Lowy Lecture Series: Global development in the Asian Century - Brian Atwood

Next month, the heads of foreign aid agencies and international development organisations will be in Australia for Tidewater, the OECD’s annual meeting that focuses on the latest issues impacting on global development assistance. While Australia is hosting this year’s meeting, the convenor will be the chair of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee, Brian Atwood. The Development Assistance Committee is the major international forum bringing together many of the world’s major aid donors. Since its establishment in 1961, the profile of the world’s donors has changed from the post-independence era of the 1960s to today, where emerging donors such as China, India and Brazil, as well as private foundations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, now provide significant aid alongside the DAC members. During his visit to Australia, Mr Atwood will speak at the Lowy Institute on the changing global development agenda and the way this is affecting the relationships and expectations of the development partners. Brian Atwood was the administrator of US Agency for International Aid (USAID) under the Clinton Administration and prior to that, from 1993 to 1999, he led the Transition Team at the US State Department and was Under Secretary of State for Management. During the Carter Administration, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations. In 1981-82, he was Dean of Professional Studies and Academic Affairs at the Foreign Service Institute. From 2002 to 2010, he was Dean of the Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. In 2001, he served on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Panel on Peace Operations.