USGLC

Sarah Charles is President Joe Biden’s appointee to Assistant to the Administrator for USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance.

As the head of the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, the assistant to the administrator oversees USAID’s disaster assistance efforts.

Sarah Charles rejoins USAID from the International Rescue Committee, where she was the Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy from 2017 through 2020. Prior to that, she was an acting team lead at USAID from 2009 through 2013 and a member of the National Security Council from 2013 through 2017.

On COVID-19: Speaking to the lack of funding for UN-driven humanitarian efforts in the wake of the COVID outbreak, Charles asserted: “In the grand scheme of (money) being thrown at COVID-19 (relief), the asks are small, but absolutely critical. This pandemic isn’t over for any of us, until it’s over for all of us.” (source)

On Inclusivity in COVID-19 Relief: In response to perceived shortcomings in the CARES Act in addressing humanitarian relief, Sarah Charles tweeted: “COVID-19 does not discriminate, and neither should U.S. policies that combat its spread. Join the International Rescue Committee in calling on the Senate to ensure that immigrants & refugees are included in all recovery and relief measures in the next relief bill.” (source)

 On Refugees: In 2019, Sarah Charles signed an open letter from ex-Federal employees that declared that “refugee issues are rooted in international politics and diplomacy, key concerns of the Department of State and U.S. foreign policy.” (source)

On Ending Extreme Poverty: Addressing a United Nations panel on the Sustainable Development Goals, Sarah Charles reflected: “The great promise of the 2030 agenda, is that it represents a shared commitment by all 193 member states to end extreme poverty. But a risk to the agenda is that the voices of populations in crisis and those living in fragile states are the least likely to be heard.” (source)

On the Sustainable Development Goals: Writing on international failures to support refugee communities in reaching the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ms. Charles advocated that “host governments should adopt policies that allow refugees to work, go to school, and move freely. Donors and multilateral banks should support this through economic and other incentives and support.” (source)

On the Role of Multilateral Development Banks: In a Center for Global Development research piece, Charles wrote: “Even in a tough political climate, where there has been considerable retreat among global leaders to share the responsibility of meeting refugee needs, the Bank has worked with some refugee hosting governments to achieve important policy changes that can enable refugees to more sustainably support themselves and their families.” (source)

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