly every corner of the world so i know we are tempted at times to feel like the story of the swimmer at the millionaires pool party and as that story goals goes, a millionaire at a party and his swimming pool, it wasnt just any pull it was a pool filled with man eating alligators, and the millionaire tournament said i would give 1 Million Dollars and the hand of my daughter to the first man that consume across the pool. Silence, as you turn to walk away there was a guy who went into the water, pushing the alligators out of the, way got out, climbed a dripping wet and the millionaire ran over and he said that is the most courageous thing i think ive ever seen, whats going to be 1 Million Dollars or the head of my daughter. This one person either as well to know who the hell push me in the pool. We feel like that sometimes but in reality many of the problems that we see while they have their own distinct context the underlying causes have much in common, many if not most really back to something simple yet profound, the innate desire of every person, every family, every community to have a meaningful voice in their own future and where that desire isnt met or attacked inaudible for example i understand why many are confused even confounded about whats going on in the eastern pr see. The Ebola Outbreak is now the second deadliest in history and a continues to claim lives aim and now we have an improved vaccine, even now we are promising treatments to if you are on the phone armholes are coming far from treatment. Worse yet we have seen Community Protests and armed attacks that seemed aimed at the very officials and facilities that are leading the response. The insecurity is so great that humanitarian and Health Care Workers are unable to get to some of the most important spots. So i understand why we are confused but then we pause and reflect and we realize these are the same communities that have been betrayed by their leaders for so very long. Drc has an abundance of officials that are worsened and self enrichment, an election system that is so corrupted that most of the ebola affected communities were not allowed to vote in the last elections. And a political system so messed that joseph could be law is still serving in the congress and his family appear still to be Holding Hundreds of millions of dollars in mining interest i appreciate that people are frustrated even bewildered by whats happening in 80, less than 600 miles from our sure, the u. S. , canada, and others and have provided hundreds and millions of dollars in assistance and really, sunnies happened bell to create new export opportunities, hospitals and clinics have been launched or bill to improve access to health care and agricultural training and technology provided to help alleviate hunger. Yet violent protest have often shot nearly everything down, for weeks on and kids could not attend school, patients couldnt get to market, patients were hindered from reaching clinics, promising Small Businesses couldnt get supplies and equipment and donors like the u. S. Couldnt even get humanitarian relief to where it was needed most. Yeah thats, true haiti often seem like a magnet of missouri in terms of natural disaster, ten years this month there was rocked by terrible earthquake and there are Tropical Storm storms before incense. But the haitians are picketing mother nature, they are not raging against the hurricanes, they are outraged by a Political Class that has let them down time and again. Let they are protesting a parliament that rarely seems to meet yet offer reforms. And an investment that never quite reaches the people and outside peacekeepers who have been led by a recent flight that i took from portauprince to an orphanage i asked my helicopter pilot how he would describe haiti and its challenges to those who have never been any paused and he said flatly dont, never forget the 500 feet haiti is a caribbean island. Some even seem puzzled by whats going on in hong kong, the island has been doing pretty well economically, per africa capita income is the highest in the world, unemployment less than 3 but one chief executive carrie lam and her beijing oriented government right to push through a law authorizing quick extradition to the mainland and its system of justice all in the name of peace and instability theme, everyday citizens immediately took to the streets, lamb seem to believe that the protests would quickly and quietlys fade away, the citizens were willing to surrender individual liberties for the mainlands version of tranquility. The crowds grew to 1 million and by some accounts to, even in the face of tear gas and rubber bullets and batons and more. Since the extradition bill appeared seven months ago more than 2000 protesters have been injured at 6000 arrested, when hong kong held its District Council elections in the midst of all this the results were historic and unambiguous. Now, lets face it, these District Councils dont have a lot of power, so the elections generally dont see much in the way of turnout. But sending the clearest possible signal on the value they placed on democracy nearly 3 million turned out to vote, the highest turnout in hong kongs history. Pro democracy candidates captured 17 of the islands 18 District Councils. Some would argue that none of this is an american concern, we didnt bring kabila to power, we certainly didnt push hongkongers into the streets but i think in reality we all realize the health, freedom, democracy does affect our own interest and our own fortunes. History tells us that states with more democratic characteristics are usually more prosperous, stable, and reliable partners. They are better Economic Partners because they possess the characteristics and conditions that we believe are vital for economic vibrancy and sustainable growth. They are better Strategic Partners because they are citizen centered, making it less likely to produce terrorists, proliferate weapons of mass destruction or engage in armed aggression. Conversely, authoritarian regimes are our best unreliable partners and at worst posting efficient risk to peace and stability. Authoritarian regimes like maduro give rise to forest migration and refugees burning and potentially the stapling their neighbors. And in order to maintain their power regimes like this, regimes like iran repress their people by isolating their citizens from outside and the winces and ideas, they often attacked directly or indirectly, physically or digitally those outside their borders who represent the freedom that they fear. So as we look to troubled lands in fragile turf i think these are the principles that we need to keep in mind and that is why at usaid we are placing a new Even Stronger emphasis on fostering democratic governance, citizen responsiveness, we believe that it is crucial, we have institutionalized it through our transformation process that aims to build the usaid up tomorrow. Among other things we are launching a new bureau of development, democracy, and innovation, duty i will bring together expertise from across the agency and will serve as a one stop shop for Technical Support and designing solicitations in programs. As its name implies, it will elevate democracy and governance with the goal of promoting human liberty and citizen responsiveness and all of our programming and offerings. Ddi well have centers a focus like our center for youth and inclusive development, center for equality and womens empowerment, and the center for democracy, human rights, and governance. Thanks to President Trump and with the bipartisan support of the senate ddi will be led by a long term democracy an assistant administrator michelle you can also see our strong emphasis on democracy and democratic governance in the country by country metrics that we are assembling, that we used to guide our investments and priorities, the country road maps as we call them incorporate metrics that measure our countrys commitment to elements like freedom of expression, association and conscience, the rule of law, protection a Civil Liberties and government transparency. When countries score low on these areas it will chill and just to ask you for dedicating in a resources to those causes and countries score well it will challenge us to find ways to best leverage their strength, in coming months you will also see our greater emphasis on democracy and new democracy focused Communications Plan that i am announcing today, that campaign will highlight our democratic governance investments all around the world as well as how this work tackles the underlying challenges and causes that i have mentioned and how all of that serves americas strategic interest. We want to help americans understand how modest investments in a country institutions and Self Governance can prevent or extinguish the brush fires that seem to be burning in so many places. Erso nal stor it will feature personal stories of individuals that are promoting democracy and dignity and their own countries and communities, people like a tireless advocate for equality and inclusivity in a paul. Afro de to the first female president of the basic court of christina, the largest District Court in coast of oh. They will tell their stories to help america understand how are our story. That campaign will run on world democracy day on september 15th. But most importantly you will see our stronger commitment to democratic commitments that our program offers. So what will this look, like i will take a few minutes to give you a brief overview. And many countries, particularly those countries struggling to emerge from authoritarian shadow, we want to emphasize programs that help bring Greater Transparency to institutions. You know in the west i think we are guilty of too often assuming that transparency and openness and decisionmaking is the natural state of governance. Four countries that are emerging from say communism, there is no tradition of openness and it is 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 matters of public release and meeting schedules and reporting that shows compliance with procedural rules and decisionmaking. In my recent visit to albania the Prime Minister told me how much he appreciated all the i