20 July 2006
U.S. Official Calls on Sullivan Delegates To Be Africa Advocates
Leon H. Sullivan VII Summit closes in Abuja, Nigeria
Abuja, Nigeria –U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria Chargé d'Affaires Thomas P. Furey called on the delegates attending the closing session of the Leon H. Sullivan VII Summit July 20 to be ambassadors for Africa and unleash the promise of the continent.
The July 17-20 summit was attended by dignitaries from more than 30 countries -- including 15 heads of state from Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean -- as well as Africa experts and those of African descent from all parts of the world. (See related article.)
"You are the ambassadors between Africa, the United States and other Western countries, because ambassadorship is really about citizens from all countries working together to promote change," Furey continued.
Quoting an Ethiopian proverb that says, "If spider webs unite, they can tie up an elephant," Furey said, "For all of us to succeed in our missions in Africa, we need all of you to take your jobs seriously as ambassadors and to weave webs" -- not to tie up an elephant, but to "unleash the promise of Africa and its people.
"In the end, it is all about people -- investing in people through education and public health and unleashing the promise that Africa holds, if governments will allow people to work to better their lives. That is really what this is all about" and what the Sullivan Summit continues to do on a daily basis, he said.
Furey was representing U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell, who was a member of President Bush's official delegation to the summit but was unable to attend the closing session. He was introduced by former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young, who co-chaired the summit.
Young, thanking President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for the U.S. government's longtime support of Sullivan summits throughout Africa, asked that Furey invite both Bush and Rice to the next Sullivan Summit in Tanzania in 2008, "so we can thank them for all of the good things they have done for Africa during their eight years in service to our country and the world."
Reflecting on the 2006 summit, Young told the delegates that he never really recognizes the significance of such events until after they adjourn.
To illustrate his point, he cited a meeting in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1974 that he attended along with members of the U.S. Congress, U.S. mayors and presidents of black colleges and universities in the United States. That small conference, he said, "educated a whole group of people who ran U.S. policy on Africa for the next 25 years. All of the ideas for Africa that came though the United States Congress" were plotted out at that meeting. "We shaped Africa policy for the United States and the world for 25 years," he said.
Looking ahead, Young said the upcoming Leon H. Sullivan Summit VIII in Tanzania will be "carried to a new level." He said the summits, which began in 1991 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, have continued the tradition of the Pan-African congresses, most recently held in Tanzania in 1974.
OUTREACH TO BRAZIL, CHINA
Young expressed hope that Brazil would be represented at the next summit because of its large African population. Additionally, he said, the summit also will work on securing a bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation and a broad cross section of U.S. mayors to attend.
He also announced that the Leon Sullivan Foundation soon would be meeting with a Chinese delegation in South Africa to discuss signing on to the Global Sullivan Principles.
"Through the Global Sullivan Principles, we are going to be engaging African leaders, Chinese business leaders and American business leaders to talk about the Global Sullivan Principles.
"It really is very hard on our American businesses if we are being held to a standard of no illicit payments and all of our companies are investigated constantly, and here we have another group of people coming in playing by a different set of rules. So we are beginning to get African leaders, Chinese leaders and American leaders together to talk about leveling the playing field through the influence of the Global Sullivan Principles."
He said he hoped that within six months the Chinese and the Caribbean community and the African Union all would be signatories to the Global Sullivan Principles. If that happens, he said, the next summit might very well have a Chinese delegation.
The Global Sullivan Principles is a code of social responsibility guidelines that support individual human rights, equal opportunity, respect for employees, fair compensation and respect for intellectual property rights.
The late Reverend Leon H. Sullivan, founder of the summits, authored the Global Sullivan Principles of Social Responsibility in 1977 while serving on the board of directors of General Motors, which at that time was the largest employer of blacks in apartheid South Africa.
Young said the Sullivan Summit itself is becoming a major nongovernmental organization focused on African development and the promotion of African-African-American global friendship.
The 2006 Leon H. Sullivan VII Summit had as its theme "Africa: A Continent of Opportunities -- Building Partnerships for Success."
The text of Furey’s remarks is available on the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
