Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
January 17, 2012
PRESIDENT OUATTARA: (Via interpreter) Madam Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, first of all, on behalf of the Government and the people of Cote d'Ivoire, and also on my own behalf and on behalf of Mrs. Ouattara, which ? who admires the Secretary of State, who would like and to wish you a warm welcome, like we say in Cote d'Ivoire, ?Akwaaba.?
We're very happy to welcome you here in Cote d'Ivoire, more than 20 years after the visit of the high-ranking authority, Mr. George Shultz, who was Secretary of State. He came to Abidjan in January 1987. I would like to take the opportunity of her presence here to ask you to send our sincere acknowledgments to President Barack Obama for his personal commitments and his support during the grave post-electoral crisis which took place in our country.
And the same location, I also would like, Madam Secretary of State, to thank you for the efforts that your country have made for the promotion and the reinforcement of the democratic process in Cote d'Ivoire, in Africa, and in the world. I would like to take a few minutes to remind you that we have the will to give to our country credible and strong institutions. President Obama had said strong institutions is what our countries need. We have had our legislative elections on December 11th, and the constitutional council is examining requests. We hope that this will end in the following days to enable us to have the elections where necessary. So this is a token of the vitality of democracy in our country. I would like also to tell him that we have the firm will to build a rule of law with impartial justice and, of course, respectful of human rights.
Madam Secretary of State, as you probably know, important efforts have been made to consolidate peace and bring back security in our country. It hasn't been easy. The armed forces are being restructured in order to give to our country a republican army. We're also reinforcing our military relations and security relations in order to fight against cross-border crime, maritime piracy, drug tracking, proliferation of arms, and terrorism. We hope that we'll be able to reinforce the cooperation ? the military cooperation ? with the United States.
Madam Secretary of State, we had a very interesting meeting a few minutes ago on issues of economic cooperation and social and international cooperation. We, of course, ask for the support of the United States concerning our demand before the IMF and the World Bank in order to reach ? to have our initiative HIPC. This will enable Cote d'Ivoire to renew sustainably with growth and also to reduce poverty, because the level of poverty, unfortunately, in our country reaches 50 percent of the population. In this regard, we are asking for first (inaudible) of (inaudible).
Madam Secretary of State, since you will chair over the MCC meeting while respecting the rules and procedures to support us so that we can, as soon as this year, have the MCC to enable us to have the necessary financial support as far as this facility is concerned.
We also talked about the cocoa sector ? cocoa culture. The reform of the sector is about to end, and I've given you the information, according to which I've signed the decrees necessary for the organization of the new structure, which is called the Council of Cocoa and Coffee. The members of the board and the director general of the structure will be appointed this week, and we will do our utmost so that everything that is expected by the reform should be established immediately as possible before the end of this month.
I would like to reaffirm our commitment to fight against the worst forms of children labor. Efforts have been made by the Ivoirian Government, decrees have been taken to put into place an inter-ministerial council chaired over by the minister of work and solidarity. But mostly, we have established a monitoring council so that we can be sure that all the things that have been promised will be implemented. And the first lady, which have been helping children for a while now, particularly from poor families, have decided to be personally involved in this issue. So Mrs. Dominique Ouatarra will chair over this monitoring committee. So this is to show the interest and the attention that we'll bring to this issue to fight against the use of children in the cocoa sector.
Madam Secretary of State, I will continue on different issues that we've raised. There were numerous, but we have a total converging views as far as diplomatic international issues are concerned on the African continent and in the world. We consider that peace is necessary for Cote d'Ivoire, for the African continent, and the world. And we want to show our admiration for the work which has been done by the United States of America with yourself and under the authority of President Obama for a better world, a world of peace for each of the inhabitants of this planet.
So I would like to conclude by saying that today Cote d'Ivoire is in peace. We still have major challenges to face, but we count on the reinforcement of the cooperation between our two countries. Thank you for honoring us with your visit. And Madam Secretary of State, once again I would like to show my admiration. Thank you Mrs. Secretary of State. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Mr. President, for the warm welcome extended to me and to my delegation from yourself and the ministers in your government. I am delighted to be here in Cote d'Ivoire at such a historic moment in this nation's history. I wish to express our admiration for the progress that your country is making ? a steady and hopeful return to peace and security, reconciliation among all the people of the nation, as well as economic and social development. I am inspired by how quickly not only the government but the people have moved from the violence and conflict of last spring to successful legislative elections in December and to a commitment that is in the air to build a better future for all Ivoirians and particularly for the next generation.
This is an exciting time for Cote d'Ivoire as it is for West Africa as a whole. We have seen successful elections in Nigeria, the restoration of a civilian government in Niger, the establishment of the first elected government in Guinea. And yesterday I had the privilege of representing my country, as did President Ouattara, at the inauguration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for her second term after another free and fair election. Securing these gains for democracy, prosperity, peace, and security for the people here as well as for your neighbors will take consistent hard work. And that is why I'm very pleased that Cote d'Ivoire is once again demonstrating leadership not only at home, but in the region. I thank the president for traveling to 10 of the 15 ECOWAS countries during his early months in office because West Africa has so much potential, and Cote d'Ivoire has to be at the center of realizing that potential.
Twenty-five years ago when my predecessor, former Secretary of State George Schultz visited, Cote d'Ivoire was the engine of economic growth in West Africa. We have no doubt, President Obama and myself, that Cote d'Ivoire can once again be the engine of economic growth for Ivoirians, but also for the region. In order to accomplish that, it's important to continue the democratic process that you have embarked upon to include all voices, even dissenting ones, in political dialogue, because democracy requires not just elections, but strong institutions, an independent, impartial judiciary, a free press as represented by these ladies and gentlemen here today. And the United States is supporting Cote d'Ivoire's efforts to build these institutions, to foster national reconciliation, to support a vibrant civil society, to ensure the full participation of all people no matter where they live or what their background and to include women in building a strong and vibrant future.?Continued???
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