Joe Biden has nominated the former US Ambassador to UN, Samantha Power, to lead the United States Agency for International Development. In turn, although having said that the moment is critical, Power seemed to be thankful for the nomination: “I feel immensely fortunate to have the chance to serve again, working with the incredible USAID team to confront COVID-19, climate change, humanitarian crises, & more”
President-elect Biden has nominated Ambassador Samantha Power as USAID Administrator.
A leading voice for humane and principled American engagement in the world, she will rally the international community and work with our partners to confront the biggest challenges of our time. pic.twitter.com/Gv9G8CLrI5
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 13, 2021
Samantha Power is a well-known human rights defender and journalist. She was a war correspondent covering the conflict in Yugoslavia before switching to an academic career. In 2003 she received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for her book, “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide” in which she attempted to explain the roots of genocide and atrocities as well as to show how US administrations had addressed these issues in their foreign policy during the preceding century.
Although Power was appointed as the Founding Executive Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, she is not only an academic but also an experienced diplomat. In November 2008 she became a member of Obama’s State Department transition team and subsequently became a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights on the National Security Council where she served from 2009 to 2013. Power was then nominated for the position of the 28th United States Ambassador to the United Nations, a position she held from 2013 to 2017.
She is perceived to have been a key figure in Obama’s administration and persuaded the President to intervene in Libya in 2015. While serving as a US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha focused on defending women and LGBTQ rights. She also pushed to convene the first-ever UN Security Council session to discuss LGBTQ rights and eventually established a UN Human Rights Council watchdog to deal with the violence towards and discrimination of sexual minorities. While holding the UN post she also actively advocated for religious freedom and the protection of minorities and refugees as well as fighting against human trafficking.
The American Forbes magazine ranked Samantha Power as the 41st most powerful woman in the world in 2016. She also became one of the main characters of the “Watchers of the Sky,” a documentary broadcast in 2014 that raised the issue of genocide prevention.
In announcing his nomination, Joe Biden said “I know firsthand the unparalleled knowledge and tireless commitment to principled American engagement she brings to the table, and her expertise and perspective will be essential as our country reasserts its role as a leader on the world stage.”
The Biden transition team announced that the USAID administrator would be a member of the National Security Council.
However, the presidential nomination will not be sufficient to be successful in being appointed to the position because Power will also have to gain acceptance by the US Senate. If she is confirmed as nominee, she will replace Donald Trump’s appointee, John Barsa, whose term in office as an Acting Administrator of USAID, was marked by controversies. While USAID’s actions very seldom catch the public eye, nevertheless Barsa managed to hit the headlines. He was accused of mismanagement, the nomination of incompetent people, and hostility towards his employees. He gained even further attention when, in May 2020, he pushed the UN to remove abortion as an “essential service” from the humanitarian response to the coronavirus pandemic.
As one of the largest global donors of official development assistance (ODA), USAID is a vital humanitarian aid institution.
