Atul Gawande, the former head of global health at the U.S. Agency for International Development, has documented the devastating impacts of the agency’s dismantling earlier this year.
“You cannot fight an invisible problem, and there is a determined effort to make the damage visible,” Gawande said Saturday at an investigative film festival in Washington, D.C., following the premiere of “Rovina’s Choice,” a short documentary that he executive-produced. “The continued claim of the [Trump] administration is that there’s no harm done, and that aid is getting to people where it’s necessary, and it’s absolutely not true.”
In a conversation with filmmaker Charles Poe for a conversation following the screening, Gawande urged the audience to bear witness to the damage being done.
About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.
