The United States and Mexico co-hosted on October 11 President Hernández of Honduras, President Morales of Guatemala, and Vice President Ortiz of El Salvador at the Prosperity Day portion of the October 11-12 Conference for Prosperity and Security in Central America. Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Pompeo, and Secretary of Homeland Security Nielsen, along with co-hosts Mexican Foreign Secretary Videgaray and Secretary of Government Navarrete discussed the key economic, security, and governance issues that drive illegal immigration and illicit trafficking. All agreed to expand partnerships in order to more effectively address the joint challenges in the region.

As part of the U.S. Strategy for Central America, the United States aims to address the security, governance, and economic drivers of illegal immigration and illicit trafficking while expanding investment opportunities for U.S. businesses. The United States has pledged over $2.6 billion in foreign assistance over fiscal years 2015-2018 to Central America. U.S. efforts complement the Plan of the Alliance for Prosperity, the reform initiative of the Northern Triangle governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The Northern Triangle governments have allocated a combined $8.6 billion from 2016-2018 to advance four key reform areas: fostering the productive sector, developing human capital, improving citizen security and access to justice, and strengthening institutions and improving transparency.

Participants highlighted achievements since the June 2017 conference in Miami, including new joint U.S.-Mexico projects to enhance prosperity and security in the Northern Triangle. The three Northern Triangle governments created a regional Customs Union and launched regional law enforcement operations that resulted in 4,000 criminal charges against transnational criminal networks. Moving forward, all sides agreed on the importance of further energy sector and infrastructure development, economic integration, especially for new opportunities for women, information sharing on potential criminal threats, and new investigative efforts to counter human smuggling and trafficking.

For more information on Prosperity Day, please visit this webpage.

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The United States congratulates Ukraine’s Parliament and Ukrainian leadership on extending the law on special status for Russia-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine. Extending this law, which would have expired yesterday, demonstrates Ukraine’s continued commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and implementation of the Minsk agreements. Ukraine’s brave step towards peace stands in sharp comparison to Russia’s continued failure to fulfill its Minsk commitments.

We call on Russia to join Ukraine in pursuing peace. Russia and the forces it arms, trains, leads, and fights alongside have yet to follow through on repeated commitments to cease hostilities, withdraw foreign fighters, exchange detainees, or disband the illegal armed formations. Moscow should institute a full and comprehensive ceasefire and cancel the illegal sham elections it is organizing in the Russia-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine.

The United States continues to support the efforts of France and Germany in the Normandy Format to advance implementation of the Minsk agreements and we remain open to dialogue with Moscow on avenues for restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

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It was an honor to chair this Administration’s first meeting of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Today I was proud to be joined by several members of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking. They set a courageous example of service for the United States, and for the world, by choosing to transform their harrowing experiences into powerful advocacy. I was honored to present the Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons to Ms. Minal Patel Davis and Mr. William C. Woolf III.

The U.S. government is seeking new ways to leverage input from human trafficking survivors to strengthen federal policy and programming efforts. The State Department is doing its part through four key initiatives:

Last year, we launched the Program to End Modern Slavery, a congressionally-funded U.S. foreign assistance program that seeks to achieve a measurable reduction in the prevalence of modern slavery in specific countries or regions. The Program began with an initial investment of $25 million for the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, and now we have just awarded a second contribution of $25 million to the Global Fund and the University of Georgia Research Foundation to continue this important work. Congress has made yet another $25 million available for fiscal year 2018, which will bring our total investment for this important Program to $75 million.

The Department’s Domestic Worker In-person Registration Program will expand to two new cities in 2019. This program was developed to enhance protection and oversight of foreign domestic workers employed by foreign mission and international organization personnel.

The State Department will release a new “Know Your Rights” video that will air in U.S embassies and consulates to increase visa applicants’ awareness of their rights, help them identify human trafficking situations, and lead them to both avoid and report suspicious activity.

And finally, the State Department just awarded a contract to create the Human Trafficking Expert Consultant Network, which will allow us to meaningfully incorporate survivor input into the Department’s anti-trafficking work, while compensating survivors for their expertise.

On behalf of the President’s Interagency Task Force, the United States government remains unwavering on this issue.

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The United States reiterates its neutrality with respect to Cameroonians’ right to choose their leader and calls for calm and the careful, non-partisan conclusion of the remaining phases of the vote tabulation process. We appeal to all Cameroonians to exercise patience and avoid hate speech.

We encourage Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) and the Constitutional Council to release results polling site by polling site to enhance transparency and citizens’ confidence in the outcome. Any disputes should be resolved peacefully and through established legal channels. The United States remains a committed partner on electoral, political, economic, and human rights reforms in Cameroon.

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The below is attributable to Spokesperson Heather Nauert:‎

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo spoke with Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi on October 10 to convey his condolences and continued support to those in Indonesia affected by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Central Sulawesi on September 28. Secretary Pompeo and Foreign Minister Marsudi discussed Indonesia’s efforts to respond to the natural disaster and ongoing U.S. assistance to the relief effort. The United States has provided a total of $3.7 million in humanitarian assistance through USAID, and deployed three C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to aid in the delivery of humanitarian supplies to assist people in need in the affected area.

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