Mark Green urges aid community to reengage as US resets assistance

Former USAID Administrator Mark Green has urged the United States development community to re-engage and help shape the next phase of American foreign assistance amid institutional upheaval and a broader pullback in aid. Speaking at a Devex event on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Green praised the workforce he led under the first Trump administration as “among the most talented, dedicated professionals that I’ve ever worked with, extraordinary mission driven professionals who did great things and made this world a better place, lifted lives, built communities, and we owe them all a great, great debt.” He acknowledged that many feel abandoned and uncertain about their future, but insisted their expertise is still essential. “This is a very difficult time, very obviously, but it’s also a time when we have to call upon the community once again. … We need to somehow, someway, we have to tap into that talent, tap into that sense of purpose, and find new ways to shape what lies ahead.” Green said the Trump administration’s emphasis on “trade, not aid” poses a critical question: Is it an excuse for retreat or a genuine paradigm shift? “Is trade, not aid, an excuse for doing less with less, or is it instead truly pursuing a new way, a new path?” he said. That includes a focus on real outcomes from private-sector activity: “How do we turn, for example, contracts to purchase critical minerals into something which has real, sustainable development outcomes from the countries that have reserves of those minerals.” He warned: “We have to make sure that redesign, reshaping, reform, doesn’t become an excuse for retreat.” On the shift of foreign assistance leadership from USAID to the U.S Department of State, Green stressed the need to find a way forward. “Well, first off, the obvious, we have to make it work, right? I mean, that really is what lies before us.” He emphasized what will be required for enterprise-driven efforts to last: “For those to succeed, and … for those to have any kind of sustainable path. It requires the expertise that the development community represented by so many of you needs to be brought to bear. That is what has to happen.” Reflecting on the bipartisan support that helped launch initiatives such as the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, Green said the aid community made a mistake in assuming that a “good idea sells itself.” “We screwed up,” he said. “We were wrong. We were badly wrong, and we failed to engage and make the case over and over again, and now we have to make a new case and make it over and over again.” With most original champions now out of office, he argued, the case for aid must be remade. He highlighted supply chains around cutting-edge technology and chips and post-conflict “day-after” scenarios in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo as areas where the administration’s priorities align with development expertise. “President Trump really and truly wants to be a peacemaker. I don't think he likes war.” Regarding “day after” work in places such as Gaza, Ukraine, DRC, Rwanda, Sudan, he said progress “will not happen without the engagement of almost all of you in the development community.” He also defended democracy promotion as vital to durable outcomes: “Authoritarians are stable until they’re not, and then it comes crashing down.” The aim, he said, is “to sow and foster responsive governance. That’s how we turn investments and transactions into sustainable development outcomes … so it isn’t about imposing unique American values onto anyone, is instead in creating the ability for people to shape their own future.” Despite the turmoil, Green closed on an optimistic note, restating his north star for assistance: “The purpose of all foreign assistance is ending its need to exist.” He added, “The mission in terms of where we hope to go hasn’t changed, and making sure that we tap into the expertise that all of us have seen and putting it to work in this, in this new path, I think, is what really lies ahead for us. That’s the job.”