Former ambassador: Destroying USAID will be a disaster for NC and national security | Opinion

U.S. foreign policy rests on three legs — defense, diplomacy and development assistance. If you take away one of those legs, our national security cannot stand.

USAID is the development assistance leg of the U.S. foreign policy stool, and it is under attack.

There have been lies spread claiming that USAID issued $50 million condom contracts and paid millions of dollars to celebrities and media outlets. A little bit of research on independent fact checking sites quickly dispels those falsehoods, and I sincerely hope that we, as a nation, have not become so polarized that we are incapable of seeking the truth.

What is true is that USAID is an important organization for North Carolinians. A 2022 report by the North Carolina Global Health Alliance found that global health organizations sustain more than 56,000 direct jobs in the state. Organizational and employee spending supports an additional 117,850 jobs in North Carolina and added $31.9 billion to North Carolina’s economy in 2021 alone.

According to USASpending.gov, North Carolina entities received more than $1 billion in USAID contracts in fiscal year 2024. RTI International, headquartered in Durham, employs more than 6,000 people globally and derives much of its funding from USAID. North Carolina farmers sell their produce to USAID’s Food for Peace program and our educational institutions partner with USAID in their global health research.

There is no doubt that USAID, like all government institutions, can be more effective and efficient but, in large part, the challenge rests not with how it performs its work, but with the work it is told to do. Imagine if General Motors were told to build cars for four or eight years, the length of a presidential administration, then were told to retool and build refrigerators. That is exactly how the U.S. government approaches foreign assistance.

When USAID is given a consistent mission, it does amazing things. Just look at its work to eliminate HIV/AIDS.

The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has saved more than 26 million lives since President George W. Bush launched it in 2003. From the beginning, PEPFAR has received bipartisan support from the U.S. government. It was only possible to save so many lives because USAID was given a steadfast mission, allowing it to adopt a consistent, evidence-based, data-driven approach.

I was the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Botswana in 2022 when the country became the first in the world to get more than 95 % of the HIV+ population on consistent treatment. This was achieved three years earlier than expected, and would have been impossible without USAID’s work.

An important player in achieving this milestone was USAID’s implementing partner, FHI 360, and I saw its staff at work all over Botswana. FHI 360 is headquartered in Research Triangle Park and last week announced the furlough of 36% of its U.S. staff, including 200 employees in North Carolina.

As Ambassador, I loved USAID because its work opened doors. I had unlimited access to the host government, the respect and admiration of civil society and the business community and felt the gratitude of the entire population of Botswana towards the U.S. government.

The U.S. approach to HIV is, unfortunately, the exception. The normal approach to foreign assistance is for a new administration to decide they no longer want to pursue anti-corruption in favor of democracy-building or climate initiatives, forcing USAID to dismantle the programs and policies it had been implementing for the past four or eight years. And the cycle repeats.

This is not USAID’s fault and destroying the agency for carrying out the previous administration’s mandates will weaken our national security and hurt North Carolinians. Inconsistent priorities by successive administrations hamstring USAID, destroy efficiency and limit successes.

The United States needs a new and better approach to foreign assistance. One that doesn’t change from administration to administration and allows USAID to do the same exceptional work that it has achieved in helping the world triumph over the AIDS epidemic. We need to choose the programs and problems that we, as a nation, want to help the world overcome and allow USAID to do the hard work of fixing them.

I wouldn’t sit on a two-legged stool. It’s dangerous. Do you want our national security to rely on one?

This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Former ambassador: Destroying USAID will be a disaster for NC and national security | Opinion."