- U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton walks out of the Center for Research
and Action for Peace with Rev. Hyacinthe (L) and Quentin Kanyatsi (R)
in Abidjan, January 17, 2012. REUTERS/Larry Downing
Remarks at the Youth and Community Leaders Reconciliation Roundtable
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Center for Research and Action for Peace
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
January 17, 2012
First,
let me say how honored I am to be here with all of you who are seeking
reconciliation and finding common ground. I want to thank Mr. Kanyatsi
and your colleagues at Search for Common Ground and Father Loua and
everyone here at CERAP. We know how hard it is to overcome differences
and to work toward reconciliation. I want to thank you for sharing your
stories with us today, and I want to thank those who were in the small
play for so strongly illustrating what you are trying to do.
I am
grateful we have two religious leaders here today who recognize the
importance of inclusive dialogue. Your work makes me optimistic that
your country, Cote d'Ivoire, and all Ivoirians can overcome the
differences that have, for too long, hurt the progress of your nation.
Our political or ethnic or religious differences are not as important as
our common humanity. President Obama and I are very proud to support
the work that is being done here. The United States has worked with many
countries to overcome conflict and war. We know everyone has a role to
play in deciding whether the future will be peaceful or not. Whether you
are a president of a country, a minister or imam, a young man or a
young woman, each person can decide whether to go on hating or to begin
living together and working together.
So we are here today to
applaud your work but to also recognize with you there is much more to
be done. In the United States, we have people from every nation, every
ethnicity, every religion in the world living and working together. It’s
always a little surprising when people come to my country from their
own country, where they did not get along with each other, and then they
find themselves looking for someone from their country to share food,
to share language, to share memories together. So it is our hope and our
prayer that the work that is being done here will help build a new,
strong, peaceful, prosperous Cote d'Ivoire for the young men and women
and for all the children to come.
There is no more important work
for Ivoirians or for any people anywhere in the world to find
reconciliation. And the United States will remain your partner and your
friend. We want to look to Cote d'Ivoire in the future as an example of
how people can work together and how the differences are what make you
more interesting, not put you apart and against each other.
So let
me thank you for sharing your work with me and my colleagues, and we
wish you a very bright and wonderful future for you individually and for
this blessed country. Thank you.
