The Foreign Service Journal, November 2021

26 NOVEMBER 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Finally, after a post–Cold War explosion of freedom and self- government, the world is getting less free. Indeed, we have seen a 15-year decline in democracy. Authoritarians are growing bolder, using new technologies to suppress their own people at home and spread misinformation abroad. We must counter these malign actions; shine a spotlight on corrupt practices so people know how their governments really function; and, above all, come together to show democracies can deliver for their people. FSJ: What are your plans to strengthen and institution- alize the career Foreign Service at USAID and rationalize approaches to Foreign Service “talent management”? Power: I shared some of our global priorities. Strengthening a long-depleted workforce, including our Foreign Service, is one of my top agency priorities. For too long, we’ve asked too much from too few. Our Foreign Service officers work in some of the most difficult places in the world, often at great risk and at great distance from their homes and loved ones. They are beyond committed; but commitment can only get you so far. Over the next three years, I’m seeking to significantly increase our Foreign Service staff so we can meet the complex challenges we face. We’re also working to create a new humanitarian assistance position with career paths for Foreign Service officers in humani- tarian programs—a growing need. Twenty years ago, there were 16 complex emergencies a year, on average. Today there are 44, and crisis, conflict and pandemic response make up half of our programming. But we can’t staff up without staffing equitably. For too long, this agency has not been intentional about recruiting and in retaining a workforce that looks like America. Like so many institutions, public and private, we often self-select from the same traditional talent pools, without building pathways for diverse candidates to apply. Thankfully, that is beginning to change. In September, we hosted our first-ever historically Black colleges and universities [HBCU] development conference with more than a thousand participants. We expanded our paid internship program, because we know that unpaid internships can actually be a barrier to entry for candidates frommarginalized commu- nities, not a stepping-stone. And in partnership with Howard University, we plan to double the number of Donald M. Payne Fellowships, which help fellows pay for two years of graduate school before receiving Foreign Service appointments at USAID. Our most recent class of Foreign Service officers is our most diverse class, and I hope that is a record we break year after year. FSJ: What are the main challenges in development work today? Power: In a world rocked by a pandemic and dozens of com- plex emergencies, the needs outweigh the resources available. When USAID was founded, development assistance represented 80 percent of the capital flows going to developing countries; today it’s 10 percent, with 90 percent coming from the private sector. We are no longer the only game in town. So, we need to leverage that other 90 percent so it’s helping achieve develop- ment objectives and helping people prosper. But securing private-sector investment runs headlong into another challenge: Even though capital seeks a higher return, it tends to stay away from corruption, bad policies or instability. When governments are accountable to their people and embrace the rule of law, however, investment tends to follow. So we need to address governance issues and fight corruption, even as we focus on traditional development investments in, for example, food security and global health. It’s not an original analogy, but I do really believe develop- ment depends on three legs of a stool: security , without which a state cannot function or develop; economic growth , fueled by the private sector, which expands opportunity and boosts liveli- hoods; and democratic, accountable governance , which under- pins them all. It attracts greater private-sector investment, solidi- fies security and regional stability, and fundamentally reflects the desires and the dignity of a country’s people. n Administrator Power with Rifqa Abdelrahman, the young activist from Sudan known as the “tear gas hunter” for her courage in throwing back tear gas canisters fired by the military during the popular revolution in 2019. Administrator Power visited Sudan in August to support the civilian-led transition before the recent military takeover. USAID