Perspectives on Transparency, Human Rights, and Civil Society in Angola

February 18, 2016
10:00 am - 11:30 am

About the Event

Current events suggest that Angola today faces an economic and political crisis. The global collapse of oil prices, a series of anti-NGO regulations, repressed protests, and the trial of youth activists have deeply affected the oil rich country.

On Tuesday, February 16, NED held a public event, which brought together Angolan civil society as well as U.S. and Angolan officials to discuss and debate on:

  • The current state of Angola’s judiciary as it relates to corruption; 
  • The current state of human rights in Angola; 
  • The recent NGO policies and their impact on civil society

Featuring:

Todd Haskell
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, 
U.S. Department of State

H.E. Antonio Luvualu de Carvalho
Roaming Ambassador of Angola

Rafael Marques de Morais
Director, Maka Angola

Moderator: Amb. Princeton Lyman
United States Institute of Peace

Todd Haskell became the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs in August 2015. Previously, he was the Africa Bureau’s Director of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, directing the deployment of public diplomacy personnel and resources at 48 U.S. embassies and consulates in Sub-Saharan Africa. In that position, he worked with posts in the field and agencies in Washington to implement the first Mandela Washington Fellowship, the signature program of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Throughout his diplomatic career, Mr. Haskell also served in the Dominican Republic (2010 -2013), South Africa (2006 – 2010), and Burkina Faso (2003 -2006).

Rafael Marques de Morais is the Director of Maka Angola,an anti-corruption watchdog website founded in 2009. Mr Marques is an Angolan journalist and human rights activist who received several international awards for his reporting on conflict diamonds and government corruption. Most recently, in March 2015, the Index on Censorship honored Mr Marques in London as the co-winner of its Journalism Award for his groundbreaking investigations on corruption conducted in a hostile environment. Mr. Marques was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at NED in 2011.

Ambassador Princeton Lyman is a Senior Advisor to the President of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP). He served previously as the Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan from March 2011 to March 2013. He also visited Angola in 2015 as President Obama’s Special Envoy to advance the development of a new partnership between the United Nations and Africa Union. Throughout his long career in government, Ambassador Lyman was also Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (1981-1986), U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria (1986-1989), Director of Refugee Programs (1989-1992), U.S. Ambassador to South Africa (1992-1995), and Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (1996-1998).

Rafael Marques de Morais’ remarks

Ambassador Luvualu’s remarks

 

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