On behalf of the United States, I congratulate Senegal on the signing of its Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact. The $550 million Senegal Power Compact will modernize and strengthen Senegal’s power sector to increase economic growth and reduce poverty through improved access to electricity. The Government of Senegal will contribute an additional $50 million to the compact, bringing the total program to $600 million. The United States is committed to spurring economic growth in Africa through partnerships, such as this one. Senegal’s hard work in meeting MCC strict eligibility criteria is paying off in the form of a rare second MCC compact. American partnerships – seen through assistance projects like this one – are an essential part of our diplomacy.

In addition, the compact will complement the ‘Power Africa’ initiative implemented by USAID and other U.S. government agencies. This initiative is accelerating improvements across Sub-Saharan Africa’s power sector.

The United States celebrates this momentous occasion, the signing of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Senegal Power Compact, and remains committed to a strong bilateral and economic partnership with Senegal.

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The Department is publicly designating former president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, under the terms of Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2018, due to his involvement in significant corruption. Section 7031(c) provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that foreign government officials have been involved in significant corruption or a gross violation of human rights, those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.

The law requires the Secretary of State to publicly or privately designate such officials and their immediate family members. In addition to the designation of Yahya Jammeh, the Department is also publicly designating Jammeh’s spouse, Zineb Yahya Jammeh, his daughter, Mariam Jammeh, and his son, Muhammad Yahya Jammeh.

The United States is committed to combating corruption, increasing respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and promoting good governance globally. The United States stands with the government of The Gambia, its people, and civil society in support of The Gambia’s transition towards greater transparency, accountability, and democratic governance, for the benefit of all Gambians.

For more information, please contact INL-PAPD@state.gov.

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External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

Seventy years ago, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Emerging from a world war that shocked humanity with its cruelty, the sovereign nations of the world united to specify those rights that are inherent to all persons, and committed to their promotion and protection henceforth.

The Declaration’s fundamental principles remain as relevant today as they were seventy years ago. Still, governments impede the freedoms of religion or belief and expression. Citizens’ rights to participate in free, fair, and genuine elections remain precarious. Authorities continue to subject prisoners to torture and inhumane treatment. Global recognition of the inalienable rights belonging to all individuals must be continually encouraged and reaffirmed.

U.S. foreign policy is rooted in the understanding that governments that respect individual rights and fundamental freedoms remain the best vehicles for prosperity, stability, and peace. On this International Human Rights Day, the United States underscores its commitment to promoting human freedom at home and around the world.

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Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan will host a ministerial on counterterrorism cooperation in the Western Hemisphere on December 11, 2018. Senior officials from twelve key North, Central, and South American partners will attend, including Argentina, The Bahamas, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago. Brazil will participate in an observer role. Senior counterterrorism and security officials from the Departments of Justice, Treasury, Homeland Security, and the U.S. Intelligence Community will also participate in the meeting. Participating governments will discuss the threat that transnational terrorist groups, including ISIS, al-Qa’ida and Lebanese Hizballah, pose to the collective security and safety of their citizens at home and abroad.

Deputy Secretary Sullivan will deliver opening remarks at the conference in the Department of State’s Loy Henderson auditorium at 9:00 am on December 11, 2018.

The Deputy Secretary’s remarks are open to the press.

Preset time for video cameras is 8:00 a.m. from the 23rd Street entrance. Final access time for writers and still photographers is 8:30 a.m. from the 23rd Street entrance.

Coordinator for Counterterrorism Ambassador Nathan A. Sales will be available for questions on the event during an online video press briefing at 9:30 a.m. on December 12, 2018. Interpretation will be provided into Spanish and Portuguese. Video and audio will be available for download after the briefing. Journalists can join the online session at this link: https://app2.sli.do/event/e5tkj26d.

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The Department of State released today Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917–1972, Volume ­VII, Public Diplomacy, 1964–1968.

This volume documents the efforts of the Lyndon B. Johnson administration to craft public diplomacy and information policy during the middle period of the Cold War. A major emphasis is on the various ways the United States Information Agency (USIA) presented U.S. foreign policy objectives to global audiences during a time of great social upheaval within the United States, particularly during the Civil Rights movement. It also describes how the Johnson administration ensured both USIA and the Department of State utilized a variety of public diplomacy tools in the face of numerous crises that defined the 1960s. These crises included the assassination of John F. Kennedy and transition to the Johnson administration, the Dominican Republic intervention, the ongoing nuclear test-ban treaty negotiations, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and, most significant, the Vietnam war, which was a dominant focus through Johnson’s presidency. Additional documentation chronicles the Johnson administration’s attempts to reassure the world of U.S. stability following Kennedy’s death, to promote a domestic policy during a period of tumult and great cultural change, and to advance the Department of State’s educational exchange activities, particularly with the Soviet Union and the developing world.

This volume was compiled and edited by Charles V. Hawley. The volume and this press release are available exclusively on the Office of the Historian website at https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1917-72PubDipv07. For further information, contact history@state.gov.

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