Jendayi Frazer to visit Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, September 7, 2007 - Jendayi E. Frazer, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, heading the Bureau of African Affairs is expected to arrive today Friday September 7th, 2007.

The last time Frazer was in Addis Ababa was to attend the AU summit in February highlighting cooperative efforts on issues regarding conflicts in Sudan and Somalia.

On Sudan, Frazer at the time had said that the focus of her consultations was on speeding up the three phases of the “ Addis Ababa package” of peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts “the light assistance package, the heavy package of enabling forces, and the AU-U.N. hybrid force.”

Frazer during her visit is expected to meet with Ethiopian officials as well as hold consultations with officials from the African Union (AU). 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.

On January 7, 2007, Frazer met with Somali political leaders in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss United States support for the interim Somali government. 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. 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.

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