The Foreign Service Journal, April 2010

A lmost immediately after Rajiv Shah assumed his new post as USAIDAd- ministrator, he was faced with a challenge of epic proportions: the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. While this was a great test of his crisis management ability, it will not be his most important trial. Due to disastrous decisions made over the last 15 years by several administrations and Congress, a much more vital undertaking for him is to rebuild USAID to its former standing — and beyond. On Jan. 29, I had an opportu- nity to brief Dr. Shah about AFSA and our role at USAID. I explained that over the previous three years, AFSA has surveyed its members in an effort to find out directly what concerns them most. I presented him with a copy of the latest sur- vey and highlighted the main re- sults. Prime among them was that employee morale has sunk precip- itously over the last three surveys to the point where 54 percent of Foreign Serv- ice officers believe things are getting worse. This is an unsustainable situation, one which the Administrator must address. Our people are USAID’s most im- portant asset, without which our mission will never be fully realized. The meeting was cordial but frank. We discussed what is not working, and what is. No topic was avoided. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding: let us see what Dr. Shah does with the information I gave him. My parting recommendations to him were that he: 1. Seek more control over budget, policy and planning within USAID. 2. Return certain administrative functions and services to USAID mission executive officers overseas. 3. Improve operations at the Human Resources Office by adequately staffing and training employees to be more client-centered. Additionally, he should abandon plans to move the office to a separate building in Washington (State Annex-44 at the Federal Center Building). Such a move will create serious serv- ice disruptions. 4. Strengthen the career Foreign Service by judicious and limited use of mid- level and Foreign Service Limited hiring. Hire additional Civil Service em- ployees and reduce the number of contractors doing inherently governmental work. 5. Continue aggressive intake and training of new employees. Forty-five minutes was inadequate to discuss — not to mention resolve — such important issues. However, Dr. Shah seemed attentive and stated that he would arrange additional meetings with AFSA. I am satisfied that, at least, he is aware of the challenges before him. ❏ 52 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 1 0 A F S A N E W S A much more vital undertaking for Dr. Shah is to rebuild USAID to its former standing — and beyond V.P. VOICE: USAID ■ BY FRANCISCO ZAMORA The True Challenges for the New Administrator Legislative Update: The Federal Budget BY CASEY FRARY, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR O n Feb. 1, President Barack Obama released his Fiscal Year 2011 budget request. AFSA is pleased to report that the president’s FY 2011 request for the international affairs budget (Function 150), which includes funding for the State Department, USAID and the International Broadcast- ing Bureau, was extremely strong. Specifically, the administration requested $58.5 billion for international affairs, which is $6.1 billion above FY 2010 ac- tual spending, or an 11.6-percent in- crease. The international affairs budget accounts for less than 1.5 percent of the federal budget. This crucial increase will give our diplomatic and developmental corps the resources to face the challenges of the 21st century as part of an expanding commitment to global security. The FY 2011 budget calls for important increases in personnel, over 400 newForeign Serv- ice officers at the State Department and another 200 for USAID. Additionally, this budget provides the resources for the FS community to meet its expanding missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and other “frontline” nations. The ForeignCommercial Service and Foreign Agricultural Service, which are not funded through the international af- fairs budget, also received increases in the FY 2011 budget proposal. AFSA will be working hard over the next few months, encouraging members of Con- Continued on page 54 This crucial increase will give our diplomatic and developmental corps the resources to face the challenges of the 21st century as part of an expanding commitment to global security.