12/15/2022

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            It must be exciting to be surrounded by 45 African leaders. I have not seen a photo of the group, but I suspect most, if not all of them, are men. I assume that’s the case because I didn’t see any men in the photo of Jill at her event hosting the leaders’ spouses at the Kennedy Center. I was excited to see Kalkidan Tadesse with Jill at the podium. She was representing the Young African Leaders Initiative, but I couldn’t find out much about her. Please do more to lift up African women!

            Thanks for your promise to invest $55 billion over the next 3 years to help African countries do more to transition to clean energy & plug into the digital economy. That should nicely augment China’s investment in African roads, bridges & airports. Since African nations are full of young people, they need connectivity!

Next time you hold a summit of African leaders, I suggest you do it on their continent. This would limit the environmental impact of the event. Rather than 45 airplanes flying 5000+ miles, only one would be making a trans-Atlantic flight. Please keep the health of our planet first & foremost in your mind.

            I’m sure you heard the good news that the UN credentials committee has decided to defer the junta’s request to be represented in the UN so that Kyaw Moe Tun will be continuing to hold his seat. According to Chris Gunness, director of the London-based Myanmar Accountability Project the move has “great diplomatic and symbolic significance, at a time when the illegal coup leaders are attempting to gain international recognition.” Please check in with Linda Thomas-Greenfield to see if there’s something more we can do at the UN to help Burma.

            BYBS,

            RCA