sometimes had difficulties in coming to agreement, and coming to compromise, and coming to final conclusions that support the movement forward of the country of iraq. can the council of representatives, under your leadership and the other leaders and the deputies that you have, can the council representatives be a place in iraq that does bring together, that does bring the reconciliation, that does come with compromise to be able to move forward? is this something that you see under your leadership of the council? >> thank you very much. when we started in this term for the council of representatives, we had a lot of compilations of problems. the nature, for example, between the executive and the legislative, between the council

representatives and the government. and to the point that it had delayed the issuance of many laws, the laws and also postponed the side rule. this was the main challenge. we could have been able to build a balanced relationship, but at the same time we agreed about the common grounds, and we can differ on the details. but the situation, iraq requires from us cooperation. so we decided to talk with the cooperation between old authorities and the respective authorities. today in this council of representatives, the president of the republic and the government that's present approved the budget for 2015 in record time. and we were able to issue some

principle legislations that have reached the point of voting. and we are going to vote on the law of political parties which is a very important step. also the media law, it says in the council. and we were able now to reach voting for the federal law. and this has been in the council for eight years. we also have other legislations, principle legislations. the counter council came during very critical time, the appearance of daesh in civilian areas. the members of the council are doing their job within this framework. the national reconciliation and it's being launched from the council representatives. and without serious and real

reconciliation between the political powers is very deceptive. we have a continuous dialogue with the parties in order to achieve this project. >> mr. speaker, you mentioned several of the pieces of legislation that you have laid out as your agenda. you also mentioned in your remarks a piece of legislation on -- you mentioned in your remarks legislation having to do with the national guard. many people here will know, you know all too well, that there are many military formations in iraq. the national guard law would bring some order to this. how would the national guard law work with the shia malitia or the forces under those controlled with the peshmerga, with the sunni national guard?

you mentioned that they should all be under the control, the command of the commander in chief. how would the new law and these three or more military formations work together? >> translator: frank with you, first, why did the idea of the national came out. why it was put into the political agreement and considered a condition for the formation of government. there was a feeling at the time that some governments are not represented in the security and military aspect. and this lack of representation led to the presence of daesh in areas because the population of

these areas were not able to confront daesh because they are not partners in taking the security decisions.o ÷ so the idea of the national guards emerged to deal with this problem.ñwú"63 first the problem is that to have all of the iraqi communities communicate and the military apparatus and to ébhx improve the -- to defend the areas so they will not need daesh. so particularly when we agreed to establish a national guard, at that time the agreement was to do it locally under the ores w1

from the governor and larger issue he would take the role of the commander in chief of the armed forces after we established the law. now it is being put to vote.nk$5 but part of the political forces, so that the project of the national forces have deviated from the main track that it was put forth. it will be another military establishment that will be added to the other ones such as army or intelligence or police. and that is not really the purpose of it. also, the national guard, in the eyes of some, is a cover for the militias that work outside of the official service. in our institution, anybody who is not in the armed forces cannot carry arms. anyone who carry arm, he's a malitia. and according to article 9, these militias are prohibited. so consequently we must find an 8>klñ

official way we can rely on to prevent this multiplicity of loyalty. because this is not going to lead us to any progress. the law of the national guards is now being discussed. what do we need from this law. some say that if this is going to be a new case, irh:c?]8ur be like the rest, it's not going tot?p others say no, it's not going to be like that. >> mr. speaker, if this, if thisb'á unified national command and the military effort is successful in certain areas, when the military[vj] in these various components does liberate areas and areas are liberated from daesh, you >9< mentioned in your remarks that reconciliation, that l stabilization would be important. we have some experience. you have some experience.

so americans have some experience in this effort. howxursq e different from the previous times, stabilization, reconciliation to avoid the problems that could come if we make the mistakes again? >> translator: of course in is an important matter. it is a comprehensive project.0[" some areas in which daesh, they have committed heinous crimes and was liberated, the local population in several areas need some kind of harmony to be able n

for example, there are those who used to carry weapons even if he against daesh, but when daesh (x.k÷ was moved out from the government, those who have weapons are in a much powerful situation than other. how can we create an equal situation. we know that anybody who carries weapons has ability to impose his will on other. and we have several examples.m,k so i call for the international dz&q community to focus on a project for stability after the liberation of the areas from daesh.

this project for stability is not in kind, but just to achieve stability and to build a new democracy and work on the minds of people. and trying to spread the spirit of participation and reconciliation. and this is not a human project -- it is a human project, but it is also a security project. so it's important that daesh does not come to us under a new name. how can we come if we achieve justice and stability. it will return if there is marginalization and exclusion. and if there was a feeling that people are not allowed to participate. so the important message we must send to the inhabitants who are not less than two and a half million people under the rule of daesh, some of them are afraid,

some of them doesn't have any financial power and some are women and children. the most important message to send to them is what we established after the liberation of daesh are in now much better condition. but if they are bad, they would not think of their life against daesh.ñs why would they defeat daesh. we should have a project for establishing stability. takes into account the security and continuing democracy. >> mr. speaker, we're so pleased that on your first visit to the united states you're able to join us here.

you will find a group of very interested people here, very interested in your country, in the direction that your country, and in the peace that you've just described. let me open the floor to questions. i'm going to do, i think, two at a time. we'll answer one at a time. but let me do two at a time so that a microphone can be in your hands and we'll save some time that way. so why don't we start up here, right here. yes. and then up here as well for the second question. now back up -- there you go. very good. sir. name and affiliation for the speaker. >> i work for the council of extremism on somalia. thank you for hosting this very important forum and i would like to welcome saleem al-jubouri and his delegation. for years i worked with many iraqi groups from 2004 and 2011, so i have interests on what's going on in iraq and somalia.

i have a question i cannot find an answer to it, which is now specifically with the popular immobilization forces. many of the sunni area are complaining this is a shia led forces that are doing a lot of atrocities in the region. i would like to know your intake into that. and very quickly, many blame bush administration for what's going on in iraq today because of in 2003 what's called the number two plan or whaf, the dismantling of the iraqi army. i would like to know your insight into that as well. thank you. >> translator: immobilization,

popular mobilization. i am going to speak clearly about that. when daesh controlled several areas in iraq the iraqi army collapsed, we found ourselves in a big problem. how could we confront daesh? so directives were issued from religious leaderships to mobilize the people to support. army and to stand by the army. there is a positive aspect to this and a negative one. the positive -- and when i look to the population of the government and they come, for them to have their bloodshed because of their presence with the army forces, this is not a kind of support.

and we should not deny the great effort that were exerted and the important role played by these people. this is a very positive aspect. supporting the popular forces and to the iraqi army. what happened during the liberation and afterwards which give this negative picture, theybm0>ç were actions, theft, and there were some practices that showed that these forces are not regular forces and they're not disciplined and some of the misdemeanors were bad. and as a result, we cannot say who is responsible and should be punished and held accountable for this. and frankly speaking with even the idea of mobilization as an idea, which means a

participation of all people, sunni, sheena and the kurds, the kurds have peshmerga and they're stable. the shia has the popular mobilization. in response to the religious authorities. but the sunni, how can we contain them pen a what is the framework they're working through to perform their duties in confronting terrorism. they have a previous experience in the tribes. they confronted them and many of the children of the tribes had the desire to confront daesh but they don't have the weapons and don't have the capabilities to allow them to enter into

confrontation. so they were using forces that come out of their governments to defend their a yas. now the number of those forces reaches 100,000 individuals. but from the population of the governance that's occupied by daesh alone, and we have 17,000 only that belong to the mobilization. so we must also take into consideration that because we need training or equipping to these forces. >> so let me identify the next questioner here. okay. but you will follow this gentleman right here. so if the mic can get to this person right here. yes. >> michael gordon, "the new york times." mr. speaker, since mr. abadi became prime minister of iraq, have there been any steps toward political reconciliation and are you satisfied with the pace of reconciliation in your country? there seems to have been no

progress on an amnesty law. you mentioned the national guard. the national guard does not exist because your council of representatives can't pass legislation on it. a case can be made that the international community should do more. but the perception here is that iraqis haven't done enough on political reconciliation. do you share and that what do you think needs to be done. thank you. >> translator: abadi, we look at him as partners. he needs support. and he also, he must take initiative to implementing agreements that were concluded in the past. because waiting or delaying will create a kind of feeling of no commitment to agreements that were neutral. and the project of reconciliation, we partner with

him in it. we will continue to operate to achieve it. it is not an easy project. it is not slogans. it's a practical project. it was commitments on both sides. so my evaluation of this project is not up to the required level. the reconciliation project is not really convincing for me. but there are many challenges facing us all. and definitely the matter requires efforts from everybody in order to be able to achieve it. we cannot blame one side alone. the truth, those who have committed with fall upon them the greatest bargain. we're all partners in the results achieved. >> that will be the next one here. but before you, madam, right here.

>> hi, director of research at the project democracy. you made a very compelling point that in order to inspire )wh]u sunnis who are living under daesh controlled territory, to take up arms and to fight against dash that we have to e>í> offer those sunnis a vision of the future that they can hope to have in iraq and a vision of iraq that treats them better than they were treated before, before the abadi government. and some of the key things that need to happen have been clearly stated by people such as yourself, a national guard, reform in a number of different areas that have been stonewalled by the iraqi parliament. what are the main obstacle to the reforms taking place? what are the objection to the reforms? how can we begin to overcome those objections?

>> translator: with regard to the legislations and this framework and most prominent of course is the law of the national guards, it was decided that on the 30th of may we would put it to vote, after the committee provided its final report on the law. but as i said, in its final language, some of the political parties thought that this subject required discussion. is this the formula that we agreed upon or because if we work in voting to decide the matter, they will be large blocks that can -- according to its own interest. but we do not want this important issue to reach consensus. this is the method that we're

follow now. the message of son census is very important in the aspect that we consider very crucial. the law of the national guards hire a simple instruction. and beginning in july we may in fact adopt it. but as i said, approval of this law of national guards which deals with the problems that it was created for, and not just the process of having a new system that is not different from what is present in the army or in intelligence and the security apparatuses in general. >> so, this gentleman right now will need the next mic, but before you madam -- yes,

please. >> actually i need to ask my colleague and my dear brother, whom i work with him at the iraqi parliament one simple question. what is the definition of reconciliation. [ speaking foreign language ] i am the first female judge in the history of iraq and the middle east. i am proud to be that because this is something in the favor of my country, iraq. >> judge, we are very honored to have you here. welcome. [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: the person works

for this country, those misguided people who are now -- with whom should we make reconciliation? the murderers? >> now joining the isis and killing, raping, selling iraqi women. so with whom? [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: we are all iraqis. >> she keeps switching from english into arabic. it's very confusing. least to speak in one language. [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: all of the -- [ speaking foreign language ]

>> thank you so much. [ speaking foreign language ] >> thank you so much. >> judge, thank you very much. thank you for being here. [ applause ] >> translator: thank you for the words that were given by the lady. the deputy. she was a judge and became a deputy and we work with on on human rights and various areas.

frankly speaking, there are two classes in the iraqi society. the society and the politicians for ten years they raised the motto of reconciliation of society. i would like to say clearly that the iraqi society, as a society, not as a political class, does not have what distinguishes it with regard to sectarianism. i believe that i am from the largest tribe in iraq which is in the north and the south, sunni and shia, and they all have relationship. our problem with regard to the project of reconciliation, when people start to use it for their -- the politicians for their own -- when they want to get the sympathy of the people

by speaking in sectarian terms. he tries to use what he thinks is suitable to face his opposition. this is something that should be -- that we should deal with and we can overcome as a matter of fact. >> so we have bob here and then the next one will be in the back here. there was a question further up. yes, right here. that's good. you'll be next. >> so i will speak in only one language. >> thank you. >> my name is bob kelly. i'm the counselor with jefferson waterman, a washington consulting firm. as an iraqi, how do you feel about iranian influence in iraq? >> and secondly, were there anything in the vote to discharge -- here the congress discharge the governor -- here,

under our constitution the congress cannot take away -- discharge jerry brown from the governor of california, so i wonder if you thought there were irregularities in that vote. first about iran. >> translator: we -- in our law there are two methods to remove a government. that is through the council of the government through voting and the second throw the council of representatives based on a request by the prime minister in accordance to the law. yet, if there is something wrong with the procedures, the law gave the right to appeal the procedures. and the decision by the council can be vetoed. any decision by the council can be vetoed when looked by the federal court. it's then decided whether the

procedures are correct or incorrect. one of the problems in iraq or the neighbors countries have influence in iraq and they have presence in iraq. not only coordination of positions, they sometimes go beyond that to achieve priority on one interest or the other. and i mentioned in my statement that the iraqi field has become a field for struggle of influence because states, but we are paying the price for it in our blood, iraqi blood and iraqi wealth. consequently, yes. sometimes some countries think it's a part of its national security is to intervene in the iraqi affairs and this is

rejected by us. we reject any intervention in the same we reject to intervene in the affairs of others. no state should intervene except for the amount needed to achieve common interest which is allowed by law. >> we'll choose here in the back. yes. thank you, sir. >> i am with a news network from iraqi kurdistan. i have two questions. mr. speaker the first one about, you seem to agree in order to liberate the areas underd daesh, we would need to have the participation of the sunni forces. but i would like to know your assessment of prime minister

abadi's reachout to the sunnis. hasn't it been slow, too slow so far? and whether the united states can do more to make sure there's a sunni force, you know, being formed. -- good morning members of the press core. good to see you here on friday. we finally made it to friday. today we have thomas widely the chief of staff combined joint task force resolve who will brief us from southwest asia. he will make a few opening comments and then take your questions. we have about 30 minutes in total for this briefing and i will call8 questions. while you are able to see him, he cannot see you, so do everybody a favor and remember to state your name and outlet. also, because of technology there is a little bit of a delay, so words and videos are

not synced up so it will be watching a kong fu movie in the '70s. i will open it up to you for remarks. >> thank you for the opportunity to address the press corp. again. i would like to begin by talking about our latest operational development in iraq, the deployment of coalition forces to eastern anbar province. this is an existing platforms in iraq. excuse me. like existing coalition forces in iraq these elements partner with the operational level headquarters and tribal leaders to integrate and synchronize the operations being conducted.

we had a good tribal ceremony at this location on wednesday in which 500 sunni tribal fighters attended and were abducted into the forces, including pay and arms. in syria they are focused on the gains isil forces have made against daesh, and these forces have been making significant gains against daesh for months, including expelling them from kobani and the pocket in northeast syria. since early may, isil forces have been working to close the gap between the two and daesh retreated from the border crossing and terrain equivalent to ramadi was rid of daesh terrorists and their control.

the result of these developments will further constrict daesh mobility supply sustainment and communications within syria and will have positive affects for the campaign as well. two other updates before we move on to questions. in terms of bazi they are increasing their foot holds around that area. and they are clearing operations and making progress despite a large number of ieds. ground forces continue to hold their position despite the attacks and suicide bombs which are aimed to disrupt their efforts. the oil refinery is benefitting from reinforcement and resupply

from the south which the iraqis have been able to sustain since the last week of may. the fighting continues around there and many portions remain contested. there is solid progress towards their objectives so efforts are continuing in the right direction. the coalition conducted strikes along the river to the north, including mosul. this has concluded in significant disruption. great efforts have been made in advancing organizational and command and control changes that will facilitate success in future operations. we view this as a positive step. the situation in ramadi is best described as participateory.

forces are conducting shaping operations and working towards the liberation of ramadi fromd daesh. activities such as securing key road junctions and intersections and key terrain, and establishing logistics areas and finalizing planning and rehearsals and preparing equipment and collecting intelligence information are all examples of these shaping activities. with those remarks, i would be glad now to take any questions.

it's hamstrung the effectiveness of the air campaign. can you address that as well? on the casualty issue we take great pains, as you know we go through excruciating steps to avoid civilian casualties. when an accusation of a civilian casualty comes in we take every one of those seriously and conduct investigations in order to determine their credibility and we take -- follow a formal investigative steps in order to make a formal determination on whether civilian casualties occur. and i believe it was a few months -- about six weeks ago that we released the first report on -- that had a finding of civilian casualties from the

cjtf. we currently have five ongoing investigations and for security reasons and for appropriateness reasons, we will not discuss any further details on those investigations at this time. but we will upon conclusion make those details public. on your second question regards to the effectiveness of the air campaign, lieutenant general hesterman engaged the press corps a few weeks back and i think he provided specific details that address your question. i don't have anything to add. from our perspective the coalition air strikes are being effective. they are precise and allowing us to achieve our objectives in combination with ground force maneuver. >> general, it's tom bowman with

npr. we keep hearing there are more shia militia fighters in anbar. can you give us a sense of that? i know you probably don't want to get into numbers. are they 20% higher, 50% higher? you also talk about shaping up operations in ramadi. are we talking weeks away, months away? the same with mosul? is mosul off the table this year? >> and again for operational securities i'm not going to go into the specific timelines of iraqi security force operations. i will tell you there's positive steps moving forward in the shaping for both of those operations, both mosul and ramadi. we remain encouraged by the steps they are taking to set the steps for successful operations in both of those areas.

>> in the shia militias are there more of them in anbar than isf? >> the purpose of the coalition is to support the government of iraq and their aligned security forces and operations against dash. that's what we'll continue to do. in terms of estimate of units of nonaligned units i have no comment on that at this time. we continue to support iraqi security forces in their fight. >> this is dion. i wanted to ask about the next phase in syria. the kurdish forces are saying they're going to take the fight directly south to raqaa. i'm wondering if the coalition is prepared to support the

kurdish fighters and whether you think that's a serious claim or more of a boast? >> much the same as the iraqi security force operations i won't go into details on anti-isil forces that are located in syria. i will tell you that we have a common goal and that is to defeat dash and we'll continue to support them in that effort. >> i wanted to ask you to go into more detail about the 500 sunni fighters being inducted. how soon will they get into the fight? what pay in arms are they receiving and do you have a goal for the number of sunnis? what is your goal for those forces? >> thank you for that question.

a great question for the government of iraq is they are the ones who enroll forces inside the popular mobilization force. again, we saw the tribal -- we will conduct -- start to conduct subject matter exchanges with these tribal forces and make sure they have the equipment and support necessary to be successful in their operations against daish. >> i want to follow up on that. what is a reasonable metric the public should be looking for to determine whether your tribal engagement effort has succeeded or is succeeding and reasonable time frame for determining whether, in fact, the engagement effort is succeeding. secretary carter at a hearing

this week was asked about that and he said a matter of weeks would be a reasonable time frame. do you agree with that? >> again going towards your deaf nugs of success. this isn't the first ceremony in which we've inducted sunni tribesmen. we've done this before and we had those forces that are engaged in operations in and around the valley between hadith a a. all disrupted tribal -- we see this again continuing to repeat itself as we gain more forces more sunni tribal elements into the pmf and continue to coordinate with these force as they conduct

operations. and that's the purpose of the glibl engagement platform that's being inserted into takata. >> this is courtney from nbc news. phil and tony just asked my questions but then your answer brought up another one. how many additional sunni tribesmen have you already trained? i'm still unclear about the 500. it sounds like it's a train the trainers. the u.s. forces are training tribal elders who are then training them in basic combat? and how many sunni tribesmen you have in total that are trained by the u.s. or in some capacity by the coalition that are out there now fighting. thanks. >> yeah, i'll have to get back to you with exact numbers. i know we have conducted multiple tribal ceremonies out

in al asad air base. several hundred tribal fighters within each one of those ceremonies. aol get i'll get back to you with exact numbers. they will teach the tribal elements, the sunni fighters and pmf units how to conduct basic soldiering skills, those type of activities. some of these tribal elements that were inducted have already been fighting on the battlefield. the types of training, amount of equipment they need is all determined on what their current proficiency is. >> hi, missy ryan from "the washington post." i'd like to follow up on the tribal engagement. does -- do the u.s. troops there

have any role in recruiting and vetting the tribal people who are coming on to shape this new force? do american troops go off base to hold engagements with local tribal leaders? and last part of the question, is there any commitment from the government of iraq to these tribal fighters for the sort of post-isis future in terms of jobs with the security forces oir anything like that given that there hasn't been passage of the national guard law? thanks. >> could you repeat the first part of your question. i can answer the last part right now. that's a great question for the government of iraq on how they view the role of mobilization forces in the future. for now, we are leveraging their capabilities as long as they are partnered with the iraqi security forces under the government of iraq control to

conduct operations against daish. >> do american troops have any role or elsewhere in anbar have any role in recruiting or vetting the tribal fighters? and do the troops go off the bases to do engagements with tribal figures? thanks. >> the recruiting of tribal elements is done by the government of iraq. u.s. and coalition forces don't participate in recruiting efforts, and they do not, right now at this time, venture outside of takata in order to conduct those types of activity. >> do the american troops or does the u.s. have any role in the vetting of those tribal fighters?

>> those tribal elements are vetted by the government iraq. >> hi sur. tara koff with the examiner. the combined joint task force releases have noticed the hits on tunnels. i wonder if you can explain the importance of hitting the tunnels and if you are seeing isis move troops or equipment through these tunnels? >> good question. we continue to hit isil whenever we can find them. if we find their tunnel complexes, we'll continue to attack them in those locations. we have seen several instances, and i think you are aware of the open source reporting and some of our strike reporting that we do see tunnelling as a technique that daish use. they use it not only to move equipment and fighters but also

used as ieds, a tunnel ied. we saw that in ramadi earlier. wherever we can find these tunnelling activities, we will look to strike them. >> heath bruisen with "star and stripes." i'm wondering if the 450 additional troops, does that's signal a shift more from actually training iraqi forces which is a more long-term goal to helping them plan to retake ramadi? if so what will that look like, their role in that planning operation? >> good question and the way we see the element is essentially an extension of our advise and assist and tribal engagements we

have at other locations in iraq. the advise and assist elements will link up with their iraqi counterparts. essentially you'll have situations where a coalition intel officer will link up with his iraqi intel counterpart and they'll conduct intelligence preparation of the environment for an operation. you'll have a logistics representative partnering with his logistings counterpart and be able to look at the plan from a logistics plan and shape those operations. we are doing this at several other locations where there are operations centers and headquarters elements throughout iraq. and we see great benefit in these partnerships. the way we've done it friarprior to being located is we've done it via phone and those types of activities are very difficult to

do if you insert translators into those phone communications in order to conduct that coordination. the fact we're able to get on the ground with our counterparts, with the tribal leaders, face-to-face, day in and day out provides us great benefit and we'll be able to move forward with the synchronization of efforts with iraqi force and tribal efforts in developing positive outcomes in the future. >> this is jessica schullberg with the huffington post. secretary carter said there are enough train and equip centers but not enough recruits. without providing recruits with some level of protection from assad's military we won't get enough recruits. can you comment on whether or not that's a concern that you

share? >> recruiting effort within iraq is the government of iraq's responsibility, and they are continuing to adjust some of their previous policies in order to recruit additional forces of the iraqi security force construct. we've established the capacity sites at the request of the government of iraq in order to conduct training to prepare their forces to counter daish. so we see it incumbent upon iraq so we can conduct the training necessary for them to be successful. >> i was talking about in syria. there was concern we won't get enough recruits unless we provide protection against assad the military strikes. >> the syrian train and equip program is not a task that was given to the combined joint task

force. i'd direct your attention to them to provide you with that response. >> this is aaron meadow with defense news. you mentioned early on that you're seeing shaping for ramadi from the isis forces as well as they prepare whatever coming attack is there. can you say if any of that is driving the choices and the equip options given we know there's a push from the u.s. to get more gear on the ground there? >> what we're seeing in ramadi is not unlike what we see at other urban areas occupied by daish in terms of their defensive preparations. we see everything from trenching to ied placement.

things that have been standard tactics techniques and procedures used by daish as they defend urban terrain. >> this is paul with u.s. news and world report. i wanted to go back to the question about recent successes on retacking ground in syria. there were some reports there were elements of the syrian opposition that were fighting alongside kurdish fighters to retake that ground. i wonder if there's been any consideration for plans to use those fighters elsewhere or to somehow bolster what the kind of success they were able to achieve there. >> yeah, i'm unaware of those -- that type of reporting of regime alignment with anti-isil forces that's theolition is sppth for operational security reasons i'm not going to go into future

operations that will be engaged by those anti-isil forces. >> sorry sir. paul again. to be clear. that wasn't sitting syrian regime. that was with moderate opposition -- the rebel fighters in syria working with the kurds. >> again i'm unaware of those types of reporting. those reports. it doesn't sound like anything i've seen. but again i'll certainly check into it, though. >> i wanted to ask you, on the 450 military personnel that must be deployed how many of them have actually arrived? can you give us an estimation if not a precise number? >> thank you. i'm not going to go into the

force build for obvious operational security reasons. >> jeff sullivan from voice of america. i was wondering if you'd talk about the way the islamic state has been acting on the battle field. in many cases they are simply not willing to put up a fight. do you see that as an overall strategy where they are focusing on key areas or being in disarray? also how much have they been able to reinforce with foreign fighters their ranks given the high number of casualties they've been talking about. >> again, i talked a little about what i see in the battle space in terms of daish's reaction to anti-isil forces up

in syria. part of the reflections we're seeing from the attempts to penetrate peshmerga lines on a near daily basis. some of those portend that they have that capability that continues to manifest itself on the battlefield. however every time daish manifests itself like that it simplifies our targeting process and we're able to strike them much more freely when they present themselves in that manner. >> hi, dave martin with cbs. it seems like the kurdish fighters are able to take much greater advantage of the coalition air strikes than the iraqi forces. is that the case and if so

why? >> thanks, dave. you are referencing krdish fighters, are you talking about northernu rack? >> both northern iraq and syria. >> again, great question. what we've seen is that the peshmerga enabled by coalition continue to be very successful against daish. i don't believe the peshmerga have yielded any terrain to daish since the beginning of last winter. we see them as well as the anti-isil forces up in syria beingage being able to make considerable gains when abled by coalition air. the terrain is more conducive to open area air strikes as opposed tocomplex where air strikes in coordination and collateral damage is a little

more complex. that could be a contributing factor into why we see some of the successes we've seen along the -- in the kurdish areas of northern iraq and anti-isil regions in northern syria. i think you've heard the way the terrain is oriented, particularly in peshmerga areas in northern iraq there is a well-defined forward line of troops which simplifies the targeting process. down in central iraq, the battle space is much more complex much more mixed. disaggregated forces et cetera which complicated our targeting efforts. >> sir that concludes our time here today. we really appreciate you taking the time to explain current operations in your area. with that, we'll sign off from here. thanks. keep your head down over there.

>> thank you, steve. thank you everybody. >> okay, press corps, good afternoon. thanks. police in charleston, south carolina, say the shooter is charged with nine counts of murder and a weapons charge. a bond hearing for dylann roof is scheduled for this afternoon.

south carolina congressman james cliburn said if we stay silent they win. this picture shows parts of the speech representative clybrn gave at the charleston vigil. president obama is in california today speaking at the u.s. conference of mayors. c-span will have live coverage of the president's remarks at 5:15 eastern. this weekend the c-span cities tour is partnered with comcast. to learn about the history and literary life of key west, florida. earnest hemingway wrote several of his novels at this house. >> they found this home for sale and bought is for $8,000 in 1931 and pauline converted this hay loft into his first formal writing studio. he fell in love with fishing and the clarity of his writing.

he knocked out the first rough draft of "a farewell to arms" in the first two weeks of arriving in key west. if you really want to write, start with one true sentence. >> for a true writer each book should be a new beginning. he should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. >> key west is also where president harry truman sought refuge from washington. >> president truman regarded the big white house as the great white jail. he felt he was constantly under everyone's eye. coming to key west he could come with his closest staff let down his hair. sometimes some of his staff would let their beards grow for a couple of days. at times they used off-colored stories and could have a glass of bourbon and visit back and forth without any scrutiny from

the press. a sports wear company sent a case of hawaiian shirts to the president with the thought if the president is wearing our shirt we'll sell a lot of shirts. and so president truman wore those free shirts that first year and then organized the loud shirt contest and that was the official uniform of key west. >> watch all of our events from key west saturday at 5:00 p.m. saturday on c-span2's book tv and sunday afternoon on american history tv on c-span3. a look at women's leadership in africa. specifically peace building and development efforts. the u.s. institute of peace hosted a discussion with mozambique and rwanda's ambassadors to the u.s. it's about an hour and a half.

good afternoon, everybody. we are complete. i'm delighted to welcome everybody this afternoon. my name is nancy lindborg the president of the united states institute of peace. and for those who are here for the first time, we were founded about 30 years ago as an independent federally funded bipartisan institute that is really dedicated to a world without violent conflict. and so it's in that spirit that i'm delighted to welcome you all here today. and as we mark today's africa days event, which is, i think, commemorating a very critical

moment in moving towards a peaceful africa with the 1963 founding of africa -- of the africa union. we have a wonderful set of guests with us today. i would like to extend a special warm welcome to our co-host this afternoon, ambassador mohammed tawfik of egypt. thank you for joining us this afternoon. and especially warm welcome to ambassador mathilde mukantabana rwanda and ambassador sumbana of mozambique. and i know there are a number of other ambassadors who are coming in and out. so, please, feel welcomed, we're delighted to have you with us today. and, of course, i'm always happy to see ambassador princeton lyman who i worked with through the years. and we will also have him here.

ambassador lyman for sudan and south sudan. so two years ago on the 50th anniversary of the african union, the 53 nations set out a plan for the next half century. and i think incredible set of vision and foresight. and they came together for the agenda 2063, which was a road map that put together a vision of the continent as a prosperous and peaceful africa that was going to rekindle unity and self-reliance among the african nations. and i think all of us are well aware, you cannot accomplish that kind of vision without the full inclusion and participation of women. and so, quite appropriately, the africa union declared 2015 as the year of women's empowerment and development. which is obviously the right way to kick off the agenda 2063.

and it is a time in which the african union is calling on all africans to seize the opportunity to focus on practical solutions and measurable results for women on the continent. so in this spirit, we're just delighted to host today's panel featuring our ambassadors from rwanda and mozambique who will highlight women's roles in peace building and development along with our friends from women -- well, i guess you'll do your own introduction. so i won't do that now. but we have an incredible panel who will really focus on all the ways that women are critical agents of change. and understanding that the agenda 2063 is a very important framework to move us forward on this. and 2015 lays the foundations. and from the usip perspective, women are absolutely critical

for laying the foundation for peace building and for enabling the vision of the agenda to really come to fruition. and so, it's with great pleasure that i welcome you all here today. and with even greater pleasure i turn it over to ambassador mukantabana. and we're also joined here by susan markham from usaid. delighted to have you, as well. ambassador. >> thank you so much. >> thank you very much. >> ambassadors, members of the diplomatic corps, friends of africa and distinguished guests, happy africa day celebration.

on behalf of the african ambassadors group accredited to the united states of america in washington d.c., i seize this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to the united states institute of peace for hosting this event on the sidelines of africa day 2015 celebrations. most especially, i want to thank the president of the u.s. institute of peace. honorary nancy lindborg and the team for this wonderful event organizing in conjunction with our africa day 2015 for organizing the committee. for his excellency, the ambassador of the kingdom of morocco and ambassador tawfik from the republic of egypt.

and the team who have worked tirelessly to ensure a successful celebration to africa day 2015. our topic today, women of africa, peace building and development supports the overarching theme of the africa union theme of year of the women empowerment and the development towards africa agenda 2063. ladies and gentlemen as we celebrate the africa today, we acknowledge the progress that we as africans particularly women have made, while reflecting upon the common challenges we still face in a global environment. while african women have made considerable gones in the political, social and economic development over the continent, we are still generalized within the corridors of power. and when applying for jobs and continue to face social exclusion from education

to own land or inherit property. the agenda 2063 calls on africa stake holders to work together to build a prosperous and united africa. bassed upon our shared values and common destiny. we value to put all our people, starting with women and girls, into the center of africa development. in addition to empowering its people, africa seeks to harness the competitive advantages such as history, culture and natural resources in order to reposition itself in the world. in order to become a prosperous africa, a strong influential global player and worthy partner, we need to strengthen our institutions. promote a good governance, democracy, human rights, justice and rule of law for daughters and sons of africa. today, we are standing on the shoulders of the african giants.

whose timeless legacy we are called to preserve and expand. the legacy of self-determination we claim for african women was well articulated by our forefathers. our generation and future generations should take hold for a united democratic and prosperous africa. we are challenged to speed up our pace in promoting economic unity as a way to building an inclusive and integrated africa, that cherishes and nurtures the girls and women of our continent. i'm honored to represent the country that has taken it to another height of spirit of self-determination for all its people. women have more chances of thriving, make me feel compelled

to share some of the measurements that supported the acceleration of women progress in rwanda. strong political will to empower women and girls guided by the solid principle of gender rights is inalienable rights. social, economic, and political inclusion. and empowerment of women at all levels of government and civil society. the creation of a prominent society and family promotion coupled with a systemic high-level campaign and the changing of people's mind set about the gender rights took us where we are. where we can claim to have 64% women in our parliament. we adopted universal health coverage and invested in promoting general health. if there's one successful factor

that we can build on as african countries, it has been inclusiveness. inclusiveness in of all fabrics of society. for this particular case, women participation in all spheres of government has enabled society to heal faster, develop quicker and grant sustainable development. ladies and gentlemen, women have been regarded as the backbone of african societies. by and large, it is still a lofty dream across the continent. history has taught us that women empowerment and economic development are closely related. on the one hand, we know that the development can play a major role in reducing inequality between men and women. it also translates to development. we must, however, acknowledge that relationships of the women empowerment and the development

are too weak to be self-sustaining. and that continues policy commitment to equality for its own sake is needed to bring about equality between men and women. we represent a great major of africa demography. it's clear that africa can only reach its full potential by fully including them in the development agenda. in the quest between empowerment, countries must put in place and promote conducive legislations and policies for women's rights. though we must maintain our culture, we also have to be willing to remove the structural barriers imposed by old traditional and oppressive practices against women. for africa, gender is the annual agenda. our discussion today will focus on the role of women in peace building and development.

we recognize that women and girls are the first victims of conflict and violence. and any political, economic and social fragility is mostly against women. must empower and support women in the quest to curtail these predicaments. i thank my sister, amelia, who is here from mozambique and the fellow distinguished panelists who will lead us in this discussion. from different careers, professions, walks of life, races, we can hold hands and committed to further african unions, founding fathers' legacy, by fighting for women's emancipation. let us fight discrimination against women and girls and make peace a global priority. and let all our dedicated

leaders that promoted democracy, liberty and justice. had we understood that wisdom, anywhere is a threat to justice, whatever affects women directly affects all humanity. and we needed to uplift all the people of our humanity. africa 2063 is intending to have full equality for all women and girls and for the whole humanity. so we hope at least 50% of elected public officials at all levels are coming from women. the economic and political that restricted women's progress is going to start being shattered. as i close, there's a young woman from my own country. she said she was talking about

women empowerment and what it meant for her. she said empowerment is like an engine. you start it, and it converts the fuel into motion. so what i would ask the audience and for all of us is to empower the african women and girls to be the premium fuel for our continent's sustainable development. i thank you very much for your attention. so now, i pass the microphone to susan. >> thank you so much, ambassador. and also, i would like to thank nancy and the u.s. institute for peace and the republic of egypt for having us here today. i'm glad to be here to celebrate africa day in this way.

this year marks the midpoint of what the african union has called african women's decade. the african union has also declared, as we have discussed, 2015 to be the year of women's empowerment and development towards africa agenda 2063. africa shares the u.s. commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls within the post-2015 development agenda and the national action plan for women, peace and security. the u.s. strongly supports the great strides and commitments many african countries and the african union have made to increase women and girls' empowerment through steps to promote good governance and rule of law, accelerate economic growth, enhance food security, advance respect for human rights, promote peace and security and improve access to services such as health care and education. but african women and girls still face significant challenges, including high rates

of gender-based violence, a derth of educational opportunities, difficulties accessing credit and employment. lack of influence in the decision making process. hiv/aids and high rates of maternal mortality, customary laws which may disadvantage them. and many cultural norms which may perpetuate discrimination against women. the united states acknowledges these but also, the critical role women will have and will continue to play in accelerating africa's development and advancing prosperity and security across the continent. to promote and protect women's rights, we within the u.s. government use our diplomacy and assistance programs to increase political, economic, civic and educational opportunities for women. we also remain committed to preventing and responding to

gender-based violence, addressing the unique economic barriers faced by women and elevating women's meaningful participation at all levels of decision making. especially during peace and political transition processes and post conflict reconstruction. we know that conflict prevention efforts, efforts to end wars and bring about just and sustainable peace, efforts to protect civilian populations and hold accountable those who commit war crimes and crimes against humanity and to u.s. international and national security. women's political participation can help lay a foundation. for their participation as negotiators, mediators witnesses and signatories and peace processes. at the same time, women's meaningful peace building can help set a standard for their leadership. the u.s. government has taken deliberate steps to support women's leadership and participation in peace

negotiations, community governance initiatives, security sector reform and transitional justice and accountability processes. for example, the u.s. government has developed deliberate multi-track approaches to strengthen the active participation of women in conflict resolution and peace building in sudan and south sudan. in nigeria, the u.s. government has promoted women in leadership and peacemaking through a series of conferences and workshops. training exercises encouraging tolerance across ethnic and religious lines through engagement with influential religious, traditional, and women leaders. there have also been interfaith media dialogues, discuss how women and other stake holders could prevent electoral violence in the run up to the 2015 elections and how women could contribute to nigeria's political and economic process. last year at the u.s. africa leader summit, president obama encouraged nations to develop national action plans on women, peace and security. and he pledged u.s. support for

up to three african nations to develop or implement similar strategies. today, the united states reiterates this challenge to the governments of africa. and we are working with several governments across the continent to answer the president's call to action. usaid specifically supports inclusive development initiatives and strategic investments in gender and resilience in the ebola crisis. peace building and political transition and protection and access to justice of survivors of crisis and conflict-related sexual violence. in addition, the agency will place an acute focus to programming emerging thematic intersections of women, peace and security in global climate change and countering violent extremism, most notably. the issues of women, peace and security not only stand on their own as important issues, but they affect all usaid's efforts to end extreme poverty and

support resilient democratic societies. as i said, countries are more peaceful and prosperous and sustainable when women are accorded full and equal rights and opportunity. the united states supports efforts to increase the number of women in elected and appointed office and to strengthen the capacity and influence of women leaders. women play a critical role in agricultural growth but they also face persistent obstacles and economic restraints. we will continue to focus on these efforts across usaid programming. gender-based violence is a global epidemic that crosses social economic class, religious and education level and transcends international borders. usaid is working in several countries. tanzania mozambique, the democratic republic of congo where we're investing in gender-based violence and prevent and and the response program for gender-based violence initiative.

we are also working to end child and forced marriage. we are working in ethiopia specifically to do a combination program community outreach. and also, help families understand the issue and the importance of keeping adolescent girls in school. through the economic growth programs, we're doing in africa, it's a priority for the united states. and we'll continue to work because women are the backbone of opportunities. blgd on similar efforts targeting women and youth, this year's summit will convene 150 up and coming women in youth entrepreneurs from around the world for an official presummer event in nairobi. this will connect emerging youth, women entrepreneurs and global changemakers, thought leaders, policy leaders, investors and industry experts. africa is a very diverse and large continent. and the work that the u.s.

government does tries to span all the different countries, cultures, and different sectors in which we need to have work. i look forward to this robust panel today, discussing both women, peace and security as a specific issue, but how the process of engaging women in women, peace and security issues affects other sectors as outlined below with global climate change, early marriage, education and economic growth. i'm turning it over now to ambassador princeton lyman for this panel, and i am looking forward to it. thank you. >> thank you very much, and for those remarks, thank you to the organizers and sponsors of africa day, and this panel in particular. we're really very, very pleased to have an exceptional group.

because the groundwork has been set, we're going to delve even more deeply in this panel. into both the specifics of where women have been involved and made a difference or where the obstacles have arisen to them doing so. i'm not going to be able to do justice to this panel because if i did in introducing them, it would take the whole time we have. but let me introduce them briefly to you. first next to me is ambassador amelia matos sumbana the ambassador of mozambique to the united states since 2009. prior to that a member of mozambique's national parliament from 1994 to 2009. she has a long experience in government. she's worked in agriculture. she's worked in health.

she's worked in international cooperation. and she was a member, is a member of the central committee on international relations. she has a masters degree in population development. next to her is kamissa camara, a senior program officer at the national endowment for democracy. the senior program officer for west and central africa. she oversees a multimillion-dollar portfolio of grants to civil society organizations. i know camissa well. she works tirelessly, works extensively. she's in touch with these organizations on a very personal basis. she also is a founder and co-chair of a strategy forum which brings together stakeholders around the issues in that area.

prior to coming to n.e.d., she was with the international foundation for electoral system. she trained people in electoral management in countries throughout africa. she holds a masters degree in international economics and development. and has a b.a. my french is terrible. she's written extensively and published a great deal. next to her, as we've heard is ambassador mathilde from rwanda whose remarks we heard. she was, prior to that, professor of history in my home state of california, where she received an award for best teacher there. she has been a passionate

community organizer for many, many years. she's formed many organizations to bring together the communities of rwanda and others together including the friends of rwanda association. her awards include the 2012 peace and justice award from the center for american peace and conflict resolution, the global peace award from global majority, and as i mentioned, an award for outstanding teacher. and finally, on the corner there is jacqueline o'neill, director from the institute of inclusive security. if you don't know that organization, you should know that organization. it's an exceptional organization. used to be called women waging peace. jacqueline is responsible for overall policy advocacies and programs. she overseas all the regional initiatives, as well as the support from the institute for governments and civil society.

she advises and trains the military police, civilians serving nato, u.n. and others. she was previously, because she's from canada, policy adviser to canada's secretary of state. and along with former lieutenant general romeo delare, she helped found an initiative to address the issue of child soldiers. prior to the inclusive security, she was at the u.n. mission in sudan and also at carthoum's university for women. this is an exceptional panel. and i'm going to turn to you, madame ambassador. we're going to try to make this as much conversational as we can. but each of you have asked to make a few remarks to start us off. thank you, please. >> thank you very much. good afternoon to everyone. your excellencies, the

ambassadors, dear colleagues, participants, let me first of all, thank you for being here to celebrate with us today this africa holiday. especially women, africans day. thank you for being here. let me also thank the united states institute for peace for having us here to share our experiences and to both with the united states people to share with you some of our experiences as africans. i'm very delighted to be here and very grateful for having been invited to be here. as you know, this is the year of african women. i come from mozambique.

mozambique is located in southern africa. i'm going direct to the issue, let me say that mozambique constitution defends gender balance and equality of opportunity for all without any kind of discrimination. the secretary on gender equality and promotion of women members to consider the location of at least 30% of the decision-making positions. in mozambique, my country, which attained its independence through an armed struggle, women were always present and active in the national policy and agenda for their emancipation. after 40 years, which we're going to celebrate next june, i'm proud to be able to say that mozambique and parliament where

i once sat for 15 years is a very good example of women empowerment. with almost -- it has almost 39% of women in parliament out of 250 members. the parliament speaker is a female as well as the mozambican general attorney. just to give an example. in the executive, we have reached the percentage of 23% of female ministers and deputy ministers. we have a long way to go yet because we'd like to reach at least 50%. but we are struggling to go there. women play a decisive role in the country's development. they are growing from small to medium. some of them and sometimes

risking their own life and comfort to provide better conditions for their families and sustained marked change. i believe that any kind of economic investments should be gender sensitive and include women in the government, in negotiations cooperatives or individually because they have proven to have management skills and commitment reimburse, puts at their disposal by credit institutions. of course, we have challenges. mainly related to access to education for women and girls who are frequently the most illiterate. we are fighting against early marriages. we have heard it from i guess, susan, that usaid is working on

that. in mozambique, we are partnering with usaid and other organizations to fight about this outrage. this is a phenomenon embedded in local tradition. empowering girls and women to decide about their own life. women rights as human rights cannot continue being ignored. they must be addressed. women deserve to be part of the education systems and technology revolution. to be able to render their contribution to a peaceful, stable and sustainable world. the agenda 2063 is a road map for africa. and women can play a parliament role in preventing the diplomacy that's guaranteeing peace building. i believe that this road map

will enhance women's participation. and gender is one of the eight priorities of the au commission. it has been mainstreamed across other priorities. very often, after any conflict, women gather around organizations, not only social issues destroyed by the war and care for displaced people, and they care through their participation in health, education and other economic activities. mainly, agriculture. let me stop here, and i'll be able and very glad to receive any questions coming from the audience. i thank you. >> thank you. kamissa?

>> thank you, everyone. the reason there's focus on women's participation in peace building and development is because women are the most heavily affected by conflict and poverty. and there are -- there is an overwhelming number of practical case studies supporting this. and there are plenty of analysis and research that have been done on the subject. in africa, most specifically, it's really in post-conflict situations that we've seen women's political leadership gain momentum. in liberia, for example. post-war liberia elected africa's first female president, south africa has one of the most gender sensitive constitutions of the world. in another example, maybe kenya, after the election violence of 2007. in 2008, women were able to make sure that in the constitutions, there were provisions safeguarding the rights.

so in all of these post-conflict/reconstruction environments, women's movements and women's civil society organizations have grabbed the opportunities that these conflicts presented. and they have used them to their advantage. now, also, that's one reason for that is because during conflicts, women assume more nontraditional roles outside of the household as gender norms change, and the war basically destructs traditional structures. now, one of the main questions i would like to ask is, do we need -- how do we make sure that women's movements gain momentum in times of peace? or maybe another way to ask the question is, do we need a conflict in order for women's leadership to gain momentum? so, in my opinion, the structural barriers that affect

women not only on the african content but elsewhere also, mostly tradition religion, are barriers that can only be addressed through a change in mentality and can only be addressed on the very long-term period, and takes a long time for that to happen. it doesn't happen through quota systems, through different laws. also, the -- these can help offset the barriers on a very short-term. but really, it happens through a change in mentality. i don't have, i would say, any specific strategy on how to tackle these barriers. so don't ask me. but, there are groups of women out there. and some of them n.e.d. has supported over the years that have taken very original

approaches in leadership and peace building. and one of the main examples that come to mind is in mali, for example. i don't know if you're familiar with west africa, but mali in 2012 had a military coup. took over the northern half of the country, and during that period of time, women didn't have, well, they were not allowed to even show their hands or feet. but after the jihadists left, there was still stigma, there was a need to reconstruct the social structure, and basically, what women did is that they came together illegally, and the younger women who had exposure to facebook, twitter, to brazilian tv soap operas were the ones who were training their mothers on how to speak up or how to discuss with men and how to make sure they find a room at the table of negotiations. these intergenerational

capacity-building programs have reallyhese types of situations and have also shown that when women decide that they want a new role in society, it happens really fast. now, the main challenge that i would like to highlight, and maybe we can all answer this question together is, how do we make sure that the progress that are made at the grassroots level also translate at the regional level and at the national level? because in these countries, for example, like mali, you have very interesting progress at the grassroots level, but you have 34 government ministers, and there is not -- there is not -- no one woman. or if there is one, this woman is in charge of women's affairs or social issues or fishery. not that i have anything against fishery. but, i think that if you want women to basically take a leadership role, then you need to give them a substantive portfolio. looking forward to discussion. >> thank you very much.

madame ambassador. >> thank you. i think my colleagues have addressed many aspects that i'm not going to repeat. one other thing i -- you know, once again, maybe because you asked also to use examples that we know of. the first thing is the mind-set. the mind-set is to see women as agents. not as soldiers. regardless of any kind of policy we can put in place, if the women are not empowered enough to take it in hand. so that women empowerment is definitely the biggest thing. the second i can maybe think of for discussion purposes once again because you've addressed some of the agenda and so on and so forth, is that women have to be included in all the levels

where we want to change anything. you can't talk about ending unless. you can't talk about ending anything without ending anything without women being prisoned. so, it depends if we need to put people, we have to be there and present it. if you are talking about ending family violence women -- we talk about doctor going to see the women the politicsmen going to see the women, and everyone else connected to the case. because representation is big. that's the bottom line. without representation people speak about you, they empower you. you don't empower yourself. if i talk about one area we've been successful because women are are part of the agenda. women are setting the course over the next 30 years, so on and so forth. i'm now open to questions. >> that's very helpful.

thank you very much. eye been reminded, for those what that tweet, and you can tweet #africaday2015. so, tweet freely. >> i'm always sensitive, as you are, to lump the whole africa, the continent together, at the risk of oversimplifying. share representations of africa and women that relate around the world. members of the ambassador mentioned women waging peace network, a group we support and you're a member of others as well i hope join as well. when i wrote to several of them and mentioned i'd be on panel and asked for input, i got a lot

of great suggestions. one of my fame e-mails came back saying, don't worry the ambassador is honorable. you earned your stripes to be speaking on this day. five things we learned from african women. first of all, and carissa was mentioning this, we shouldn't be waiting until a crisis to invest in women's leadership. it's. a project. it shouldn't be projectized. it's a long-term investment strategy. we saw a great example of this come through in a report that the u.s. government released a couple weeks ago around the u.s. national action plan discussing the fact they've been supporting through the u.s. s.n.a.p. a group of women in sierra leone to focus on women's leadership skills. the attention was not in any way to address the ebola crisis. they were focusing on women's leadership and women's

leadership within communities. when the crisis hit it was this group that was one of the best connected to do things that were absolutely essential in that time. they were connecting communities with health care workers, providing recommendations to the national government about women's roles in burial processes and tracking family members, et cetera. the idea of creating women's network and building capacity and ensuring women felt empowered after a crisis like ebola hits simply isn't realistic. the idea of investing in women and women's leadership in times -- beyond times of crisis is essential. we need to ensure african women's groups set their own agenda and set their own priorities. credit to the state department in this regard. where credit is due. we've been working with a group of women from south sudan for about ten years. in part through state department

funding. as you can imagine, about four years ago the situation between the two countries looked very different. the state department provided funding for work related to the separation of the two countries. women from both countries talking about how they would separate peacefully the term of the agreement, et cetera. when the crisis broke out in the south, as you can imagine, everything changed significantly. as a funder, they fouk cussed on sesation of agreements and women in sudan were able to focus on these ideas. unfortunately in some cases, funders are willing and able to do that. third point is that the eco system in which women's leadership exists matters much. i can't understand what a

women's issue is isn't a community issue. corruption is a women's issue. awe whole range of issues. access to justice is an issue. success in your country ambassador, is acknowledgment of land rights and women's access to land and access to inheriting land is core to their ability to participate in public life and participate in security conversations. my most favorite statistic about africa overall is women are responsible for 70% of agricultural production yet 1% of the land. that's a huge, huge issue. agriculture productivity is another issue. if we start to address these things it's all part of a large as i said, ecosystem or chain of events thatten ables women to participate in different aspects of life. fourth what we've seen african women lean on is security more

towards a notion of human security. in beijing the large 20th an verse of women in beijing, women from rawanda, south africa, women said we've played a significant role in war in our country, rebuilding our country and we need to change the way we think about security and we as an international community address these topics. one of the most powful experiences i had working with colleagues in sudan and south sudan was around the separation of the two countries. gathered sudanese and south sudanese women together and talked about petroleum. this was one of the major issues being negotiated by ambassador and his colleagues. people were saying there's no gender die mention to petroleu agreements. there's no gender. maybe something around the economy or something like that. when you break it down with women, they were identifying the ways communities interacted with issues.

they were talking about the environmental impacts of oil insta hagss. they were talking about the environmental impacts of transportation roots. they were saying for example, some places water is heavily polluted. women are responsible for collecting water. they have to walk further to get to clean water. they and their families are much more vulnerable to being attacked or drinking clear water, et cetera. it's part of a system that needs to be addressed. we've seen african women take a lead on redefining this term of security. i think what africa has taught us is there's a whole lot more that whoa need to learn. we focus a lot in my organization on national action plans. some of the best national action plans are in africa. some of the most sophisticated systems of monitoring, evaluation advanced systems of indicator tracking are in africa and being implemented. a whole range of other a

remarkable capacity and i think many of us have either through a range of biases this reluctance to learn from africa and african community. timely and finally, i also think it is always entertaining this idea of with young people now we talk about the shared economy. so uber and airbnb and all these things and we act as though we've invented the idea of shared economies but is there anything more african than the concept of collective property and share something property like that. i think there is a whole massive set -- whole turn in our economy

and the way that it's shifting that is towards the capacities and skill sets toward a number of african entrepreneurs. that we need to be clueing into. so i'll leave it at that as our five things. >> thank you. [ applause ] let me ask, because kamissa raised this whole question, you have a lot of women working at the grass roots level and in social reconstruction after a conflict but it doesn't always transfer to the post conflict situation or to the higher levels. in some cases it has. jacqui, i found it very hard for them to be able to crack through in the key negotiations of peace and security where priorities were often wrong on the part of the negotiators because they weren't really sensitive to how people were suffering. and it was difficult. now why is it that in rwanda and

mozambique you've come out of a conflict -- terrible conflicts in both countries, and instituted such strong gender equality in the constitutions, et cetera? null may still be challenges, but in both cases i think rwanda and mozambique stand out. how did that happen? was it because women were pushing at it and demanding it? did they play a particular role in the conflict and situation? or was it just enlightenment? either one, perhaps. >> thank you. let me add another dimension, which is the elections, the participation of women in the election processes. i feel that this is very important. when women participate in this