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USAID ■ BY FRANCISCO ZAMORA
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On March 20, AFSA President John Naland, State
Vice President Steve Kashkett and I met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. My accurate, though not very elegant, open-
ing words were, “Madam Secretary, USAID has been beaten up over the past few
years.” I pointed out that the environment within the agency is confusing, hypercentralized and wasteful, and that its overall mission is unclear: is it national
security, poverty reduction, economic development or something else? Employees are upset with the radical organizational changes under the previous
administration, especially the creation
of the F Bureau at State. Morale has suffered. Lastly, I informed her that employees were anxious for news about the
new administrator.
Sec. Clinton listened patiently and
then expressed her views. She agreed that
USAID needs a sense of mission and
pointed out that this was of great personal concern to her. However, her belief
is that the Department of State and
USAID must jointly implement a unified foreign policy and that by having diplomacy and development closely allied, there is a greater chance of getting increased
resources than with USAID acting alone. Sec. Clinton also pointed to the FY 2009
budget: Deputy Secretary Jack Lew successfully asked for increased funding and
staff on behalf of USAID and State.
She believes that USAID has become too much a contracting agency rather
than an implementer, which she feels is wasteful and strips the government of in-house expertise. Finally, she declared that no one was more interested than she in
having the White House nominate the new administrator; she hopes this will happen soon.
At 30 minutes, the meeting was too short and many things were left unsaid.
For example, there was no hint of how the PEPFAR (HIV/AIDS) office and the
Millennium Challenge Corporation would interact with USAID in the future.
The issues of mid-career hiring and Foreign Service Limited staff concerns were
also not discussed. Nevertheless, I left a packet of Foreign Service Journal articles
on these subjects and a summary report of numerous authoritative studies recommending fixes for the sad state of foreign assistance today, and requested that
she read these when she had the time. In addition, I offered Deputy Secretary
Lew, also at the meeting, a more detailed briefing at his convenience.
Sec. Clinton seems genuinely interested in development and has a history of
public support for our foreign aid programs. What will be the effect of our meeting, if any? I do not know, but I hope that the new administration will see the
need for an entirely new direction for our agency and will heed the very thorough
and intelligent input from hundreds of knowledgeable experts on the topic. Our
country and USAID employees deserve no less. ❏
A Meeting with
the Secretary
Sec. Clinton believes that
USAID has become too much
a contracting agency rather
than an implementer.
Transition Center
Schedule of Courses
for May-June 2009
May 4-5 Security Overseas Seminar
(MQ911)
May 8 High-Stress Assignment
Outbrief (MQ950)
May 9 Explaining America (MQ115)
May 13-14 Mid-Career Retirement
Planning (RV105)
May 16 Protocol and U.S. Representation Abroad (MQ116)
May 18-19 Security Overseas Seminar
(MQ911)
May 20 Legal Considerations in the
Foreign Service (MQ854)
May 22 High-Stress Assignment
Outbrief (MQ950)
May 28 Special Education Needs
Workshop
May 30 Going Overseas for
Singles/Couples without
Children (MQ200)
May 30 Going Overseas for Families
with Children (MQ210)
May 30 Going Overseas Logistics for
Adults (MQ220)
May 30 Going Overseas Logistics for
Children (MQ230)
June 1-2 Security Overseas Seminar
(MQ911)
June 3 LGBT Issues in the Foreign
Service
June 4 Post Options for Employment
and Training (MQ703)
June 6 Protocol (MQ116)
June 8-10 DCM Spouse Seminar (MQ110)
June 8-11 Retirement Planning Seminar
(RV101)
June 12 High-Stress Assignment
Outbrief (MQ950)
June 15 Young Diplomats Day (MQ250)
June15-16 Security Overseas Seminar
(MQ911)
June 16 Youth Security Overseas Seminar (MQ914)
June 18 Realities of Foreign Service Life
(MQ803)
June 24 Maintaining Long-Distance
Relationships (MQ801)
June 25-26 Regulations, Allowances and
Finances (MQ104)
June 26 High-Stress Assignment
Outbrief (MQ950)
June 29 Young Diplomats Day (MQ250)
June 29-30 Security Overseas Seminar
(MQ911)
June 30 Youth Security Overseas
Seminar (MQ914)
To register or for further information,
please e-mail the FSI Transition Center at
FSITCTraining@state.gov. ❏
