Change of guard: USAID appoints new director to Pakistan

Jonathon Conly, newly appointed Mission Director, is expected to take office by the end of this month.

WASHINGTON:

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has appointed a new mission director to Pakistan, as it works on cutting its development projects in Pakistan from 150 to 50 this year.

Jonathon Conly has been appointed as the new mission director who is expected to take office at the end of June. According to his profile provided by the agency, Conly has been a member of the Senior Foreign Service since 1996, and holds the rank of minister counselor. He has been working in international development since 1971 as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Conly previously served as a volunteer in Pakistan in 1989-1990, and has also worked at US embassies in Egypt, Bangladesh and Kenya amongst other countries. His last overseas assignment was in Georgia. The posting comes as USAID cancelled its funding of Sesame Street Pakistan, amidst allegations that the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop was involved in corruption in the production of the programme.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2012.