Under Secretary Sewall Travels to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

Office of the Spokesperson
Department of State
Washington, DC
March 13, 2015

Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Sarah Sewall will travel to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, March 12-20, 2015.

During her travel, Under Secretary Sewall will meet government officials, representatives of civil society, religious leaders, and young people to underscore U.S. support for their efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism (CVE), as well as to address a range of security, counterterrorism, human rights, and refugee-related concerns.

While in Kenya, Under Secretary Sewall will meet with the Kenyan delegation to the recent White House Summit to Counter Violent Extremism to discuss Summit follow up, including an upcoming regional event that Kenya will host. Under Secretary Sewall will travel to Mombasa to meet with political, security, civil society, and religious leaders.

In Tanzania, Under Secretary Sewall will visit State Department grantees working to counter violent extremism in their communities. They will include a youth center that facilitates discussion between Tanzanian youth and local police in order to build better community-security force relations and a job training and community integration program for former gang members vulnerable to the appeal of radical groups. She will also meet with government officials and local human rights groups.

In Uganda, Under Secretary Sewall will lead the U.S. delegation to the Global Counterterrorism Forum’s (GCTF) Horn of Africa working group plenary meeting, which will focus on countering violent extremism and capacity building. She will meet with Ugandan government officials and local leaders and youth, and visit a secondary school. She will also meet with civil society leaders working to defend human rights, including of LGBT and other vulnerable people.