People and Power Focus Of U.S. Aid Worker's Efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Nearly 30 years later, Peter Flynn's wife still refuses to talk about their time in Laos. What started out as a routine overseas assignment with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) ended with a communist takeover of the government. The couple was placed under house arrest and eventually deported from the country with only one suitcase between them.
"I think leaving behind our wedding gifts and pets is what still gets to her the most," laughs Flynn who, typically, views the incident with amusement.
It is this easygoing attitude coupled with a genuine love of people that has made Flynn's government service such a rich experience. His career began in 1967 with USAID, the U.S. Government's overseas relief and development agency. After several years' service in Asia and Africa, Flynn made the leap to the U.S. State Department's Foreign Service, where he rose to the level of Minister Counselor in Moscow before retiring in 1996 to improve his golf game. After a one-year retirement, Flynn was back overseas working for the Treasury Department in Saudi Arabia. His career came full circle with a move to Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) where he linked up once again with USAID.
"USAID has changed in the course of the years from the Marshall Plan to a sophisticated mechanism of foreign assistance that gets far more done than people give it credit for," says Flynn. "I'm doing what I like doing-working in a place that needs the type of assistance the U.S. Government can provide. I'm grateful to be part of that mechanism."
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, recovery from the war is still ongoing. More than seven years after the end of fighting, the three main Serb, Croat and Bosniak (Muslim) hardline parties are all back in power. The country continues to operate under the framework of the Dayton Peace Accords, which makes few demands on the three ethnic groups to work together. The result is a country with very little centralized power, whose ethnic rivalries turn even the smallest decisions into political stalemates.
Flynn's main priority is getting the three ethnic groups to agree on restructuring of the power sector-a difficult task given that each group has been siphoning off money from their respective electricity companies for years. Recent USAID-sponsored audits revealed massive corruption in the sector, which has largely funded the activities of the three hard-line nationalistic parties before, during and after the war.
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| Peter Flynn (right) discusses the power sector restructuring project with Reuf Hadzibegic, Bosnia's Deputy Minister of Energy. |
Currently, Flynn and his colleagues are working on merging the three companies into one state-level institution that will operate efficiently, within the law and be transparent in its financial dealings. The endeavor is critical, not only for BiH, but for the region as a whole. Repairs of several key transmission lines in BiH are now needed in order to connect Southeast Europe with the rest of the continent. In addition, Bosnia-Herzegovina will soon be the only nation in Southeastern Europe with a power surplus. Exporting electricity has the potential to add tens of millions to the budget-money that could be used to pay pensions, upgrade healthcare and improve education.
"The challenge is to get the three ethnic groups to see that restructuring is in their own interest," explains Flynn. "It's one of the keys to enabling BiH to eventually join the European Union."
Transitioning BiH from three separate entities into a fully functioning state is what Flynn sees as his USAID mission's ultimate goal. He's proud of the fact that USAID's work in the power sector has placed it in the forefront of promoting state institutions.
In talking about his work, Flynn is quick to give credit to his colleagues-especially the local staff.
"The Bosnians who work here in USAID are some of the best foreign nationals I've come in contact with," he says. "They are educated, articulate and cosmopolitan. In fact, they know the USAID system better than I do!"
After talking to Flynn for only a few minutes, it becomes clear that people are his passion and certainly what he loves most about his work.
"Wherever I've been, I've tried to develop young people by highlighting their unique talents that may have gone unnoticed," he says. "One of the most satisfying aspects of my career has been getting e-mails 20 to 25 years later updating me on their successes."
As a "people person," Flynn is grateful for the opportunities USAID has given him to interact with different groups and cultures throughout the world. He only wishes that other Americans were more aware of the good work the Agency is doing. In fact a recent survey found that most Americans believe the U.S. government spends 20 times more on foreign aid than it actually does. The reality is that foreign assistance has declined to less than one percent of the national budget-far less than most European nations.
"Americans are hardworking, generous people, but they are into their own thing," he says. After working around the world, "I am always grateful to have been born in the U.S. I just wish the rest of the population could understand what the rest of the world lives like and what a difference their tax dollars can make."
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Originally from Ipswich, Massachusetts , foreign service veteran Peter Flynn graduated from Georgetown University in 1967 (BS, Foreign Service) after a tour in the Peace Corps. Flynn is currently the Senior Program Coordinator for the Minority Reintegration and Development Office in Sarajevo , with the USAID Bureau for Europe and Eurasia.
The US Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
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