USAID disaster relief chief Mark Ward on the difficult delivery of flood relief

Interview: Mark Ward As the acting director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, Mark Ward was among the top officials coordinating relief efforts — organizing everything from public health provisions, to temporary shelters and emergency food parcels — in the wake of Pakistan’s unprecedented ...

Interview: Mark Ward

As the acting director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, Mark Ward was among the top officials coordinating relief efforts — organizing everything from public health provisions, to temporary shelters and emergency food parcels — in the wake of Pakistan’s unprecedented floods this summer. Fortunately, he had experience both in the region and with large-scale disasters: Ward has also chaired the agency’s Tsunami, Pakistan Earthquake and Lebanon Reconstruction task forces; his most recent overseas post with USAID was in Pakistan as the mission director, serving from July 2002 through December 2003.

Here Ward talks about Islamic piety in disaster zones, the relentless battle against cholera, and American and Pakistani priorities as they move from the flood relief phase to recovery and reconstruction.

Read more.

Tag: War

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