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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Remarks by Harriet Babbitt,
USAID Awards Ceremony
USAID Deputy Administrator
October 19, 2000
Thank you, Marilyn.
Administrator Anderson is in Seattle today doing critical outreach to the American public, talking to people there about USAID's work around the world and highlighting the value of foreign aid. He sends his congratulations to all of you.
We're here to recognize specific people who have made a special contribution to USAID over the past year, but let me first thank each of you for your hard work and dedication -- we could not do what we do (and we could not do it as well) without your extraordinary effort.
I was eager to come to USAID nearly three years ago because I knew that USAID's mission was very important to the countries in which we work and to the United States.
It's been an incredible three years, in which we've:
- Weathered Hurricane Mitch
- Dealt with the unanticipated scale of the Kosovar Albanian refugee crisis
- Weathered the not-so-bad storm of Y2K
- Created and begun to implement a foreign service workforce plan to take us into the future
- Planned to graduate out of some countries and then had events cause us to reverse course (i.e. Indonesia, Colombia)
- Come to better understand the overwhelming challenges of HIV/AIDS and related opportunistic diseases -- and begun to meet them
- Watched in awe as our democracy program for Serbia contributed to the Serbian people's overwhelmingly voting Slobodan Milosevic out of power
This agency is a special place not only because all of us, every day, get to help make the world a better place, but also because (most of the time) we get to have so much fun doing it -- NMS troubles aside.
I know that the past decade has been a tumultuous time for foreign assistance in general and for this agency in particular -- but what you do is important to the United States and to the world at large.
We did not do it all, and we did not do it alone. But USAID has always been out on the front lines, where I hope we always will be.
All around the world, people look to America for leadership not just because of our economic and military might, but because Americans are willing to fight for and defend the same principles abroad that they do at home.
The work of development has never been easy, and it has certainly never been quick. But like any good investment, the investment in development pays off in the long-term: our work today is the foundation of a more stable, peaceful, and prosperous tomorrow.
I know many of you also attended Carlos Pascual's recent swearing-in as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. I want to repeat here what Deputy Secretary Talbott said about how Carlos' USAID background prepared him for his new assignment:
"USAID is an agency that's committed to the concepts and the goal of sustainable development. That means not falling into the most common trap of government, which is letting the urgent drive out the merely important -- and letting the crisis of today prevent us from thinking about the challenge of tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.
USAID is, by its charter and its function, dedicated to the proposition that advancing American interests requires taking the long view."
Then Secretary Talbott talked about the qualities Carlos had gained while working at USAID - steadiness, patience, resilience, and determination.
I hope you will remember how important your steadiness, patience, resilience, and determination are.
And I hope that you are as proud to work here as I am.
And with that, let me congratulate today's award recipients, and again, thank all of you for your leadership and commitment.
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
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Last Updated on: July 12, 2001 |
