Kate Crawford [left] was sworn-in at US Embassy in Juba Thursday.

The United States embassy in Juba has announced the arrival of the new Mission Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development for South Sudan, Kate Crawford.

U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan Michael Adler officiated the swearing-in ceremony for Crawford at the embassy in Juba Thursday.

She will oversee USAID’s operations as the largest donor to the people of South Sudan, with an assistance portfolio that includes humanitarian, health, education and youth, agriculture and food security, peacebuilding, democracy, and good governance activities.

A career USAID Foreign Service officer, Crawford has more than 30 years of experience in humanitarian and development programs and global U.S. government initiatives.

Most recently, Crawford was Director of USAID’s Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition in the Bureau for Global Health, where she focused on expanding USAID’s global immunization programming and technical capacity.

She is replacing Haven Cruz-Hubbard, who served as the head of USAID operations in South Sudan for the past two years.
The US government through USAID is the biggest donor of humanitarian and developmental aid in South Sudan.

USAID has provided more than 5.6 billion dollars in emergency humanitarian assistance since the civil war erupted in December 2013 and July 2016 and more than 1.8 billion dollars in development assistance since South Sudan’s independence in 2011.

The United States Government has also provided 46.9 million dollars to help South Sudan respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including nearly 38 million dollars through USAID.