U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations committed to prioritizing Global Fragility Act implementation in her confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
Anne Witkowsky, former deputy assistant secretary for stability and humanitarian affairs in the Defense Department during former President Barack Obama’s administration, will be tasked with leading implementation of the GFA if confirmed. The legislation, passed in 2019, outlined a new U.S. approach to fragile contexts recognizing that post-9/11 stabilization and reconstruction efforts have cost billions but not achieved their intended results.
The background: Former President Donald Trump’s administration produced the mandated Global Fragility Strategy in 2020 but did not meet a December deadline to select five priority countries or regions for implementation of the strategy. After the selection, the administration must develop a 10-year strategy for each one. Members of Congress have expressed frustration that the Biden administration has yet to pick them.
The challenges ahead: CSO has traditionally clashed with the State Department’s regional bureaus and has also struggled to work with other agencies on similar conflict prevention projects. Proponents of the GFA have argued for high-level governance of the Global Fragility Strategy to ensure it is prioritized. Witkowsky will be tasked with improving CSO’s relationships with agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, which will be integral to successful implementation.
“I look forward to drawing on my many years of leading large agency and interagency efforts to move forward successfully with its implementation, and I can assure you that implementing the Global Fragility Act will be a high priority for me,” Witkowsky said. “If confirmed, I see that CSO will play a leadership role in the day-to-day implementation of the Global Fragility Act … one of coordination, working with all relevant agencies who are participating.”
About the author
Teresa Welshtmawelsh
Teresa Welsh is a Senior Reporter at Devex. She has reported from more than 10 countries and is currently based in Washington, D.C. Her coverage focuses on Latin America; U.S. foreign assistance policy; fragile states; food systems and nutrition; and refugees and migration. Prior to joining Devex, Teresa worked at McClatchy's Washington Bureau and covered foreign affairs for U.S. News and World Report. She was a reporter in Colombia, where she previously lived teaching English. Teresa earned bachelor of arts degrees in journalism and Latin American studies from the University of Wisconsin.
