From the CEO

  • January 16, 2019

    The darker side of development: Networks of corruption

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    There is something about the promise of a new year – the idea that the new year can bring change for the better. Many of us working in global development choose this work because we believe we can make a positive difference in the world.

    For 2019, we have decided to take a deeper look at issues that global development actors often shy away from discussing – the paradoxes and unintended consequences of global development. We’re calling this year’s theme the “darker side” of development, but my hope is that this season will shed light on issues we need to be thinking about as a development community, so that we can make our work more relevant and effective.

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  • December 17, 2018

    Eleven takeaways about humanitarian crises and emergency response

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    This year, I dedicated my monthly podcast, A Deeper Look, to examining humanitarian crises and emergency response. I had the opportunity to talk with senior leaders, youth and seasoned humanitarians who offered multiple perspectives on how this issue impacts communities and people in such areas as gender, technology, food security and education.

    Although the topics covered in our conversations varied widely, my guests were unified in their belief that the nature of humanitarian crises has changed over the years. We are seeing historic levels of people who are displaced by conflict for longer periods than in the past, and the number of natural disasters is increasing. We discussed how the changing characteristics of these crises are radically altering the way we do development. My guests and I also talked about some of the courageous, innovative responses that give us hope for the future.

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  • December 12, 2018

    Lessons learned throughout a career in humanitarian response

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    This year, we’ve taken a deeper look at Humanitarian Crises and Emergency Response. In the final episode of the season, I speak with Ambassador Rick Barton, who is currently co-director of the Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School and the author of a new book called Peace Works: America’s Unifying Role in a Turbulent World.

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  • October 18, 2018

    Preventing and responding to infectious disease outbreaks

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    Are we prepared for the next infectious disease outbreak?

    In this episode of A Deeper Look, I speak with Dr. Jonathan Quick, Senior Fellow Emeritus at Management Sciences for Health and author of the new book, The End of Epidemics: The Looming Threat to Humanity and How to Stop It.

    A leader in epidemic prevention and control, Jonathan talks about the diseases we should worry about the most and why, the success stories and lessons learned in responding to epidemic and pandemic outbreaks, and what we need to do to be prepared for the next outbreak.

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  • September 18, 2018

    Partnering with a new generation of innovators for social good

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    We know we have to do things differently to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. We need new ways of seeing old problems, new skills and methods to direct the technological whirlwind disrupting societies and new ways to muster political will to make hard decisions that challenge old orthodoxies.

    There is a paradox here: At a time when innovation is creating destabilizing change, the key to future stability lies in our ability to effectively harness innovation. But what does that look like?

    Most innovations are spread through traditional commercial channels where one company either develops or purchases the intellectual property or product of another. Commercializing and scaling new products, particularly in the tech sector, has been the driving force in 21st century economic growth. It has improved living standards in many parts of the world, but simultaneously produced growing — and potentially destabilizing — inequality.

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  • September 10, 2018

    Preventing and resolving violent conflict

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    A decade ago, around 80 percent of the international humanitarian budget went to victims of natural disasters. Now, that number has flipped, with about 80 percent of funding going to victims of violent conflict.

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  • August 8, 2018

    Responding to the largest humanitarian crisis in the world

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    Twenty-two million people in Yemen — roughly 4 out of 5 Yemenis — are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, making this the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. As the conflict enters its fourth year, with little sign of a peace agreement, this complex emergency demands attention and action from the international community.

    In this episode of A Deeper Look, I sit down with my colleague Greg Beck, the Director of Crisis Response and Integrated Development here at FHI 360. Greg has recently been working in Yemen.

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  • July 25, 2018

    Pie in the sky: Does foreign assistance make a difference?

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    A full version of this article originally appeared in WorldView, a quarterly magazine published by the nonprofit National Peace Corps Association for the greater Peace Corps community. Reposted with permission. Read the entire article here.

    Patrick Fine

    Economic and social progress rarely comes fast, making it easy to question whether foreign assistance is effective. Many critiques of foreign aid expose poorly conceived and implemented programs and document bad governance, corruption, and persistent poverty. Some even argue that far from helping, foreign assistance is part of the problem. I suspect there are few self-conscious development workers who don’t ask themselves whether the treasure, sweat and tears really make a difference, especially those of us who have spent years struggling with the day-to-day management problems and frustrations that come with implementing programs in countries where progress has been slow and uneven.

    Recently, I visited the rural community in Swaziland where I worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer 30 years ago. Seeing the changes on the homestead where I lived from 1980 to 1983 helped me put into perspective our often-unsatisfactory efforts to describe and measure the value of development work and to answer the question about whether foreign aid makes a difference.

    Read the entire article here.

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  • July 12, 2018

    Humanitarian response in Nigeria

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    More than 1.7 million people are internally displaced, 14 million people in acute need of humanitarian assistance and 26 million people are affected by conflict in Nigeria.

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  • June 6, 2018

    A personal perspective on the Syrian refugee crisis

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    Saria was a young teenager when conflict broke out in Syria. His school was closed and converted into a military base, forcing him to abandon his education. He was captured by three different groups, the Syrian Intelligence, the Free Syrian Army and Jabhat al-Nusra, before fleeing to Jordan.

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