瑟利夫夫人在哈佛大学2011年毕业典礼上的演讲(6)

exports; introduced and made public a cash-based budget; increased revenue by over 400 percent; and mobilized foreign direct investment worth 16 times the size of the

economy when I assumed office. We built a small and professional army and coast guard, and moved the economy from negative growth to average around 6 percent. We have virtually eliminated a $4.9 billion external debt, settled a large portion of international

institutional debt, as well as domestic arrears and suppliers’ credit. We restored electricity and pipe-borne water, lacking in the capital for two decades; reconstructed two modern universities and rural referral hospitals; constructed or reconstructed roads, bridges,

schools, training institutions, local government facilities, and courts throughout the country; established and strengthened the institutional pillars of integrity; decentralized education by establishing community colleges; brought back the Peace Corps; and mobilized financial and technical resources from U.S. foundations, sororities, and individuals for support of programs aimed at the education of girls, the empowerment of adolescent youth, and improved working conditions for market women.

当选后，我迅速动员我们的团队，向支持者寻求支持，应对各种挑战。在五年的时间中，我们制定了法律、政策和战略，促进经济增长和社会发展。我们消除了主要出口商品的国际制裁，引入并公开了建立在现金基础上的财政预算，财政收入增加超过400%，动员的外国投资是我就职时经济规模的16倍。我们建立了一支小规模、专业化的军队和海岸护卫队，将经济从负增长提升到平均年增长6%左右。我们实际上消除了49亿美元的外债，解决了大部分的国际机构欠款，以及国内的逾期债务和供应商的贷款。我们修复了电力和自来水系统，它们已经在首都缺失20年了；我们重建了两所现代化大学和农村的中央医院，修建和重修了道路、桥梁、学校、培训机构、地方政府设施、全国各地的法院；我们建立和加强了保证正义的一些体制措施；通过建立社区学院，让教育资源去中心化；让和平队重新回到利比里亚；动员了美国的基金会、联谊会和个人，提供资金和技术资源，支持那些教育女童、激励青少年、改进女性小贩工作条件的项目。

Nevertheless, the challenges for sustained growth and development remain awesome. Our stability is threatened by the thousands of returnees from U.S. prisons and regional refugee camps, the bulk of whom are lacking in technical skills. Our peace is threatened by the challenging neighborhood where we live: two of our three neighbors have either experienced, or narrowly avoided, civil war in the past year, and we patiently host their refugees, since not even a decade ago it was they who hosted so many of us.

Implementation of our economic development agenda is constrained by low

implementation and absorptive capacity, which means that we are not constrained by funding alone. Plans to enhance performance in governance move slower than desired due to long-standing institutional decay and a corrupted value system of dishonesty and dependency. The development of infrastructure is constrained by the high capital cost of restoration, brought about by the lack of maintenance and exacerbated by wanton destruction over two decades of conflict.

但是，可持续发展所面对的挑战，依然巨大。从美国监狱和其他地区的难民营回归的几千个人员，对我们的稳定有威胁，他们中的大多数人没有技能。我们的和平也受到邻国的威胁。