A 30-year veteran of U.S. foreign aid program, Christopher Crowley believes passionately in his country's obligation to aid the development of less-prosperous countries
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A 30-year veteran of the U.S. foreign aid organization whose career has included stints in Vietnam, Korea, Syria, Egypt and the Palestinian Territories, Crowley believes passionately in the United States’ obligation to support the development of less-prosperous countries. That sense of commitment goes back to Crowley’s first international experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960s.
“I worked in a village in India,” he recalled. “That was when I understood that societies that are better-off economically must help others develop. For the last 30 years, I have done everything I could to make that happen.”
Born in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1944, Crowley graduated from Ohio State University with a science degree. He obtained a masters degree in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970.
After spending a year working as an analyst in a Philadelphia bank, Crowley joined USAID. His first posting was to war-torn Vietnam, where he served from 1971 to 1975.
Vietnam was not the only trouble spot where Crowley has served. From 1994 to 1999, he headed the USAID mission in the Palestinian Territories on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. By the end of that period, though, Crowley could see that the continuing violence between Israelis and Palestinians was rendering the mission’s work futile.
“I felt this tragedy very deeply,” Crowley recalled. “I invested a great deal of my life into that process, and I still feel an emotional involvement in events there.”
In 1999, Crowley arrived in Kyiv to take charge of the USAID mission in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.
Though he considers that four years is not long enough to properly evaluate the changes occurring in a society, Crowley claims to have detected some improvements.
“I can’t say that about all the countries where I’ve been. I’m optimistic about Ukraine’s future,” he said.
The Ukrainian people have also impressed Crowley.
“I saw a society of strong and highly educated individuals who can stand up to life’s problems,” he said.
USAID has an annual budget of between $10 billion and $12 billion to support democratic reform worldwide.
Over the last decade, Ukraine has been one of the largest recipients of that aid. USAID has spent more than $1.6 billion on various reform projects. Currently, average annual spending is at around $70 million.
“I always tell people in Washington that that’s not enough,” Crowley said. “That’s my job: to tell people more is needed.”
Most of the money goes to supporting the economy and developing civil society. Priority directions include the development of small and medium-sized business, and legislative reforms that remove impediments to business. In the last year alone, around 80 programs have been implemented.
“We devote special attention to the development of Ukraine’s regions; that is one of the most successful parts of our program,” Crowley said.
A new program is currently being developed that will help 50 towns draw up plans for their strategic development and improved communal services.
“We also support non-government organizations, help media improve the quality of their work, and provide legal support to journalists,” Crowley said.
Of course, USAID funds do not just go toward supporting the development of the newly independent nation. They also cover the living expenses of the mission’s employees. It is an oft-repeated joke among Kyiv ex-pats that the city’s expensive restaurants turn a profit only thanks to USAID.
However, it is not just U.S. taxpayers who question the effectiveness of such generous U.S. assistance. Some Ukrainian politicians also see it as an instrument for furthering those political forces that Washington favors.
Bohdan Boyko, leader of the People’s Movement of Ukraine for Unity, a pro-presidential bloc running in last year’s parliament elections, accused a number of USAID-funded programs of supporting opposition forces. Crowley vehemently rejects such criticism.
“These allegations are unfounded,” he said. “We try to give our help to everyone who wants it, and we invite all the parties to take part in our programs.”
Olena Kucherenko, who heads the department coordinating foreign aid at the Economy Ministry, said that USAID’s collaboration with Ukrainian structures has grown and become more effective in recent years.
Kucherenko said that USAID projects were initially, in theory, good and important, but failed to produce the desired results because they were implemented prematurely before the requisite infrastructure and legislative base were in place. This was the case with the creation of an agricultural exchange back in 1995.
Vira Nanivska, director of the International Center for Policy Studies, pointed out that the effectiveness of USAID projects varies widely.
She said that ICPS carried out a study comparing assistance to the countries that are due for accession to the European Union, to those like Ukraine that have been left out of the Euro-integration process.
“We discovered a staggering discrepancy, and it was not in our favor,” she said. “In the states that are joining the EU, all projects were aimed at two goals: developing democratic institutions and creating infrastructure for developing business, while aid to Ukraine basically amounts to advice to politicians and the government.”
The biggest problem USAID faces in Ukraine today is delays in implementing projects. The registration of the Ukrainian operations of the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute has dragged out for over two years.
USAID has also had difficulty conducting its program for issuing ownership title for land plots, due, in part, to resistance from local bureaucrats.
However, such obstacles do not unduly perturb Crowley.
“There are always people who are not interested in change,” he said. “This is not peculiar to Ukraine. It is common in countries where serious changes are occurring.”
This article was first published in Russian in Korrespondent magazine on Aug. 29 as part of its series devoted to the Top-100 most influential individuals in Ukraine.
