ENOUGH PROJECT MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jonathan Hutson, [email protected]
+1-202-386-1618
Enough Project Applauds Rice's Ascendance as National Security Adviser
WASHINGTON — The Enough Project congratulates Ambassador Susan Rice, who assumed her new post as President Barack Obama's National Security Adviser on July 1. She faces deteriorating security situations in Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as unique opportunities for peace in those countries.
Enough Project Co-Founder John Prendergast said:
“Ambassador Rice may not be the most conventional of diplomats, but she is relentless and thoughtful, infusing values and American interests at the core of her unceasing efforts to make a positive difference around the world. Having a firm grasp of U.S. interests in a rapidly evolving world in crucial for a National Security Adviser. My time on the National Security Council staff with Ambassador Rice in the Clinton administration was like a seminar in U.S. interests from an elite professor. Anyone who has worked with Rice would agree that she possesses strong ethical standards and works from a set of well-developed principles that guides her actions. Issues and crises will come and go, but having a deep well of character from which to draw is crucial in the role she is assuming."
Enough Project Executive Director John C. Bradshaw said:
"The Enough Project looks forward to working with National Security Adviser Rice on atrocity prevention and in this critical moment of opportunity for U.S. policy toward Sudan, South Sudan, the Congo, and other nations in Africa's Great Lakes region. Rice has the necessary experience and commitment to continue to elevate atrocity prevention as a national security and foreign policy priority. She should work to secure a comprehensive peace deal for Sudan with the goal of democratic transformation at its core. Sustained participation by opposition political parties, the Sudan Revolutionary Front, civil society, and youth in such a deal will level the playing field for a new Sudan.
"National Security Adviser Rice can bring much needed support to a peace process in Congo where the engagement of Uganda, Rwanda, and other Great Lakes countries will be critical to ending violence that has plagued Congo's people. Working together with Secretary of State Kerry, U.S. Special Envoy to the Great Lakes region Russ Feingold, and UN Special Envoy to the Great Lakes region Mary Robinson, Rice should work to ensure that Rwanda does not revert back to support to armed groups in the Congo as peace efforts gain traction."