And good afternoon everybody. It has been a wonderful day and i was energized by the panel and the networking so thank you all for hanging in with us through a long and very full day. To reduce myself to those of you who may have been here this morning my name is wade warren and im the chief Strategy Officer for development in the chair of the u. S. Chapter of the society for International Development. I am very excited about the panel we are about to have. You cannot come in. Where is alice . I was more excited that the panelists were here. Let me tell you a little bit about this panel. We wanted to have an important plenary here at the end of the day to feature the Millennial Corporation which we have not a lot of time talking about today and will have a fireside chat with Alice Albright who is the ceo. Let me tell you a little bit about them. Ill start with chizi igwe. Chizi igwe is a heartbreaking much appreciated member of the westport she started out leading in our Youth Working
American Enterprise Fund bowman cutter. They support Economic Development and generating financial returns. This is nearly two hours. Okay. Lets get started. Im dan runde. Were going to have a conversation about whether or not we need to revisit the concept of u. S. Enterprise funds. U. S. Enterprise funds were launched in the early 1990s by george h. B. Bush, were country focussed where u. S. Government dollars funded investments in developing countries. It was an idea that was ahead of its time. And there were several dozen of these Enterprise Funds that were launched. Many of them were very successful. Some that had some hiccups. But most were broadly very successful. But you would ask yourself, well, why hasnt there is any number of Different Countries where you would say we ought to be applying this. Thankfully, in the obama administration, there were a number of countries where there was political will to apply this tool. And i think its a very valid and useful tool for our tool
Okay. Lets get started. Im dan runde. Were going to have a conversation about whether or not we need to revisit the concept of u. S. Enterprise funds. U. S. Enterprise funds were launched in the early 1990s by george h. B. Bush, were country focussed where u. S. Government dollars funded investments in developing countries. It was an idea that was ahead of its time. And there were several dozen of these Enterprise Funds that were launched. Many of them were very successful. Some that had some hiccups. But most were broadly very successful. But you would ask yourself, well, why hasnt there is any number of Different Countries where you would say we ought to be applying this. Thankfully, in the obama administration, there were a number of countries where there was political will to apply this tool. And i think its a very valid and useful tool for our tool kit in the United States. And so we have examples from tunisia and egypt that were going to talk about as well. Were going to talk a l
Helping them find a way to connect and share their views. Global Internet Freedom programs, u. S. International broadcasting, and support for human rights activists are all fundamental components of our countrys longstanding efforts to remote democracy overseas. For more than 50 years, the United States has had an unwavering commitment to promote freedom of information in the world. Our work in cuba is no different than our efforts to promote freedom of expression and uncensored access to information in the ukraine, russia, belarus, iran, china, or north korea. It should be noted that in the bill there is 76 billion set aside to promote global Internet Freedom and democracy in closed societies like cuba, where the regime allows no independent press and limits access to the internet. It also states that with respect to the provision of assistance for democracy, human rights, and government activities, these programs shall not be subject to the prior approval by the government of any for
You come at a time when usaid is making headlines for doing nothing more than the job you were appointed to do. That we say to the record, when it comes to the issue of cuba or your work in any closed society, i do not believe usaids actions, as clearly articulated in your Mission Statement to promote resilient democratic societies that are able to realize their potential, are in any way a cockamamie idea. I believe it is exactly what the people of cuba, iran, burma, belarus, north korea, and other authoritarian nations need to help them communicate with each other. To help them achieve the usaids stated mission of a free, peaceful, and selfreliant society with an effective, legitimate governmen. So i commend you for helping people have a less control platform to talk to each other, helping them find a way to connect and share their views. Global Internet Freedom programs , u. S. International broadcasting, and support for human rights activists are all fundamental components of our co