Supporting our Youth to become financially independent
We are fundraising in order to assist our African Youths in becoming entrepreneurs. It only takes a small amount to start a business in Africa. This small amount will go a long way in changing someone’s life. ADDI Youth Empowerment Program will assist African Youth with financial support in the amont of $250 – $1,000 to start or grow a business. $250 is dinner money for most of us. However, $250 is life changing for Youth in Africa.
Donate today and assist ADDI with putting African Youths in business.
On Behalf of the entire ADDI Team, thank you for your generous financial contribution.
Her Excellency, Ambassador Arikana Chihombori- Quao, MD
TO: H.E. MR. XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, ZHONGNANHAI, XICHENGQU, BEIJING. FROM: THE AFRICAN DIASPORA DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (ADDI) ON BEHALF OF THE ENRAGED AFRICAN DIASPORA AROUND THE GLOBE SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND INHUMANE TREATMENT OF BLACK PEOPLE LIVING IN CHINA. DATE: 13th APRIL 2020
Your Excellency,
The African Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI) is the umbrella organization of over 210 million people living in the diaspora1.
For centuries, Africa has warmly and wholeheartedly welcomed Chinese nationals onto her shores, allowing them to settle, marry and prosper without a hint of racial discrimination, bigotry, harassment or intimidation. The former Chairperson of the African Union (between 2008 – 2012) Mr. Jean Ping was the child of a Chinese diaspora from Wenzhou, Zhejiang who came to Gabon as a timber harvester2.
Currently, there are over 10 million Chinese nationals living in Africa and are being treated with the dignity and respect that any human being deserves. It is against this backdrop that over 1.3 billion Africans on the continent and 240 million in the diaspora UNITE IN HORROR as WE watch our black brothers and sisters, sons and daughters being dragged like wild animals in the streets by Chinese authorities. Many have been kicked out of their homes and hotels and are subjected to insults and extreme inhumane treatments.
These are serious violations of rights that WE, black people are not going to stand by and tolerate. Africans are being accused of bringing COVID-19, the killer disease to China and the world knows very well that the COVID-19 begun in Wuhan, Peoples Republic of China, NOT Africa.
In 2016 Africans were shocked by China’s racist whitewashing advertisement depicting a Chinese lady putting a tab of detergent into the mouth of a black man, shoving him headfirst into a washing machine then hey presto! He emerged as a fair-skinned Chinese Man3. In 2018, We the Africans watched in silence as we were depicted as monkeys in the lavish four-hour lunar new year show that was televised to millions across China4. We have also been receiving numerous reports of African nationals being mistreated, slapped, kicked and spat on in the streets of China by racist Chinese nationals for absolutely no reason except that they were black.
On the continent, Chinese nationals have been captured on video beating and mistreating their employees as well as actually insulting Kenya’s President, H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta5. These troubling events are taking place in the background of your government’s plan to send over 300 million Chinese to Africa6 by 2030. Your Excellency, how exactly do you think that this is going to work?
The United Nations is the international watchdog for all human rights abuses around the world and as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China should be the last country to violate human rights.
Africans have endured centuries of inhuman treatment, abuse, racial and social-economic discrimination. The inhumane actions against Africans taking place in the People’s Republic of China are deplorable, unlawful and criminal. They contravene international human rights norms and conventions and have the potential of precipitating reprisals against Chinese nationals on the African continent.
Such barbaric, unprecedented attacks against the black race will definitely erode the friendly diplomatic relations that the People’s Republic of China, enjoys with all the African countries. While recognizing that the majority of your citizens are good people, a few among them are bad apples, whose behavior should not tarnish the good relations that China has had with African countries.
Your Excellency, we know you would not tolerate harassment, intimidation and inhumane treatment of Chinese diaspora living in Africa and that you would demand that your brothers and sisters be treated in a manner that is right, just and fair at all times.
Your Excellency, the abuse of Africans in China is tantamount to racism, discrimination and a serious violation of human rights. It is in the spirit of fairness and respect for human rights that we urge you in the strongest of terms, to put an immediate end to the harassment, intimidation and inhumane treatment meted against our African brothers and sisters, sons and daughters living in your country. The line has been crossed and enough is enough! We demand immediate reciprocity. Chinese citizens must treat Africans in China in the same way that they would want their citizens to be treated in Africa.
Please accept this letter in the spirit with which it was written.
Sincerely,
H.E Ambassador Arikana Chihombori – Quao, MD. Former Africa Union Ambassador to the United States of America, President, Africa Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI)
CC. All African Heads of States
H.E Cyril Ramaphosa, Chairman of The African Union
H.E Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairman of The African Union Commission
H.E António Guterres, United Nations (UN) Secretary General
H.E Ambassador Cui Tiankai, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to the USA
In her role as Permanent Representative to the African Union Mission in Washington DC, Her Excellency, Arikana Chihombori Quao, MD worked tirelessly towards fulfilling her mandate which was to undertake, develop and maintain relationships between the African Union and the Executive and Legislative branches of the US Government, the African Diplomatic Corps, the Africans in the Diaspora and the Bretton Woods Institutions. This was specifically in relation to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and advancing the priority areas of Agenda 2063. In fulfilling this Mandate, she brought renewed energy to the AU Mission as well as new ideas and programs that were implemented since her appointment in 2016 to her departure in 2019. Her efforts at mobilizing the Diaspora as people of African descent and not as citizens of any single African country is unprecedented and exemplifies her ability to unify people around a common goal, speaking with one voice as one Africa and one Continent.
Additionally, Her Excellency, Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao, MD has been actively involved in various programs and projects of the African Union. In 2012, she became the Chair of the African Union-African Diaspora Health Initiative (AU-ADHI), where she was involved in mobilizing the African Diaspora health professionals to assist in addressing the healthcare needs of the African continent.
Even prior to her appointment as AU Ambassador, her contributions to the cause of Africa had earned Her Excellency, Arikana Chihombori Quao, MD many prestigious honors and awards. Two of her most cherished ones are an achievement award received in 1996 from the incumbent President at the time, Her Excellency, the late President Nelson Mandela of the Republic of South Africa and the African Woman of Excellence Award in July 2015 during the AU Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. She received this award alongside 15 other prominent African Women including the former President of The Republic of Liberia, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the former President of The Republic of Malawi, Madam Joyce Banda, and Mrs. Winnie Mandela, former First Lady of the Republic of South Africa.
She has firmly established herself as an advocate for women. In 2012 at an international conference for women, Her Excellency, Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao, MD represented Africa in Mar-Del-Plata, Argentina where she delivered a rousing speech on Violence Against Women. During this meeting, she shared the stage with two Nobel Peace Prize Winners, Adolofo Perez Esquivel from Argentina and Rigoberta Menchu from Guatamala.
In addition to the above honors, during her 3-year tenure as AU Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency, Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao, MD won over 70 awards and attestations from various organizations within the Americas including Ambassador of the Year from Howard University. She also received numerous recognitions from Members of Congress as well as Governors, Mayors, and County Executives from across the United States. In January 2020, after being featured having “A Profile in Courage”; Her Excellency, Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao, MD was honored to be named 2019 Person of the Year by The Guardian Newspaper which is the largest Newspaper in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria is the largest country in Africa with a population of over 200.96 million people.
Prior to her appointment, Her Excellency, was a renowned Family Medicine Doctor in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where she practiced medicine for over 25 years. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a member of the American Association of Family Physicians as well as the Tennessee Association of Family Physicians.
She is married and the proud mother of 5 children.
