BLINKEN-AFRICA USAGM
Metadata
- BLINKEN-AFRICA USAGM
- August 5, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Blinken-Africa HEADLINE: Blinken to Lay Out Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa During Visit TEASER: Experts expect new tone, new focus on Africa-led solutions when Secretary of State outlines Biden administration’s plan next week PUBLISHED AT: (8/4/22 & TIME) BYLINE: Cindy Saine CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: VIDEOGRAPHER: PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: AP, Reifenrath, DJ (ok) VIDEO SOURCE (S): Three Saine Skype Video interviews, AFP, AP, Reuters, VOA file PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __ TRT: VID APPROVED BY: TYPE: EDITOR NOTES: )) ((INTRO)) [[U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will launch a three-country tour of Africa on Sunday in South Africa. He is expected to deliver a major speech laying out the Biden administration's strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa. Experts tell VOA that human rights concerns will likely be high on the agenda. VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.]] ((Video: AFP V000_9RX2HP, Blinken visiting Nigeria last November, arriving, welcomed by officials, going inside, meeting with the Nigerian President)) ((NARRATOR)) For the second time as the top U.S. diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Africa. He is set to give a major speech in South Africa laying out the Biden administration’s strategy for sub-Saharan Africa. Joseph Sany of the United States Institute of Peace says he expects Blinken to say he has come to listen to African-led solutions to the continent’s challenges. Sany spoke to VOA via Skype. ((Video: Joseph Sany SOT 1: https://app.frame.io/player/e8481d58-31d9-4ebb-86fb-12f4b884003f TC: 00:21:49 - 00:22:43)) ((Joseph Sany, United States Institute of Peace)) ((Skype)) “We are there to see what are, what are the existing solutions and how can we support them. So, we are not leading the way. It is very important because the minute you jump in to lead the way, you suck the oxygen out of the room and then you kill their [Africans’] creativity.” ((Video: File B-roll of African agriculture, over to fighting in the DRC: AFP V000_329F7NW: 1. Close-up the city of Goma in DR Congo on the first day of the announcement of a state of siege in North-Kivu and Ituri, two violence-wracked provinces northeast of the country 2. Mid shot DR Congo soldiers on the back of an army pick-up truck arriving in the city of Goma on the first day of the announcement of the state of siege in North-Kivu and Ituri)) ((NARRATOR)) Food insecurity, agribusiness and opportunities for the region’s large population of young people are likely to be high on the agenda. And recent fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has escalated tensions between the Rwandan and DRC governments, and the DRC has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group. As Nicole Widdersheim of Human Rights Watch tells VOA via Skype: ((Video: Nicole Widdersheim SOT: https://app.frame.io/player/17e36370-fa6b-4715-a750-bf3944db5676 TC: 00:02:44 - 00:03:20)) ((Nicole Widdersheim, Human Rights Watch)) ((Skype)) “Violence has increased, civilians are getting killed in eastern DRC, we want to see the U.S. government get agreement by Rwanda and Uganda to stop supporting the M-23 forces in the east that are fomenting violence. So, we hope that that's on the agenda, and we're glad that Secretary Blinken is going to go to Rwanda and DRC. DRC also has an important election coming up.” ((Video: AFP V000_32DX88V: DRC and Rwanda’s Presidents are welcomed to talks in Angola -OVER TO: O’Hanlon SOT: https://app.frame.io/player/111379a7-f3c0-423e-9ecc-d9d91171e435 TC: 00:06:33 - 00:07:33)) ((NARRATOR)) Engaging with leaders in Kinshasa and Kigali is the right move, says Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution. [[Radio Intro: Michael O’Hanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, via Skype]] ((Michael O’Hanlon, Brookings Institution)) ((Skype)) “I think if Blinken explains that America's support for each country is going to be partly contingent on their improvement of their democratic and human rights and anti-crime anti-corruption efforts, then it's a perfectly reasonable thing for him to go and deliver those kinds of messages.” ((Video: Recent B-roll of Russian FM Lavrov touring Africa: AFP V000_32FK22W: Lavrov planting a tree in Ethiopia)) ((NARRATOR)) Blinken’s visit comes on the heels of an Africa tour by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who blamed the grain shortage and acute food insecurity on Western sanctions on Moscow, rather than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is winning the public opinion battle with its disinformation campaign in Africa, Sany says. ((Video: Joseph Sany SOT 1: https://app.frame.io/player/e8481d58-31d9-4ebb-86fb-12f4b884003f TC: 00:16:36 - 00:17:36)) [[Radio Intro: Again, Joseph Sany of the United States Institute of Peace. ]] ((Joseph Sany, United States Institute of Peace)) ((Skype)) “It is important for the United States and the West to up their game in terms of informing Africans and African countries and, I think, to set the record straight." ((Video: more Blinken in Africa B-roll: AFP V000_9RU3TZ: Blinken with Kenya’s FM, Blinken speaking)) ((NARRATOR)) Sany says it will take more than one speech by Secretary Blinken to counter Russia’s disinformation campaign, but recent visits by high-level U.S. diplomats are a good start. Cindy Saine, VOA News
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date August 4, 2022 21:06 EDT
- Byline Cindy Saine
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English