TRANSCRIPT:
My fellow Americans, I’m Virginia Palmer. I retired last month as the United States ambassador to Ghana. And I had spent 39 years in the United States Foreign Service, also serving as ambassador to Malawi and serving in places like Vietnam and China for many years. And I witnessed in those countries the power that Voice of America has to project American ideals and tell great stories about what America does and stands for in countries where the governments are actively blocking that kind of good news about America.
I strongly believe that Voice of America makes America stronger, more prosperous and more secure.
Even in a place like Ghana, which is peaceful and a democratic partner of the United States, we had recently begun Fulani language programming to reach the 25 million Fulani, who are many of them nomads across West Africa. And having VOA programming about American ideals and about, again, the great things that America is doing and the things that our partners are doing to make their countries more secure in partnership with the United States, helps make the Fulani feel part of those nations and make them less vulnerable to extremist recruiting.
And again, that makes our partners in West Africa more secure, but also makes the United States more secure, safer, and ultimately more prosperous. So, VOA has done great things in the countries where I’ve served, and I hope will continue to do so for many years to come. Thank you.
Published
Palmer served as U.S. ambassador to Ghana from 2022–2025 during the Biden administration. She previously served as U.S. ambassador to Malawi from 2015–2019, under the Obama and Trump administrations, and as acting assistant secretary of state for energy resources.