Embassy Funds Signing Ceremony

Address on the Occasion of the U.S. Embassy Maseru Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Fund and Democracy & Human Rights Fund Grant-Signing Ceremony

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a pleasure to be here today with such a dynamic and interesting group of people! I will refrain from any substantive observations on the wonderful bilateral relationship between the United States and the Kingdom of Lesotho until I present my credentials to His Majesty the King and assume my full responsibilities as Ambassador. But it is very exciting to be here, as we have gathered in this room individuals who are putting aside personal concerns to fight for the rights and well-being of the less-fortunate in society, and it is this philanthropy which is the strength of Lesotho, and its future.

AMBASSADOR’S SPECIAL SELF-HELP FUND

To our twelve Self-Help Fund grant recipients, I would like to say thank you for working so hard on behalf of your communities.  From the school construction projects to the HIV/AIDS support groups, you are helping the most vulnerable groups in Lesotho. Your twelve projects have been selected from a collection of 135 proposals to our Embassy, coming from all ten districts of Lesotho, so congratulations to you for putting together such strong proposals.

To the Peace Corps volunteers working with these local groups, thank you for your support to them, and we know you will be of great assistance. I hope to visit your project sites over the course of this year, so good luck to you as you get started.

DEMOCRACY & HUMAN RIGHTS FUND

To our Democracy & Human Rights grant recipients, I salute you for taking on some of the most important and urgent topics of the day.  Human rights, civic participation, new legislation on sexual offenses and women’s rights, and fighting gender-based violence – these are critical issues for your country.

These are issues that we are still working on in America, and we look forward to working together with you here, and sharing the lessons we can learn to advance our societies.

I thank you in advance for this partnership, and once again, congratulations.