Biden nominates Samantha Power to lead the US Agency for International Development (USAID)

[OnDoutside]

US President-elect Joe Biden has nominated the former UN ambassador Samantha Power as his choice to lead the US Agency for International Development (USAID), citing her deep experience addressing crises around the world.

"Power will rally the international community and work with our partners to confront the biggest challenges of our time - including Covid-19, climate change, global poverty, and democratic backsliding," his transition team said.

"A crisis-tested public servant and diplomat, Ambassador Power has been a leader in marshaling the world to resolve long-running conflicts, respond to humanitarian emergencies, defend human dignity, and strengthen the rule of law and democracy," it added.

An immigrant to the US from Ireland, she served as US ambassador to the UN under former Democratic President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Biden from 2013 to 2017. Ms Power, 50, also served as a White House national security staffer under Obama from 2009 to 2013. A former journalist, she won a Pulitzer Prize for her book "A Problem from Hell", a study of US failure to prevent genocide.

[OnDoutside]

1. Another OUTSTANDING pick.