Mark S. Ward ’82, co-chair of the Tsunami Task Force at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will discuss U.S. relief and reconstruction efforts in countries ravaged by last year’s tsunami at a Boalt Hall presentation on Wednesday, June 22.
Ward, the deputy assistant administrator for USAID’s Bureau of Asia and Near East, has helped direct the agency’s relief efforts since January. He will describe USAID’s strategies for cooperating with the U.S. military during the initial relief phase, planning for longer-term reconstruction and ensuring the long-term effectiveness of donor assistance by engaging local NGOs, community groups, the media and local government officials. Ward also will give an overview of the effort’s current progress and outline ongoing challenges.
His talk “The U.S. Government’s Response to the Tsunami: From Relief to Reconstruction” takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. in Boalt’s Goldberg Room. It is sponsored by Boalt’s Office of Career Development and UC Berkeley’s Institute of East Asian Studies.