Embassy Events 2010
Secretary Clinton on Development: “A Strategic, Economic and Moral Imperative”
8 January 2010
Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke yesterday to a packed house at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC, where she outlined the U.S. approach to development. The Secretary emphasized that development is “as central to advancing American interests and solving global problems as diplomacy and defense.” She stated, “We are adopting a model of development based on partnership, not patronage [and] working to elevate development and integrate it more closely with defense and diplomacy in the field.”
The Secretary also stressed the need to increase America’s investments in innovation, and to put women and girls in the front and center of our development work. She commented, “Well, you know the proverb, ‘Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime?’ Well, if you teach a woman to fish, she’ll feed the whole village.
“Development, democracy and human rights can and must be mutually reinforcing. We pursue development for many reasons: to improve lives, fight poverty, expand rights and opportunities, strengthen communities, secure democratic institutions and governance; and in doing so, to advance global stability, improve our own security, and project our values and leadership in the world.”