Today is World AIDS Day (see post below for Secretary Clinton’s remarks from yesterday).
Her tentative schedule today:
SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON:
9:20 a.m. Secretary Clinton delivers Remarks to the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Chiefs of Mission Conference, at the Department of State.
4:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton attends President Obama’s Briefing for Members of Congress, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
8:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton attends President Obama’s Address to the Nation, at West Point Military Academy in New York.
AT 1:00 P.M., AMBASSADOR ERIC GOOSBY, US GLOBAL AIDS COORDINATOR, WILL BRIEF THE PRESS ON THE US COMMITMENT TO FIGHT AIDS AND THE LAUNCH OF PEPFAR’S NEW FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY. THE DAILY PRESS BRIEFING WILL FOLLOW.
Here is the website for World AIDS Day.
Secretary Clinton will be heading to the Hill (House Foreign Relations Committee) on Wednesday to testify about the administration’s new Afghanistan policy. Apparently, President Obama called Secretary Clinton on Sunday to inform him of his final decision. From CNN:
President Obama has informed several top diplomatic and military officials about his decision regarding new U.S. strategy and troop levels in Afghanistan, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.
Obama called Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday to tell her about his decision, Gibbs said. The president later met in the Oval Office with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen, top U.S. Middle East military commander Gen. David Petraeus and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, among others.
Obama also informed his top military commander in Afghanistan — Gen. Stanley McChrystal — and Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Kabul.
Obama gave orders to implement the new strategy during the Oval Office meeting, Gibbs said.
On Tuesday, Obama will travel to West Point, New York, to announce his decision on a request by McChrystal for up to 40,000 additional troops.
Obama is expected to send more than 30,000 U.S. troops and seek further troop commitments from NATO allies as part of a counterinsurgency strategy to wipe out al Qaeda elements and stabilize the country while training Afghan force.
[snip]
Clinton, meanwhile, has been working the phones since Thanksgiving to brief her counterparts on the plans, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Monday.
Kelly said the secretary’s goal was not to brief them on specifics of the new strategy, “because, of course, that’s being rolled [Tuesday],” but to give them the “general outlines” of what Obama will announce Tuesday night.
Clinton made 10 calls to foreign ministers on Thanksgiving and has made several other calls since. Kelly would not say whether she pressed any of those governments to commit more troops but said most of the discussions were about the need for “coordinating our efforts.”
Speaking on background because of the sensitivity of the issue, a senior administration official said he thought Clinton “got a positive response” from calls to foreign ministers from countries that already are contributing troops to Afghanistan.
…
And then it’s more travel- to NATO later in the week. From Laura Rozen:
The president also spoke Sunday afternoon with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to Gibbs. Clinton plans to travel to Europe later this week to meet with NATO leaders during a previously scheduled conference.
She’s really racking up those frequent flier miles lately. I don’t know how she doesn’t have permanent jet lag (although according to that Vogue article, she doesn’t get jet lag!).
The transcript of Secretary Clinton’s remarks:
As Valerie Jarrett leaves, I want to thank her for her leadership on this and so many issues here in the White House and in the Administration, and for her personal testimony as to the importance of this issue for her, for President Obama, for all of us.
We are gathered on the eve of World AIDS Day to renew and recommit ourselves. It is obvious to those sitting in this audience, as I look out at you and see people who have been involved in this struggle for a long time, that you know that we have made progress, but we face an unending pandemic, one that spares no one, that unfortunately, disproportionately affects the most vulnerable, and which is the defining health challenge of our times. And we have to address it through a series of broad and cross-cutting global partnerships and a whole-of-government approach. And that is exactly what we are attempting to do.
Image by © MICHAEL REYNOLDS
We know the ravages and complexities of HIV/AIDS here in our own country, and we know, many of us, what it looks like around the world. But we can take some heart in the progress that has been made over the last two decades. Access to antiretroviral treatment in low- and middle-income countries has risen tenfold in the last five years. New HIV infections have fallen by 17 percent over the last eight years. And much of that progress has been due to the concerted efforts of the United States Government and our partners.
I want to applaud President Bush for making a serious commitment to American leadership in combating HIV/AIDS. His administration spearheaded the creation of PEPFAR – the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. And by supporting its implementation and activities, the United States has made the largest effort in history by any nation to combat a single disease. I remember well serving as a senator from New York how there was bipartisan support on behalf of this initiative, and the extraordinary commitment of dollars and technical assistance that backed it up.
PEPFAR has provided lifesaving antiretroviral treatment to over 2 million men, women, and children worldwide, through partnerships with other governments and NGOs. We’ve supported care for more than 10 million people, including 4 million orphans and vulnerable children. And PEPFAR’s efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission have helped nearly 240,000 HIV-positive mothers give birth to children who are HIV-free. So it is clear that our nation’s investments are having an impact. And President Obama is dedicated to enhancing America’s leadership in the fight against global AIDS with PEPFAR serving as the cornerstone of our Global Health Initiative to promote better and more sustainable health outcomes.
Later this week, Ambassador Goosby will present the five-year strategy for the future of PEPFAR outlining the important role that PEPFAR will play in transitioning from emergency response to sustainable health systems that help meet the broad medical needs of people with HIV and the communities in which they live. In its next phase, PEPFAR programs will support a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach in many countries to increase awareness, reduce stigma, and get services to people at earlier stages.
Obviously, our efforts are hampered whenever discrimination or marginalization of certain populations results in less effective outreach and treatment. So we will work not only to ensure access for all who need it, but also to combat discrimination more broadly. We have to stand against any efforts to marginalize and criminalize and penalize members of the LGBT community worldwide. It is an unacceptable step backwards – (applause) – on behalf of human rights. But it is also a step that undermines the effectiveness of efforts to fight the disease worldwide.
We will also redouble our efforts to address the needs of women and girls who are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS in many parts of the world. Promoting the health of women strengthens families and communities and has positive spillover effects in areas like poverty reduction and education. Since we know the most effective health programs are integrated with functioning local and national governments, we will work with partner governments to assess capacity, identify gaps, and make customized plans to meet each country’s needs.
Now, that means creating more programs like the ones that Ambassador Goosby and I visited in Africa over the summer. In Angola, for example, our PEPFAR Partnership Framework supports the country’s HIV National Strategic plan to strengthen the health care infrastructure there.
We visited a clinic in South Africa, which we co-sponsor with the South African Government, and heard from patients who not only receive care but also support as they face the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS.
Our investments in PEPFAR, the Global Fund, and overall global health have made a positive difference. And we will continue our support, but we have to do more. We have to make sure that our programs foster conditions that improve people’s lives and, in turn, promote stability, prosperity, and security.
In this time of very tight budgets in our own government and our own people suffering from unemployment, from other kinds of cutbacks in services, we have to do more even here at home. We’ve seen some of the results of the cutbacks that are happening at the state and local level. So while we are talking about our commitment internationally, let’s not forget our fellow citizens who are suffering right now.
And then we also have to make the case to our fellow citizens that our investment in dealing with the pandemic worldwide is in America’s interest. So we are committed to doing so. President Obama is implementing the repeal of the “HIV entry ban,” a longstanding policy that prevented people living with HIV/AIDS from entering our country. The repeal will take effect early in the new year, and will be vigorously enforcing it.Today, I am pleased to announce that, with the repeal of the ban, the International AIDS Society will hold the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C. (Applause.) This conference will draw together an estimated 30,000 researchers, scientists, policymakers, healthcare providers, activists, and others from around the world.
So as we look to 2012, we have to continue to seek a global solution to this global problem. On World AIDS Day, let us renew our commitment to ensuring that those infected and affected by HIV—the woman on treatment who is supporting her family, the child who dropped out of school to care for sick parents, the doctors and nurses without adequate resources— that all those who have joined together to fight this pandemic will someday live in a world where HIV/AIDS can be prevented and treated as a disease of the past.
Thank you all very much. (Applause.)
(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (L) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton walk toward the media for a photo-op prior to their meeting at the State Department November 30, 2009 in Washington, DC. Prime Minister Rudd was in Washington for a one-day working visit. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (R) speaks as Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd listens during a photo-op prior to their meeting at the State Department November 30, 2009 in Washington, DC. Prime Minister Rudd was in Washington for a one-day working visit. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Transcript of their remarks:
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it is wonderful to welcome such a good friend to the State Department back to Washington. Prime Minister Rudd just had an excellent comprehensive meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office where we discussed a wide range of issues from climate change to Afghanistan. And it is always a personal delight for me to have the chance to engage with the prime minister, who’s one of the real creative thinkers about so many of the issues that we are confronting. And we want to thank you, Prime Minister, and especially to thank the people of Australia for our years of friendship and alliance on so many important matters.
PRIME MINISTER RUDD: Thank you, Secretary of State. And it’s great to be back in Washington, and we did have a good discussion with the President this morning, covering our common challenges in Afghanistan for the future. Australia takes its alliance with the United States very seriously. That’s why we have been with America for a long time in Afghanistan, and why we will be with America for the long haul.
When it comes to climate change, the clock’s ticking for us all when it comes to Copenhagen. And we’re working closely with our American friends to secure the best possible outcome for an important deal for the planet, for our economies, for jobs, for the environment.
But Secretary of State, thank you for having me as your guest here in this marvelous building, the State Department, where I’ve been many times before, but always look forward to the opportunity of coming back.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. Thank you, Kevin.
PRIME MINISTER RUDD: Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much. Thank you all very much. Thank you.
….to Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky on the announcement of their engagement.
Tentative schedule:
SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON:
11:10 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with President Obama and His Excellency Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia
11:55 a.m. Secretary Clinton holds a Swearing-In Ceremony for Michael Polt, Ambassador to Estonia, at the Department of State.12:20 p.m. Secretary Clinton delivers Remarks to the Annual Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Chiefs of Mission Conference, at the Department of State.
12:45 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Prime Minister Rudd, at the Department of State.
2:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby and Valerie Jarrett discuss Administration Efforts on HIV/AIDS
Pre-set time for press: 1:30 p.m. at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, South Court Auditorium.7:10 p.m. Secretary Clinton attends the Amsterdam News Educational Fund 100th Anniversary Gala
Media interested in covering the event should contact Patrick Confrey, Confrey@sunshinesachs.com.8:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton attends the Business Executives for National Security Gala, at Gotham Hall in New York City.
I just saw this over on the White House flickr page and thought it was cool:
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
December 1st is World AIDS Day and Secretary Clinton will join other administration officials tomorrow to discuss our policy on HIV/AIDS worldwide:
Secretaries Hillary Rodham Clinton and Kathleen Sebelius, Ambassador Eric Goosby and Valerie Jarrett to Discuss Obama Administration Efforts on HIV/AIDS
Secretary Clinton and Senior Administration Officials will deliver remarks to highlight the efforts of the Obama Administration on HIV/AIDS issues Monday, November 30 at 2:30 p.m. The event, which occurs on the eve of World AIDS Day, will include participation by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Ambassador Eric P. Goosby, MD, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement.
The event will be streamed online at whitehouse.gov/live.
