For Hilda Arellano, becoming the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Egypt Program director comes at a time when the program is at a crossroads of sorts. The Egypt in which USAID first launched its program more than 30 years ago is very different from the Egypt of today. But with progress and growth unfolding both economically and socially, there has been much public debate about whether or not Egypt still needs the program to continue its development endeavors.
When USAID began its program in Egypt three decades ago, Hilda Arellano was just starting her career in development. From joining the United Nations Volunteers program in 1971 until her assignment as Egypt's USAID program director in October 2007, Arellano has always kept her eye on the goal that all development initiatives aim to achieve: ensuring that the basic needs of the poorest citizens around the world are met. She still holds on to this goal despite the many changes that have taken place in the thought process behind development programs over the past three decades.
"I think there has been a progression [in thought,] but I don't think that it has been as radical as some people think it is," she says. "There are themes of continuum throughout the process... There are differences between what I do today and what I did 30 years ago, but there are also real elements that do continue in terms of getting people to participate, in terms of the way you get people to buy in to what USAID does; the fact that they must want it more than we do for any program to succeed. The country that you are working in and the community that you are working in really have to want it more than the donor. If that isn't in place, you simply won't succeed. I think that these are the elements that have been there all the time."
Arellano was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey. She graduated from Cornell University in 1967 with a BA in political science and a minor in economics. She then went into a PhD program at the University of Texas Austin, where she completed her master's degree in political science in 1968. A year later, she completed another master's degree in urban education from Antioch College, Ohio. After teaching in urban schools, she joined the UN Volunteers program in 1971 and was assigned to work on the UN's initial Women and Development program in rural Bolivia.
Over a 16-year span, Arellano continued to work for a variety of agencies, including the UN and the World Bank, before joining USAID in 1988. She has held many posts within USAID, including deputy mission director in Guatemala between 1993 and 1998, mission director in Ecuador from 1998 to 2001, and mission director for the Regional Services Center for Europe & Eurasia from 2001 until 2004. Her most recent assignment was as director of USAID in Iraq, from 2006 until 2007.
While development is about improving the lives of disadvantaged groups throughout the world, the fact of the matter is that the implementation of this over-arching goal does not occur in a vacuum. International politics do matter and often greatly impact how development strategies are implemented. "A lot of it frankly depends on what the primary issues [are] in the relationship between North and South, between less developed countries and more developed countries. But it also depends a lot on the sector. So in health and education, you'd have one set of issues, whereas in the economic file, you'd have another."
Continuous transformation
Arellano says that, like the policies of many other development agencies, USAID's policies and programs have undergone much transformation over the past 30 years. In the 1970s, for instance, much of the agency's work concentrated on production improvements such as agricultural and industrial development. In the 1980s, the focus shifted away from the state-led development model to development of the private sector and its role in economic growth. During the 1990s, the focus became improving the access of the private sector to the global economy by improving the competitiveness of industry and building human capacity in order for developing countries to achieve trade-led growth.
"On the social side, initially [the focus was access to] services - developing health systems, developing education, working with countries to make sure those were in place," she says. "But as globalization and connectivity between countries became more evident, you [had to] add the element of human capital development, and [factor in] that countries need to be able to be competitive in an international environment, where the key was the quality of human capital and human capital's ability, to really be there in the market."
To say that Egypt's relationship with USAID is complicated would be an understatement. Like many other countries with long-running USAID programs, the relationship can best be characterized as going through "growing pains." But Arellano says this has more to do with the nature of the countries in which USAID works. "We're working in countries that are under tremendous pressure and are going through tremendous changes and [facing] the demand of the population, regional issues, etc. I think some of the more satisfying relationships we have had are the ones that have been the shortest." She says that in countries where USAID has been "in and out," such as the former eastern bloc countries, their programs lasted only about 10 years. "In those countries, I wouldn't say that this was a love-hate relationship... I'd say it was more just a love. Our longer-standing relationships tend to be a lot more tense because we have been around for a number of different stages of the country's transition and a number of those have not been the smoothest either on our side or on their side."
Working the agenda
Egypt's USAID program, which started in 1975, has undergone all the changes that are characteristic of development as a whole. Arellano says that, in line with the trends of the time, USAID's initial goal was to provide the Egyptian government support for its development priorities. These priorities have changed over the years and the program has also changed in line with them.
"For example, at the beginning of the 30-year period, most of our goals and objectives were targeted towards infrastructure building," she says. "We had a very large commodity import program [and] food aid program. This was what the government of Egypt felt was the best use for the US government support. That has changed over time. Today the government of Egypt is more than capable of constructing [its] own infrastructure. There has been real development in that regard. So our money, where before we might have built health clinics, we might have built roads, we might have built water treatment plants for the major cities of Egypt, today those same funds are going towards the grassroots development around health issues in the governorates."
Arellano explains that USAID doesn't shift the focus of its program unilaterally. There is continuous assessment - both internally and in conjunction with the Egyptian government - of where the program has been and where it needs to go. While often the priorities are shared by both sides, sometimes the needs of one side differ from those of the other for strategic reasons. "We are a bilateral donor. In other words, we're part of and we come under the umbrella of US foreign policy [as] the development piece of US foreign policy. So I think it would be completely naive to think that you are completely out of the realm of politics." This, she says, is true in Egypt as it is elsewhere. That is why both sides need to be in perfect agreement over the scope of the activities of the program in order for the USAID team to work effectively and for the government to create the necessary infrastructure for the development work to progress smoothly.
"Our over-arching goal, as stated in our current strategy under the agreement with the government, relates to a dynamic economy that is both equitable and outward looking. Under that we include the social sectors in their relationship to human capacity. So, in other words, it's not just the economic side; we also have the social side. We have major focus on health and education. We are focused on both the macro level, where [our work is] related to macroeconomic policies, but we also have a very large microfinance program here."
The other area in which USAID works is that of democracy and governance. Although this has often been a tricky part of the program, Arellano says that it is in line with USAID's agreement with the Egyptian government. A large part of this component focuses on supporting development in the justice area, supporting the Council for Human Rights, the office of the National Council for Women, the National Council for Motherhood & Childhood, and then we have a direct grants activity that relates to civil society strengthening.
"I mean we are always in conversations about it. But overall, it is a large program. It is one of the largest democracy and governance programs in the world and over half of the money works with public sector institutions. So, it's the way that USAID devised its democracy and governance program there is worldwide demand and there is a supply side. The supply side is what the government offers in terms of institutions and the way they operate and promote rule of law and guarantee citizen rights, etc. And then the demand is based on citizen access, and here we have both these pieces and they are very large. As we know, it is never easy and we are in constant dialogue with the government on that front."
Ready to graduate
While USAID and Egypt might be in continuous dialogue at the decision-maker level, this has not prevented the media on both sides from speculating as to whether or not Egypt is ready to graduate the USAID program altogether. The subject has come up over and over again during the past two years. Most notably, in 2007, a motion before the Congress to halt some of Egypt's military aid caused serious public discontent among Egyptian politicians and the press. Some in the US have argued that after more than $28 billion in economic aid to Egypt over the past three decades, little has changed - a point Arellano takes serious issue with.
"For starters, to think that nothing good has happened in the 30 years that USAID has been here is a complete misconception," she points out. "I have read the stats on the 1970s and I know what infant mortality was then and I know what it is today. It's less than a third of what it was in the 1970s; girls' access to schools; literacy; access to education. [These initiatives] were led by the Government of Egypt, but we have played a part in building those [initiatives]."
She says that for USAID's 30-year anniversary in Egypt, the agency completed a major statistical analysis of Egypt at the start of the program versus where it is today. The differences are astounding. So as far as she is concerned, the argument that the efforts of USAID in Egypt have not yielded results does not hold water.
But this has not prevented several high-profile individuals in Washington from suggesting that Egypt's economic aid should be cut - a proposal many in the media find insulting, causing them to insinuate that an end to the program might be a better option. While Arellano is aware of the public debate on the issue, she says such decisions are made by decision-makers.
"As long as the US Congress is appropriating dollars for Egypt, recognizing [that], while at this stage it is a middle income country, there are challenges [still] because of what's going on in the world, there will be a willingness to work here. The change will happen when the Government of Egypt and the people of Egypt [say] that it [the program] is no longer needed. I have not heard that directly. I know it is in the press a lot - whether or not we are needed - but those discussions will be at a higher level. At that time, we will sit down and discuss them [the issues] and do what we do when in a country where really the feeling is that these activities will be taken over, primarily by other donors." She says there's a huge international donor community here and there are a lot of resources in Egypt now, something that is very different from the situation in 1970. Egypt currently receives an estimated $87 million annually in official development assistance.
Arellano is aware that this debate will intensify over the next months and perhaps even years. She says that in countries where USAID has had such long-standing relationships, dialogue is always essential. While some among the public and even policymakers on both sides might not understand the significance of the role that USAID has played over the years, those who have benefited from it do.
"We have measured public opinion. In some ways the more remote [you get] and the closer to the grassroots you get, the better the understanding of what USAID's role is, and this is the kind of thing that we have to take into consideration. But I do think that there is going to have to be an ongoing dialogue in the coming months, if not years."
By Rehab El Bakry
© Business Monthly 2008
