Secretary blinken speaks at a gathering of Young Leaders from subsaharan africa, he discusses the influence that Young Africans will have on the world noting that 60 of african populations is under the age of 25. The Mandela Washington summit hosts this event in washington dc. music hello fellows. We are at the end of three days of programming here, it is such an honor to be here. Thank you for that introduction. It is my pleasure to be with you here today to ramp up your Mandela Washington fellowship for Young African leaders. We are thrilled you are here in d. C. For the first time in so many years. [applause] i have to tell you it is a real professional honor for me to be here today in my capacity as under secretary for Public Diplomacy but it is also a real personal pleasure for me to be here because i stood in this very room in 2014 with president obama when we inaugurated and announced this program. To see where it has gone today is amazing. [applause] over the years i have met many of you on my travels, many of your predecessors, those that are now alumni including in niger and togo last year when i traveled. Those conversations have left me energized and inspired and they make me want to do more for all of you here in washington. They make me want to do more for you in washington. I look forward to seeing you all in your home countries and your communities. At this moment, let me just add we are very concerned with the events that are unfolding around the continent, which makes the world work that leaders you do more important. Today, we are here to celebrate all of you. We have probably joined the chorus of your loved ones, ortners and friends, rooting for you. We commend each one of you on the ways you are trying to change your communities your leading and serving. A lot of us get frustrated with the pace of change or how challenging it is to implement solutions. One thing i like to say late d. C. Is incremental change is still change. Thank you for all being part of cumulative incremental change. [applause] this afternoon, you will become Mandela Washington alumni. With that achievement comes great responsibility. You are starting a whole new chapter of your experience with us. I am here to ask that you stay engaged with us, that you use your talents we know you are going back to build a strong and prosperous africa. We know by investing in you, we are investing in africas present and future. We really hope you will stay engaged. Let me tell you a quick story about a 2018 alumnus, known to some of you today. He is yes, give it up for josh. [applause] our 2020 three fellows in the university of maryland know him very well. Ok. Im thrilled he is here today. He is an amazing example of what it looks like to stay engaged and take advantage of this fellowship well after the program is over. He is the founder and director of a secondary school in south sudan. [applause] he returned following his fellowship and received funding from the u. S. Embassy in juba. Also from our state Department Program and from the fellowship reciprocal exchange. With those funds he created an awardwinning documentary about school he funded. He traveled back to the u. S. , for speaking at fundraising engagements. He is now a graduate at the university of baltimore county, and is a mentor and cohort mentor to all of you. He has never forgotten the u. S. Connections he has made, during his program, he now has contacts around the world supporting his efforts in south sudan. An amazing example of the potential you all as you officially become alumni this afternoon, i ask you to keep this in other stories in mind and think about how you will be Program Ambassadors going forward. Will you share your stores publicly, will you support recruitment efforts and become more engaged with your u. S. Embassy or Consulate Team or apply for grants with our collaborators and him cementing partners. Please consider doing all of the above. With that and with no further ado, i am here and it is my deep honor to introduce to you the 71st u. S. Secretary of state, antony blinken. Let me just say a word, let me say a word about our secretary, over three decades, 30 years and three president ial administrations, he has helped shape u. S. Foreign policy to ensure it delivers results for americans in partnership with people around the world and thats what we consider all of you. Secretary blinken is a big supporter of Public Diplomacy and the idea that we must be investing in relationships between people not just between governments, to make change. He has traveled extensively throughout the continent of africa as his time as secretary of state. He is no stranger to the magic of the alley and the power of the midwashington fellowship. Please join me in welcoming him to the stage. [applause] sec. Blinken good afternoon mandela. What an incredible pleasure to join you for the first in person Mandela Washington fellowship summit in four years. And to see, to feel the incredible energy, the ingenuity, the talent in this room. My friend, my colleague, thank you for the wonderful introduction, but also for everything that you do every single day to help build and strengthen ties between our fellow citizens in the United States and people around the world. Not the least of which are mandela fellows. Let me just start by saying how grateful i am to everyone who has made this years mandela at washington Fellowship Program possible. It does take a village in that village includes our university house, our partners and my own colleagues, educational and bureau affairs, bureau of Africa Affairs and in our embassies and consulates around the world. And to you, to our exceptional fellows, congratulations, congratulations on completing this program. [applause] like liz i was here in 2014 with president obama, and that is indelibly imprinted on my own life. I was with and part of the president s team when the ali was created. I know this, if you ask president obama his promises mr. President , that would be right at the top of the list. I think hes proud of stuff in President Biden is proud of the fact that here we are, years later, with this program not just surviving, but thriving in making a powerful difference. For almost 10 years now the Mandela Fellowship has convened some of the best, some of the brightest Young African leaders from across subsaharan africa. You are now part of an incredible network, a network of africas youngest entrepreneurs, advocates, public servants. Its now more than 6000 men and women strong. Together, each of you represents a rising generation of changemakers. All of you are driving progress on some of the most pressing issues of our time. Issues that face not just africans, but americans, people all across our planet. How to advance food security. How to combat climate change. How to slow the spread of issues that, as human beings, we have to find ways to tackle together. These are big problems and they are all coming at a time of unprecedented change, turbulence, including as undersecretary alan said, what we are seeing right now. But those of you who are here today, with so powerful is that you have ideas, you have ideas for how to address these challenges in your communities, in your region, in fact, around the world. And as you work to translate those ideas into reality, you cannot imagine the difference that you are going to make. Now. Ive heard about some of what you are working on, some of what you are focused on, some of what you are thinking about from the alumni during my travels in africa. Just a few minutes ago i had a chance to talk with just a few members of this years mandela cohort to learn about the Remarkable Ideas and innovation that are happening in this group. And, if you look around you today, if you look at the person next to you on your left, youre right and behind you, people will become your friends throughout this program. One of you is leveraging technology to help farmers produce more crops, like using satellite imagery to catch early signs of nutrient deficiency in plants. Another one is running workshops aimed at reducing Youth Violence in schools, lowering those incidents by more than 30 . Another one of you is a doctor whos helping develop a vaccine for malaria. One of you invented a way to have clean power by harnessing Kinetic Energy from traffic. Talk about turning lemon into lemonades. Thats just for a view that i described. There are nearly 700 of you fellows in the program this year. So, suffice to say, this is a truly Extraordinary Group that i know is going to produce extraordinary change, extraordinary progress. Over the last six weeks, youve had a chance to sharpen your skills even further at 28 colleges and universities across the United States. Whether you are studying with your professors, whether you were volunteering in your host neighborhoods, whether you were meeting with elected officials connecting with other students, speaking with local business owners, in all of those activities and all of those engagements, you have exchanged ideas, lessons learned, including from your work at home. You traded big ideas, youve shared parts of your own lives, your own culture, your own countries, youve build new friendships in the communities that you joined, from des moines iowa des moines, iowa to atlanta, georgia, those communities are all the better for having have you had you among them. And i want to thank you for that. Something that undersecretary allen said is really, really important. And thats this. We want to stay connected with you as you become alumni. We want to stay connected with you and we want you to stay connected with one another. Maybe the most powerful thing that comes out of this program is the network that you have an opportunity to build. So, i hope this is really just the beginning of our journey together. Our countries, the United States, our partners in africa, we can only meet todays challenges, we can only actually deliver results for our people if we collaborate as equal partners. And that collaboration needs to continue. That idea is really at the heart of our approach toward subsaharan africa. The approach is focused on what we can do with africa, not for africa. It reflects the incredible diversity and influence of the continent and also recognizes the Important Role that Young Africans especially have in shaping our planet for generations to come. You all know these statistics very well and its important that my fellow citizens know them as well. More than 60 of africas population is under the age of 25. By 2030, in just a few short years, two in every five people on our planet will be young and african. [applause] looking around this room today, i can tell, i know, that because of that fact, and because of all of you, that future can and will be very bright. We are committed to working with Young African leaders like you, today and for years to come so that together we have an opportunity to build a world thats a little bit more stable, a little bit more resilient, a little bit more prosperous for all. And, as liz said, sometimes change feels slow, sometimes it feels like youre not making a difference or you are not making the big strides that you imagined. But every step forward, every step forward takes you closer and closer to the goal that you have. And, as you know, as you are taking that journey, and at some point you stop along the way, you will be amazed at the distance youve traveled. You will be amazed at the difference that you are making. For me, thats a source of incredible pride that we have some small part to play in the incredible things that you are doing, it really couldnt be any better than that. So, we know we are already making progress and i know that your creativity, your optimism, your imagination, your energy is not only going to advance the connections between the United States and africa, its going to make a difference. Its going to make a difference in your countries, its going to make a difference around the world, and if you have the opportunity in life to make that kind of difference, its one of the most powerful things you can experience. I cannot be prouder of you, but more important than that, i cant wait to see what you will do in the years ahead. So, thank you. Thank you. [applause] i just hope that, as i said to a few of your colleagues, if im still around in a few years and im knocking at your door, you will open it. Remember me and i am looking to you to build a future that we all want. Congratulations to all of the mandela fellows. Thank you. [applause] and most of all, good luck. We will be seeing you. Thank you. Thank you all. [cheers and applause] weekdays at 5 p. M. And 9 p. M. Eastern catch washington today for a fastpaced report on the stories of the day, listen to cspan any time, just tell your Smart Speaker play cspan radio. Cspan, powered by cable. In 1848 husband and wife william and helen craft embarked on a journey of self emancipation disguised as a wealthy disabled white man with a servant they left georgia avoiding slave traders, Law Enforcement all while trying to conceal their identity. The author of master, slave husbandwife recounts their harrowing journey north and the impact of a fugitive slave law passed years later. Sunday night at eight eastern on cspans q a. You can listen to q a and all of on our free cspan now app. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government, fundedcox sc service along with these other Television Providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. Next a discussion about the biden administrations new strategy to educate and train workers in Digital Security with kendra at walton. She talks about the efforts including recruiting talent from different backgrounds from the Atlantic Council this is an hour and a half. Good