Transcripts For CSPAN President Obama At The Mandela Fellows

Its one of the fastestgrowing regions in the world. Africas middle class is projected to grow to more than one billion consumers. With hundreds of millions of mobile phones and surging access to the internet, africans are beginning to leapfrog old technologies into new prosperity. The continent has achieved historic gains in health, from fighting hiv aids to making childbirth safer for women and babies. Millions have been lifted from extreme poverty. So this is extraordinary progress. And young people like you are driving so much of this progress because africa is the youngest continent. I saw the power of youth on my trip. In kenya, Richard Ruto Todosia helped build yes youth can, one of the countys most Prominent Civil Society groups, with over one million members. At the Global Entrepreneurship summit in nairobi, shadi sabeh spoke about how he started Brilliant Footsteps Academy in nigeria, which uses education to fight religious extremism and provide more opportunities for muslim youth. I met judith owigar, an entrepreneur who cofounded a nonprofit that trains young women living in the slums of nairobi in Computer Programming and Graphic Design and then helps place them in tech jobs. So i saw the talent of young people all across the continent. And as president , i want to make sure that even as were working with governments, were also helping to empower Young Africans like all of you. And thats why i launched yali Young African Leaders Initiative [applause] to help you access the resources and the training and the networks that you need to become the next generation of leaders in all areas in Civil Society, in business, in government. And the response has been overwhelming. So far, more than 140,000 young people across africa have joined our yali network so Young Africans with new ideas can connect with each other, and collaborate and Work Together to put their plans into action. And i want to welcome all of the yali Network Members across africa who are watching this town hall today. Im proud of all of you. Im proud that weve made so much progress together, after just a few years. [applause] and last year, i said wed launch a new set of tools for our yali network. So today, weve got more than 30 online lessons available on everything from public speaking to how to write a business plan, mentoring, new ways to Network Across africa, around the world, new training sessions, meetings with experts on how to launch a startup. And were launching three new online Mandela Washington Fellowship Institute courses so that all members of the yali network can access some of the great ideas that youve been sharing. Last year, i said that we would create yali Regional Leadership Centers across africa to provide skills, networks, and opportunities to even more Young African leaders. And in kenya, i had a chance to visit the Regional Leadership Center in nairobi. Just this morning, we opened a new center in accra. And two more will be opened by the end of the year in pretoria and in dakar. [applause] last year, i said we would do even more to support young entrepreneurs with grants to help you start a business or nonprofit, and with new training for thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs in small towns and rural areas. So at the recent Global Entrepreneurship summit in nairobi, i announced that we secured more than 1 billion in new commitments from banks and philanthropists to support emerging entrepreneurs around the world, including in africa with half the money going to support women and young people. [applause] and last year, i welcomed our first class of mandela fellows. This year, the response was overwhelming again nearly 30,000 applied. And today im honored to welcome you, the second Mandela Washington fellows class. Were on track to double the Mandela Washington Fellowship Program to 1,000 fellows by next year. [applause] and i know youve been busy. Over the past few weeks, at schools and businesses all across america, youve been taking courses, developing the skills youll need to make your ideas a reality, so that youre able to continue the great work that youre already doing, but take it to the next level. Thats what Brian Bwembya of zambia plans to do. Wheres brian . Where is he . There he is right there. So brian uses music to advocate against things like genderbased violence and to educate youth on hiv aids. So while in the u. S. , hes learned about our health care system, met the founder of an american hiv aids organization, and now he plans to start a record label for music about social change. So, brian, were proud to be your partner. [applause] or weve got Kadijah Diallo of guinea. Where is kadijah . There she is. So kadijah helped lead unicefs Media Campaign to stop the spread of ebola. And with the management skills that she gained at wagner college, she wants to work on improving the lives of women and girls back home in guinea. So we are proud to be your partner. Or weve got Jamila Mayanja of uganda. Are you posing . Shes posing. Jamila is not a fashion model thats not [laughter] she started a doortodoor Laundry Company to employ more youth and teach them entrepreneurial skills. And she hopes to take what she learned during her time at Dartmouth University to meet her goal of getting 1,000 youth to work in or run their own business. So were proud to be your partner, jamila. [applause] so thats just a sampling of the incredible projects that are being done by fellows all across africa. So this program is going to help all of you make a real difference back home. But Fatou Ba Ndiour from senegal [applause] wheres fatou . So fatou wrote me a letter and she said, if the real value of yali is for young people to learn from others, then maybe we should start sending some Young Americans to africa also. And she made the point, not just to help poor communities as they usually do, but to learn from other societies, with humility which i thought is absolutely true. So i have good news, fatou. From now on, yali will give americans an opportunity. Next summer, up to 80 Young American leaders will join yali and go to africa to learn from you and your countries. And you guys are going to have to look after them when theyre there. Show them good places but not to have too much fun. They need to be doing some work while theyre there. So these connections and partnerships and friendships, they forge an understanding that brings our peoples closer together. After six weeks here, some of you are now officially Texas Longhorns or notre dame fighting irish. Youve shared african cooking with your american friends, but youve also had a burger and a hotdog at fourth of july celebrations. Im told many of you went bowling for the first time. Audience yes pres. Obama i hear it didnt go that well. There were a few strikes. By the way, there was at least one marriage that came out of last years class. [applause] so who knows what might happen here. [laughter] so as your time in america comes to a close, i want you to remember this is really just the beginning. We just started this. And the truth is that our greatest challenges whether its inclusive development, or confronting terrorism, dealing with conflict, Climate Change, increasing womens rights, childrens rights these are bigger than any one nation or even one continent. Our hope is, is that 10, 15, 20 years from now, when youve all gone on to be ministers in government, or leaders in business, or pioneers of social change, that youll still be connecting with each other, that youll still be learning from each other, and that together, youll be reaching back and helping the next generation that youll not only be making a difference in your own countries, but youll be the foundation of a new generation of global leadership, a generation thats going to be working together across borders to make the world safer and more prosperous and more peaceful and more just. Thats my hope for you. Weve brought you here because we benefit from your leadership, but were counting on you to Work Together to make sure that youre also reaching back to those who are going to be coming behind you. Couldnt be prouder of you. So with that, let me take some questions, all right . Thank you very much. [applause] all right. So here are the i think youve been told how this works, but im going to just repeat it. Im just going to call on as many people as possible. When i call on you, introduce yourself, tell me what country youre from. Make your question relatively short [laughter] so that we can get as many questions in as possible. And im going to go boy, girl, boy, girl to make sure that its fair. All right . Ok. So let me see who im going to start off with. This is all such a goodlooking group. Im going to start with this young lady right here. Right here. Right in the middle. Yes, there you go with the african earrings. Very appropriate. Im from kenya. Pres. Obama habari . Mzuri sana. Yes. And my question is, im curious how you keep the balance in terms of your background as an African American and the kind of struggles youve had to get over to get here and being to married Michelle Obama shes powerful and amazing and as a father, as a husband. But you seem to not let that interfere with your work, and youve been effective. So how do you keep the balance . Pres. Obama well, first of all, i wouldnt be who i was without michelle. So shes my partner. Thats true professionally, but thats true in terms of my character and who i am. One of the things im very proud of is the fact that i married someone who is strong, and talented, and opinionated, and my equal. And part of the reason why thats so important to me is because shes the role model now for my daughters. And so malia and sasha, they have expectations of being strong and talented, and being treated as an equal by their partners as they get older much older. [laughter] the balance ive written about this. The balance isnt always perfect. I think one of the things that my generation, but now even more your generation, has to manage is, if you have two people working in the house, outside the home, how do you manage that in a way that were both good parents, were both able to succeed in our work. And what michelle and i found was that we had to recognize that at any given point in our careers, one person might sacrifice a little bit maybe this was a time that she really had to focus on something, and so i had to cover for her more. There were times where i was able to do something and she had to handle things more. Now, im not suggesting that its been completely equal, because im the first one to acknowledge that shes probably made more sacrifices, given the nature of a political career, than i have. But what ive learned from her is that if she doesnt feel respected and fulfilled, then im going to end up being less successful, ultimately. And thats something that i think that men in africa, in particular men everywhere [laughter] but men in africa ive spoken about this a lot. The best measure of how a country does economically in terms of development is how does it treat its women. [applause] and as i said in a speech a couple of the speeches that i gave while i was in kenya and ethiopia if youre mistreating your women, then youre just holding yourself back, youre holding yourself down. You may have some false sense of importance, but ultimately you dont benefit if women are being discriminated against, because that means when theyre working, your family is going to have less income. If theyre not educated, that means your children are less likely to be well educated, because, typically, the mother is the first educator of a child. So if they see you disrespecting your wife, then what lesson is your not just your girls, but what lessons are your sons learning from you . And so this is something that i really think everybody, especially the young generation of african men, have to learn and internalize. And i want to see more men creating peer pressure among themselves. If you see a friend of yours, a classmate, one of your buddies abusing a woman, you have to say something. You have to ostracize them and say thats not acceptable. Because, ultimately, this is not just an issue of laws although here in the United States were still fighting for equal pay for equal work; were still fighting to make sure that women have the same opportunities as men but its also a matter of culture and what our expectations are. And your generation is going to have to change expectations. You do not lift yourself up by holding somebody else down. And thats especially true within your own family and the people that youre closest to. All right. That young men right there, in the striped shirt. Yes, you. Thank you, mr. President. I am from rwanda. [applause] pres. Obama you have a little cheering section here. Got the flags. Mr. President , there is a big problem of Climate Change, and research has showed that africa will be the most vulnerable continent to Climate Change in the next decades. Africa is the continent which is responsible to Climate Change mitigation, and it is reducing the Greenhouse Gases and the global warming. And i saw that africa was the last continent to get the funding for Climate Change mitigation and adaptation. So my question is to ask you what is the plan of the United States of america to empower africa so that our community can adapt themselves to the Climate Change in the next future . Thank you. Pres. Obama well, first of all, this generation has to understand that Climate Change is going to be one of the Critical Issues that you face. Now, oftentimes youll hear people say, well, Environmental Issues, Climate Change, we dont have time to worry about that right now because we have much more urgent issues we have to educate our children, we have to feed people, we have to develop maybe later we can worry about Environmental Issues which i understand why a lot of african countries and poorer countries in asia or latin america or other places would say that, because historically, thats basically what the United States and developed countries did. The United States used to be terribly polluted. If you went to los angeles, you couldnt it was like beijing is now. It was very hard to breathe if you ran outside. You had lakes and rivers that were so polluted that one of them caught fire. Thats serious, thats some pollution there. The same is true in london when london was first developing during the industrial revolution, because of all the coal that was being burned, and the soot. Heres the problem. Whether its fair or not, the issue of Climate Change is not like traditional Environmental Issues in the sense thats its just isolated in one area. Global Climate Change will affect everybody. And because the changes could be so severe, frankly, the countries that are most likely to be adversely affected are the poorer countries because they have less margin for error. So if you have changing weather patterns in, lets say, the indian subcontinent, and the monsoon rains shift, suddenly you could have millions of people whose crops completely fail. Well, the same is true in africa if rain patterns and drought starts changing, subsistence farmers are completely vulnerable. If you are in coastal communities, and the oceans begin to rise, millions of people could be displaced. So this is something that everybody is going to have to take seriously. Now, what were going to be doing is, here in the United States, we are initiating some of the most aggressive action to start reducing the emission of carbon that produces Climate Change. Theres going to be a paris conference later this year in which were organizing china and other countries that are big carbon emitters to participate, and set targets for reduction of carbon pollution. Now, africa, per capita, doesnt produce that much carbon. So some african countries have said, well, why should we have to do anything . Well, the answer is, is that you have to project where youre going to be 20 years from now or 30 years from now. If you get locked in now in, for example, the way you producing energy thats producing a lot of carbon, given the youth of africa and its rising population, you could end up being the major carbon emitter if you dont take plans now. So what were saying is, learn from our mistakes and find new, sustainable ways of Generating Energy that dont produce carbon. 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