Jill Biden: US committed to ensuring African voices ‘valued’

WINDHOEK, (AP):

US first lady Jill Biden told an enthused crowd of Namibian leaders on Thursday that the futures of the US and Africa are “intertwined”, saying that African voices and leadership are critical to solving the world’s most pressing challenges.

Addressing a luncheon in her honour that featured colourful singing, dancing and drumming, Biden said that when she and President Joe Biden were discussing her five-day visit to the continent, he told her how much Namibia’s struggle against apartheid inspired him to speak out when he was a US senator. Namibia was once under the rule of South Africa, where the government operated under a now-abolished system of white minority rule.

“He understood then, as he does now, that our futures are intertwined,” the first lady told an audience of about 200 Namibian government officials, former Namibian first ladies, diplomats, nongovernmental organisation and community-based leaders, United Nations staff and others.

Namibian first lady Monica Geingos told Biden that her visit was a “powerful” sign of friendship for a country that “needs work”. Geingos added that “one of the reasons Namibia doesn’t make international headlines is because it’s a functioning democracy with the fundamentals in place”.

Biden ticked off climate change, economic inequality and strengthening democracy as among the world’s big challenges.

“African voices, African leadership and African innovation all are critical to addressing the most pressing global challenges and realising the vision we all share, a world that is free,” she said.

“We’re committed to making sure that African countries not only have a voice” in international organisations like the UN Security Council, “but that those voices are valued as equal partners, working side by side, to advance our shared priorities and empowering women and youth, strengthening global health and building economic prosperity,” she said.