Translating a Dream into Reality—Making the World a Better Place
Interview with InterAction
President Mary McClymont, June 29, 2002, Washington, D.C.
by Margaret Fisher
Fisher: It seems that almost everyone dreams of making
the world a better place. You seem to have achieved that in your
career. When did you develop your commitment and involvement in
making the world a better place?
McClymont: It began as a young person. I'm a person who
came out of the 1960s, when there was a lot of interest in broader
social issues, such as protest against the Vietnam War and interest
in the world at large. Then, when I was young, I traveled to the
developing world, so I saw for the first time extraordinary inequality
and poverty.
Fisher: What would you say are the three most pressing
needs in the world?
McClymont: I think that first and foremost is the extreme
poverty and enormous disparity in people's wealth. Tied to that
and really a part of that is social exclusion and inequality.
Fisher: So, say a little more about social exclusion.
McClymont: It means that people don't have access to the
fundamental things of life such as clean water, basic health and
education, a way to improve their children's lives, and the means
to give their kids an education or food. These are fundamentals.
If you live in extreme poverty, you don't have access to them.
Social exclusion also happens when, because of the color of one's
skin or one's gender, a person is excluded from basic opportunities
to participate fully in the world and society.
Fisher: How have the events of September 11, 2001, affected
the efforts of InterAction, the coalition that you lead, to address
world problems?
McClymont: Well, what we believe is that the American public
is looking with fresh eyes on what happens overseas now. Americans
understand better than ever a connection between helping Afghanistan
parents get their kids food and clothing and their own personal
safety. They see a connection. Certainly policy makers understand
the national security implications of making sure that people's
basic needs are met in other countries. And we know that Americans
are more interested in paying attention and helping people build
self-sufficiency around the world. They do see a connection between
September 11 and development assistance.
Fisher: When you meet with high-ranking U.S. government
leaders, how do you get them to listen to your point of view?
McClymont: We are very privileged to be able to meet with
individuals very high up in the U.S. government, for example,
Condoleezza Rice, assistant to the president for National Security
Affairs, and Secretary of State Colin Powell. They're good governmental
officials; they are open to listening to the nongovernmental perspective.
They recognize that our member NGOs are often partners with the
U.S. government in delivering aid and development. We have a point
of view about certain issues that are a part of delivering that
aid, and they need to listen to us because we bring real experience
from on the ground. Our members are in every developing country;
we know what is going on, on the ground. That is critical to a
policy maker, or it should be.
And it is, to knowledgeable people such as the two I've just
described. So they want to know our perspective, and they know
how important the NGOs are to the larger world and, frankly, to
Americans. InterAction members, in the aggregate, get $3 billion
in donations from the American public. They are a very important
player and they are respected by Americans to a large degree.
So our policy leaders recognize that it is good politics to listen
to NGOs-that they have real knowledge to bring to the table.
Fisher: Let's talk about the Millennium
Challenge Account (MCA), which was announced by President
Bush earlier this year. How is this different from international
aid that our government has given out before?
McClymont: Many people are skeptical about international
development. We have myriad examples of how basic assistance has
improved people's lives: smallpox was eradicated in 1977; over
the last 30 years, illiteracy has been reduced by 20 percent;
life expectancy has increased by 20 years; river blindness, which
kills hundreds of thousands of people throughout Africa, has been
virtually eliminated. These kinds of things are going on all over
the world because of development assistance.
However, many Americans are worried because they think that aid
may go to corrupt governments who will waste it. What we need
to do is show that aid really does work if done in the right way.
So in light of that, the president said, he will give more money,
but he wants to make sure that the money is targeted better. He
developed a set of criteria that would be used before a country
would receive these additional dollars in aid.
Basically what happened is that he said by 2006 the U.S. government
would annually give an additional $5 billion to our aid budget
for international development assistance, and that is quite a
substantial increase. The president promised that the money would
be used to fight poverty and to help people find hope and opportunity.
What we plan to do is work hard to make sure the $5 billion materializes
and that it is used for poverty-focused development, which will
make people's lives better, give them a basic education, give
them basic health care, help mothers and children stay alive and
get clean water, and so on. That's what we want the money to be
used for, and we're going to work hard to ensure that, through
the MCA, it is used that way. The MCA will be directed at certain
core countries. But we also want to make sure that the regular
traditional assistance does not diminish but is increased as well.
There are billions of poor people all over the world who will
not benefit from the MCA because they don't necessarily fall within
its criteria.
Fisher: What types of criteria are used to select the
core countries?
McClymont: They must show progress toward ruling justly;
they must have basic governance and provide human rights; they
must show they are investing in their people, in their education
and health care; and they must have good economic policies. A
lot of the research shows that for large-scale aid to be effective,
it needs to go to countries among the truly poorest that have
good, reasonable economic policies and good governance. That's
where research tells us large-scale aid works best.
Fisher: In terms of the selection of the countries that
meet the MCA criteria, would you say that there is a correlation
between the poorest countries and countries that have good, reasonable
economic and governance policies, or are the poorest countries
going to be those in the most chaos and therefore not eligible
for the MCA aid?
McClymont: We absolutely won't get to some of the poorest
countries through the MCA. That is why we say that there is another
pot of money: the traditional development accounts. InterAction
is just saying that that money has got to continue and be increased
and be used for those poor people who aren't otherwise going to
get it through the MCA.
Fisher: Let's look at the young people of the United States
and what role they might play in these issues. Of course, young
people can donate to a specific organization or do fund-raising
to benefit an organization. How else might they get involved?
McClymont: I think they can contribute to one of our members,
an organization that they respect. I also think they can do advocacy
work; they can urge and also get their parents to urge Congress
to provide increased international development and humanitarian
aid. They can speak to their friends and tell them about how important
this work is. Not only will this make them safer, it is the right
thing to do.
They can learn more about their neighbors around the world. I
am sure that almost every young person in the United States goes
to school with someone who comes from a developing country. Have
them learn about the experiences of their fellow students. The
conditions of the countries from which these people have come
can only broaden students' personal understanding.
Of course, if students are lucky enough to have the opportunity,
they can travel. They can join volunteer programs. Many of our
member organizations operate volunteer programs in which people
can go help out in another country. They can join the Peace
Corps when they are a little older. They can participate in
fellowship and exchange programs around the world. There is nothing
better, as I experienced in my own life, than firsthand exposure,
seeing for yourself what it's like to live in another place where
people are truly poor.
Fisher: What about a career in humanitarian aid and development?
What should a young person plan on?
McClymont: I get calls from literally hundreds of people
asking about such employment. I can tell you that the best preparation
is to have good knowledge about international issues and a very
specific skill, such as public health. This combination is what
organizations are looking for when hiring people for international
development.
Fisher: Are there any of your 160 organizations that specifically
include young people in the work of the organizations?
McClymont: What young people can do is go to our Web site
and be linked to the members. Many of our members have Web sites,
but I couldn't begin to cite them individually. I just learned
about this the other day: President Bush is creating a U.S. Freedom
Corps. Its Web site will link to volunteer opportunities across
the board.
Fisher: When I browse your Web site, I read about so many
organizations doing so many wonderful things around the world.
Do you have any advice about how a young person should go about
selecting an organization or a particular issue to support?
McClymont: I just think it's in the eye of the beholder.
It's a personal thing; it's what moves you most, from your own
personal experience. Naturally enough, I would urge people to
get involved in helping people overseas to live better lives.
The readers need to know that 1.2 billion people live on less
than $1 per day. That is an astonishing amount of extreme poverty.
About 3 billion, which is half the world's population, live on
less than $2 per day. That's why I believe global poverty is the
most crucial thing that people can turn their attention to. As
I said, there are many other issues—the rights of people,
justice, and social exclusion—but they are all wrapped up
with poverty. I think poverty is not only about income levels
but also about being excluded from the most basic opportunities.
Fisher: What other advice might you have for interested
young people?
McClymont: Reading about a cause, learning about it, and
becoming expert on it are really important. Young people can talk
to their friends and family and influence others to work on helping
other people. That is the key: to figure out issues that are actually
going to contribute to other people's lives.
Activities
Activities related to the interview
with Mary McClymont.
Student Central | Students in
Action
Translating a Dream into Reality—Making the World a Better Place
Interview with Mary McClymont | Relieving
Human Suffering (Organizations & Activities)
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