Ambassador's Speeches

Speech at the Dedication Ceremony of the New Embassy Compound
US Embassy Bamako, Mali
November 17, 2006

(as prepared for delivery)

Ambassador McCulley addresses the audience at the NEC Dedication Ceremony

Mr. President, Minister Ouane, General Williams, members of the diplomatic corps, colleagues of our mission in Bamako, honored guests and esteemed friends, welcome to the new Embassy of the United States of America in Bamako, Mali.  This beautiful building that we will dedicate today is not only a new home for the hundreds of Malians and Americans that work at the US Embassy, but also a living testimony to the strong bilateral relations and shared values that unite our two countries. 

Mali has long been an important ally to the United States, an alliance that has grown over the years into a strong friendship between governments and people.  Since independence, Mali has distinguished itself within Africa and the Muslim world as a country committed to democratic progress, economic development, human rights, and tolerance.  These values mirror those of the American people and provide a deep foundation for partnership throughout all levels of our two societies.

Relations between our governments have never been stronger, as highlighted by the signature earlier this week of a Millennium Challenge Account Compact between our countries.  The Millennium Challenge Account is a sign of US commitment to providing extra development help to countries that support economic growth and just leadership and invest in their people.  Mali is such a country.  In recognition of the good governance and significant political, social and economic progress that Mali has made over the past decade, the United States government has provided $460.8 million for a five year program aimed at reducing poverty and increasing economic growth in the Republic of Mali.  This program will be based on a partnership of ideas and efforts, focused on realizing the potential that exists when governments, businesses, and civil society actors in both the United States and Mali join forces.

This new program will serve to enhance the already significant partnership for development that is embodied in the active and multifaceted USAID program in Mali.  With an average annual budget of $35 million, USAID in Mali is working with local partners to improve health services, expand quality education, assist in decentralization efforts, and accelerate economic and agricultural growth.  Given the central role that USAID plays in our bilateral relationship, it is only fitting that USAID in Mali is in the process of constructing its new headquarters here on the site where we meet today.  Their presence next to the US Embassy is yet another testimony to US government commitment to Mali and to the important social and economic development underway in the country today.

As vibrant democracies, both Mali and the United States recognize that government must be of all the people, by all the people, for all the people.  Diplomatic ties between our countries are simply a reflection of the outstanding social and cultural ties that exist between private citizens in Mali and the United States.   Hundreds of such personal relationships have been fostered through a very active Peace Corps program that brings hundreds of young Americans to Mali each year to form friendships that truly last a lifetime.

A perfect example of this kind of enduring connection can be found in the person of Mr. Shawn Davis, an American who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dogon villages of Dologou and Kedialy from 1996 to 1998.  Upon his return to the US, Mr. Davis co-founded the Friends of Mali, an American non-profit organization dedicated to promoting understanding of the Malian people and culture.  This organization played a vital role in the success of the 2003 Folklife Festival on Mali that was held in my nation’s capital.  Mr. Davis then returned to Mali in 2005 for a photography workshop for the children of Tominian, entitled Visual Griots.  This program brought American and Malian professional photographers to the village of Tominian for a workshop that enabled twenty-two village children there to become contemporary griots and tell their communities’ stories through photography.  These childrens’ songs have been sung through their photographs which are on display at the Seydou Keita Photography House in Bamako, in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, and, I am happy to add, here in our new Embassy.  

It is thanks to the creativity, dedication, and commitment of Americans like Shawn Davis and his Malian partners, including the young photographers from Tominian, that bilateral relations between the United States and Mali continue to grow and prosper.  While you will all have a chance to view their art firsthand, I would like to invite Mr. Davis and his Malian partners, including those representatives of the young photographers of Tominian, to stand and be acknowledged.  (Allow time for applause.)

I would also like to extend my deep thanks and congratulations to all of the Embassy staff – your hard work and determination to make this move a success are a sign of your own personal dedication to our important diplomatic mission.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the dedicated effort and hard work of the thousands of Malian workers who helped to build this Embassy in partnership with the US State Department Overseas Building Operations and our prime contractor, Caddell.  This new site is the fruit of the combined labor of Malians, Americans, and other international partners, and we are grateful for the new home that you have built for us. 

This new Embassy is in itself a visual griot – singing a song of friendship and respect between the Malian and American people.  May this song resonate through all of the work that we undertake together in the future.

Thank you.