PRESS STATEMENT
ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE
APRIL 1st, 2022
Today the U.S. government initiated new partnerships with Haiti, Libya, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, and countries in the Coastal West Africa region (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo) for implementation of the ten-year U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability.
The United States, our friends and allies, and the wider international community are facing destabilizing challenges that cross borders to disrupt ways of life, economies, and whole societies. Democratic governance is increasingly under threat as violent extremists and practitioners of oppression assert their authoritarian will through coercion and violence. Through a spirit of partnership with these countries’ governments, civil societies, and local voices, we can and will confront negative global trends and create new models for broader cooperation and enduring stability.
The State Department is fully committed to the successful implementation of the Strategy and looks forward to working together with the selected countries to create and implement long-term, locally led plans to build resilience, strengthen the roots of stability, and prevent conflict. It is also critical that we factor in the lessons learned from previous U.S. involvement in difficult circumstances, derive the necessary insights, and apply them through our new approach going forward.
The State Department will lead this whole-of-government Strategy to align American capabilities in diplomacy, development, and the security sector. Working closely with country partners and civil society organizations at the national and local levels, we will shape a common purpose that harnesses all the tools at our disposal in support of the Strategy, through our Embassies overseas, our regional and functional bureaus in Washington, and with integrated planning and monitoring, evaluation, and learning across the U.S. government.
I am grateful to the U.S. Congress for the landmark bipartisan Global Fragility Act that underpins this Strategy. I similarly thank those in civil society and expert communities who advocated for the Act and will be crucial to help us turn it into action. We now have an ambitious framework for engaging creatively with our global partners to anticipate and prevent conflict and promote stability.
