Jendayi Frazer

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Dr. Jendayi Frazer

Jendayi E. Frazer is the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, heading the Bureau of African Affairs.

1 Background
2 Recent events
3 Quotes
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Background

Before taking on her current job, Frazer was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs on the National Security Council and the first woman to serve as U.S. Ambassador to South Africa. Prior to entering government in 2001, Frazer was an Assistant Professor for Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University from 1995 to 2001. She was Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver and editor of the journal Africa Today from 1991 to 1994. She graduated from Stanford University with B.A. in Political Science with honors and African-American Studies with distinction and obtained her M.A. degrees in International Policy Studies and International Development Education, and a Ph.D. in Political Science; during her time at Stanford, current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice served as a faculty member in the Political Science department.

Jendayi is a specialist in African Affairs and International Security Affairs. During her tenure at the National Security Council, she was instrumental in the decisions that led to establishing the $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for HIV/AID Relief (PEPFAR) as well as the Millennium Challenge Account that has contributed to raising U.S. assistance to Africa to a historic high of $4.1 billion in 2006. She is also given credit for designing the administration's policy in ending the wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Burundi.

[edit] Recent events

On January 7, 2007, Frazer met with Somali political leaders in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss United States support for the interim Somali government.^[1] Later that day she cancelled a planned trip to Mogadishu, Somalia, due to the media revealing the details of her itinerary and riots in the city the day before over a faulty disarmament plan.^[2] The U.S. envoy, the highest ranking in 14 years, made a surprise visit to Somalia on April 7, 2007. She visited Ali Mohammed Ghedi and Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed to help with the national reconciliation of Somalia.^[3] She is often seen as a peace advocate among Africans. Particularly, she is famous for condemning armed movements in Africa and in favor of peaceful opposition movements to bring democratic and social changes around the continent.

On January 4, 2008, Frazer was sent by President George W. Bush to Kenya to help seek a resolution of that country's political dispute following the December 2007 presidential election, and she met with President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.^[4]

On April 24, 2008, Frazer noted that Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change won the disputed Zimbabwean presidential election, 2008, and stated that President Robert Mugabe should step down. ^[5]

On May 25, 2008, Mugabe delivered a speech that mentioned Frazer in negative terms: "You saw the joy that the British had, that the Americans had, and saw them here through their representatives celebrating and acting as if we [Zimbabwe] are either an extension of Britain or ... America. You saw that little American girl [Frazer] trotting around the globe like a prostitute..."^[6]

[edit] Quotes

"This issue of insurgency is one that continues to trouble me and Africa as a whole. The way forward is development and legitimate opposition, not through picking up arms and insurgency, and it's a message the A.U. needs to make much more loudly to its member states." - Secretary Jendayi Frazer in a press conference discussing about instability in the horn of Africa.[1]