Careers in International Affairs, Eighth Edition

12 International Development and Relief - Careers in International Development

12 International Development and Relief Careers in International Development Kristi Ragan Kristi Ragan, a 1989 graduate of the Master of Science in Foreign Service Program at Georgetown University, is an international development professional with more than twenty years of experience working in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Pacific. Her career includes over a decade with the United Nations Development Program, service as Peace Corps country director in Cotê d’ Ivoire, and an adjunct faculty position in the Master of Science in Foreign Service Program at Georgetown. She is currently director of the Business Advantage Group at Development Alternatives, Inc., where she builds public–private partnerships that leverage donor and private sector resources for development. TODAY, 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day, 1.3 billion have no access to clean water, 3 billion lack basic sanitation, and 2 billion live without access to electricity. These figures, which will double by 2050, provide concrete evidence of the continued need for international development professionals. However, international development, like everything else, is being dramatically changed by the forces of globalization, and it is not the same industry that it was for the past forty years. When rock stars like Bono are writing the foreword to major development tomes like Jeffrey Sachs’s The End of Poverty, it is clear that the actors and the issues around development are moving into new territories. 320 Careers in International Development • 321 Likewise, the traditional international development career path has evolved. Twenty years ago, the typical route to a job in international development meant spending two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, followed by a graduate degree in international affairs that got you a job with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). These are no longer the primary or only career paths for individuals seeking to work on global economic and social development. A career in international development today involves a growing array of opportunities that include business firms, nonprofits, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks, bilateral and multilateral donor organizations, foundations, and consulting firms. Whether you decide to market cellular telephones in rural Africa, promote human rights with NGOs in the former Soviet states, or buy local agricultural products for Wal-Mart superstores, you can tangibly contribute to the objectives of international development. A senior USAID official interviewed for this chapter said: ‘‘The challenge of a career in international development is to find a way to work at the nexus of government, civil society, and business.’’ The Public Sector The public sector has always been and will continue to be a major employer of international development experts. The term ‘‘public sector’’ refers to government agencies, and also to any bilateral government or multilateral governmental organization that delivers foreign aid to poor countries. Most of the development jobs in the public sector—whether with bilateral organizations such as USAID, the U.K. Department for International Development, or the German Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (known as GTZ); or with multilateral agencies like the World Bank, the United Nations, or the International Finance Corporation—largely deal with the administration of aid. They involve overseeing the projects and contracts that the public sector has approved for funding. The important difference to be aware of when considering a job in these institutions is that most donors fund projects but do not implement them. As a result, they need job skills focused on program strategy, project design, contract administration, and monitoring and evaluation, in addition to government representation, rather than the hands-on project management required by other development actors. Significant shifts are taking place in the public sector’s development objectives and operating modalities. Today, foreign assistance is being 322 • International Development and Relief increasingly aligned with the foreign policy objectives of the governments that deliver it. This shift is most apparent in the case of the U.S. government , and it has had a significant impact on the objectives and geographical focus of U.S. development aid. The close linking of aid and foreign policy is bringing new challenges and job opportunities for development workers. New actors such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the State Department, and the Department of Defense are entering the development arena for the first time. Their program focus on governance and on transformational development aimed at nation building is requiring new skills from development professionals. The goals...