Good morning, my name is nancy limborg. I am the president and ceo here at the u. S. 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 secretary Madeleine Albright whos been a fierce champion of ours for years and many thanks to the National Endowment for democracy who made todays event possible with their 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. Usip was founded thirtyfive years ago by congress nonpartisan National Institute dedicated to the notion that peace is very practical and very possible. We firmly believe todays complex Foreign Policy challenges require the best thinking and partnership across the aisle. Last Year Congress asked usip host a bipartisan congressionally mandated with a request to a comprehensive plan to combat extremism in the worlds most fragile states. The principle of recommendation is the us should adopt a policy of prevention with a strong focus on government. Congress passed the global fragility act to take those Task Force Recommendations to create a binding commitment to a longterm prevention strategy. So its good to know bipartisan action is possible and today we have the change to talk more about the opportunity to seize that momentum we have before us. We have a Great Program planned for you. I am delighted to introduce a very good friend and our next speaker, the president of the National Democratic institute, former ambassador to burma myanmar, a distinguished and very dedicated Public Servant and author. Please join me to welcome him. 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 that usip and the task force has made to advancing the cause of violence mitigation conflict prevention in fragile states. The passage of the global fragility act is just one indicator of the influence of usip, so congratulations to you all and thanks to the Bush Institute for the partnership these endeavors were engaged in around the world and i also want to acknowledge the National Endowment of democracy for enduring support for democratic voices globally. We are part of the family and proud of that fat these days. I want to thank mark green as 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 this even has been a true collaboration as we mentioned i would like to thank the courts corine from usip and her very own lauren vanmeter. I should say we are doing this early in the new year, so thank you for working through the holidays to make this happen when it did. The genesis of the meeting is secrtary albright who serves as a Task Force Member to be an outspoken preventing violent extremism is a security issue its democracy and governance challenge. It is embedded and the findings of the report the Task Force Reports democracy and Good Governance as at the part of any fragile cities prevention strategy. The report does this it is an interest must be central to any and all strategies to prevent violence and extremism. The report urges that we forge new relationships and common thinking up across policy communities and, to develop new, innovative ideas among our defends, diplomacy, development and peace building partners. The Task Force Report recognizes the rise as well of geopolitical competition in fragile states and affirms but it is in the u. S. National security interest to support those fragile, excuse, me this fragile and conflict affected states that have chosen the democratic path. Upt elite inters 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 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. Because youre experienced human rights and democracy support including years at our sister organization, i. R. A. , she also has extensive work for several members of congress including house leadership. Hes been a terrific partner in this event and many other initiatives. Lindsay, please come on up as we introduce administrator mark green. Thank you very much. Good morning, thank you rick, i have the longest title in the room so i appreciate that. It is quite a mouthful. On the Bush Institute, we are really happy to be partnering with usip. We are also grateful for the Financial Support has been provided. We hope there is a kick off. This is what we hope will be a longer partnership looking at how democracy and governance can combat violent extremism around the world. At the Bush Institute, our Human Freedom Initiative tries to stand with those living under tyranny and argue for fostering and developing leadershiip in democracies and you will hear today from one of our scholars from tunisia. I have the honor of introducing mark green from the keynote address the 18th administrator ad usaid since august 2017 and brought to that job really an unmatchable cv in terms of his experience. He was a congressman from wisconsin he was ambassador to tanzania under president bush and served as president from my old alma mater that Republican Institute to see the Governance Program the president and ceo for the institute for global development, director for the u. S. Global leadership council, director of the millennium callenge corporation, on and on. But before he was confirmed in his testimony ambassador green said violent extremism in many parts of the world hostility make our work far more dangerous and more expensive. I think hell agree that today the challenge makes the work of usaid even more imperative in this world. After his remarks hes agreed to take a few questions. Please welcome mark green to the stage. Lindsay, thank you for those kind words. And great to be with my old friend secretary albright, but daunting to be with her. I will say the first time i spent any considerable time with her was actually my first Election Observation for iri. Id been on the job a couple weeks and here i was in ukraine with albright 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 and her role on the world stage. As we look around us, there is an awful lot to process. Challenges of sorts in nearly every corner of the world so were tempted to feel like the swimmer at the millionaires pool party. As that story goes, the millionaire had a party around his swimming pool. It was filled with man eating alligators and the millionair said, i will give 1 million or the hand of my daughter to the first man to swim 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 the millionaire said thats the most courageous thing ive ever seen. Will it be the million or my daughter . The swimmer said, i just want to know who the hell pushed 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, relate back to something profound, the innate desire to have a meaningful voice in their own future and where that desire is unmet or attacked inaudible for example i understand why many are confused or even confounded in the eastern drc. The Ebola Outbreak there is now the second deadliest in history that continues to claim lives, even though we have a vaccine and are promising treatments. Worse, we Wee Community protests and armed attacked that seemd aimed at the very officials leading the response. The insecurity is so great that humanitarian and healthcare workers are unable to get to the most important hotspots. So i understand why were confused. But then we pause and reflect that these are the same communities that have been betrayed by their leaders for so long. Drc has officials more interested in selfenrichment than servine everyday people it is so broken that many of the most ebolaaffected communities were allowed to vote in the last elections and that Joseph Kabila and his family still appears to be Holding Hundreds of millions of dollars in mining interests. I appreciate the people are frustrated or bewildered by what is happening in haiti less than 600 miles from our shore. U. S. And canada have provided relief, hospitals and clinics were launched or rebuilt, and acricultural Training Provided to help alleviate hunger. Promising patients could not get. Clinics schools could not get supplies and equipment. Donors like the u. S. , we could not even get humanitarian aid to where we needed most strong. Yes, it is true. Haiti often seems like a magnet for misery in terms of natural disasters. Ten years ago, in the rich it was rocked by a terrible earthquake and it would be tropical storms since. Haitians are not picketing mother nature. They are not raging against the hurricanes theyre all raged officials linked aid investment never quite reaches the people and outside peacekeepers who have been linked to the spread of cholera and even sexual misconduct. On a recent flight that i took from portauprince to a country orphanage, i asked my helicopter pilot how he would describe haiti and its challenges to those who had never been and he paused and then he said flatly, never forget, at 500 feet, haiti is a caribbean island. Some even seemed puzzled by whats going on in hong kong. I mean, lets face, it the island has been doing pretty well economically. Per capita income is among the highest in the world. Unemployment less than 3 . But when chief executive carrie lam and her beijing oriented government tried to push through a law authorizing quick extradition to the mainland and its a system of justice all in the name of peace and stability, everyday citizens, especially students immediately took to the streets. Lam seems to believe that the protest would quickly and quietly fade away, but citizens were willing to surrender individual liberties for the mainland version of. Crowds go to 1 million and then by some accounts to, even in the face of tear gas, rubber bullets, batons and more. Since the extradition bill appeared seven months ago, more than 2000 protesters have been injured and 6000 arrested. When hong kong held its District Council elections in the midst of all of this, the results were historic an unambiguous. Now, lets face, it these District Councils dont have a lot of power and so the elections generally dont see much in the way of turnout. Sending the clearest possible signal and the value they placed on democracy, nearly 3 million turned out to vote. The highest turnout in hong kongs history. New pro democracy candidates captured to 17 of the islands 18 District Councils. Some would argue that none of this is american concern. We did not bring can below to power. We certainly did not push hongkongers into the streets. But i think in reality, we all realize that the health of freedom and democracy does affect our own interests 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 them less likely to produce terrorist, proliferate weapons of mass destruction or engage in armed aggression. Conversely, authoritarian regimes are at best unreliable partners and at worst pose significant risks to peace and stability. Authoritarian regimes like maduro or tacos give rise to force migration of refugees burning a potentially destabilizing their neighbors, and in order to maintain their hold on power, regimes like these, regimes like iran, repress their people by isolating their citizens from outside influences and ideas. We 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 and fragile tour, these are the principles that we need to keep in mind, and thats what usaid i was placing a new Even Stronger emphasis on stronger demo credit governance, citizen responsiveness, we believe it is crucial, anne. Key aim to build the usaid of tomorrow, among other things, were launching a new bureau for development, democracy, and innovation. Did ei will bring together expertise across the agency, will serve as a one stop shop for Technical Support and designing solicitations and programs and as its name implies, it will elevate democracy and governance and promote human liberty and services to and responsiveness in all of our programming and offerings. Did i will feature centers a focus that will help carry this out like the center for you than includes a development, center for equality and womens empowerment or the center for democracy, human rights and government. Thanks to President Trump and with the bipartisan support of the senate, ddi will be led by a long term democracy and, assistant administrator michelle factory. You can also see our stronger emphasis on democracy and democratic governance in the country by country metrics that we are assembling that we used to guide our investments and our priorities, the country road maps as we call them incorporate metrics that measure a countrys commitment to elements like freedom of expression, association and conference, the rule of law, protection of Civil Liberties and government transparency. When countries score low in these areas, it will challenge us to ask if we are dedicating enough resources to those causes. When countries score well, it will challenge us to find ways to best leverage their strength. In coming months, we will also see a greater emphasis on democracy, in 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 ive mentioned and how all of that serves americas strategic interests. We want to help americans understand how modest investments and country institutions, self government, can prevent or extinguish the brush fires that seem to be burning in so many places. It will feature personal stories of individuals who are promoting democracy and Human Dignity in their own communities and countries, people like our china to mom, a tireless advocate for equality and inclusivity in nepal, after the debris, the first female president of the basic court of christiana, the largest District Court in coastal. We will tell their stories to help americans understand our story. That campaign will run through world democracy day on september 15th, but most importantly, you will see our stronger commitment to democratic governance and our programmatic offerings so, what will this look like . I will take a few minutes to give you a brief overview. In many countries, particularly those countries struggling to emerge from an 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 in 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. Were looking at ways to train a new generation of officials to make routine such matters as the public release of meeting schedules and reporting that shows compliance with the rules in decisionmaking. In my recent visit to albania, the Prime Minister told me how much he appreciates all the investments that usaid and the larger u. S. Government have made over these years and then said to me that the Traditional Development programs, that is no longer what we need. And we look at the metrics, they were off the charts, as a high to the country. He said, we need help to fight corruption. We need help to restore peoples faith in government and theyre leaders and so, we plan to respond to him with tools and Technical Assistance that can help foster a true culture of government transparency. Pending congressional approval, we ar