The Foreign Service Journal, November 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2021 25 USAID FSJ: On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of USAID, what should Americans know about the work of USAID and why it matters? Power: USAID is America’s best-kept secret. This is an agency full of thousands of dedicated, competent experts who take on the toughest challenges in the world—COVID-19, climate change, the latest natural disaster. When you see news of a crisis somewhere in the world—like the recent earthquake in Haiti— it’s USAID who the president sends to help those in need. This is the agency that has helped beat back Ebola in West Africa, backed democratic transitions or supported elections in almost 90 countries since the end of the Cold War, mobilized companies to invest nearly $200 billion in clean energy in poor countries, opened classroom doors to 40 million students who weren’t getting an education, and turned the tide against HIV/ AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Over the past 60 years, we’ve responded to nearly 3,000 disas- ters covering more than 80 percent of the planet. We’ve reached billions of people with lifesaving food and medicine. And we’ve helped countries transform themselves into prosperous, peaceful economies. We used to give aid to South Korea, Chile, Thailand and Costa Rica. Now, Americans book vacations there. We sell American-made goods and services there. And all of this is because taxpayers spend less than 1 percent of our annual budget on foreign assistance. FSJ: What are your top three global priorities? Power: Honestly, given the life-and-death challenges before us, you might say that the priorities are choosing us. COVID-19 has killed more than 4.5 million people, sickened tens of millions more and battered economies around the globe, driving nearly 100 million people into extreme poverty—the first rise in 20 years. I liken it to a meteorite hitting the planet; it’s made every development problem we face harder. So ending the pandemic by vaccinating the world, caring for the sick and strengthen- ing health systems to prevent the next pandemic is absolutely crucial. At the same time, climate change is wreaking unprecedented havoc. Hurricanes swing fromNewOrleans to New York, wildfires darken the sun on nearly every continent, floods turn our streets to rivers, and droughts turn our soil into sand. We have to help coun- tries grow their economies without growing their carbon emissions, and we have to build resilient infrastructure and agriculture, so they have the ability to weather the worst effects of climate change. Administrator Power surveys damage in southwestern Haiti after the Aug. 14 earthquake, before touching down to speak with survivors in Maniche.