Contact: USAID Press Office,202-712-4320; Public Information,202-712-4810

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 /Standard Newswire/ -- Henrietta Fore, acting administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, administered the oath of office to Karen Hilliard as the agency's new mission director to Jamaica. Hilliard will face a maturing democracy struggling with severe unemployment, drug trafficking, violent crime and more than its share of natural disasters.

Improving health and education and promoting development that balances economic growth with environmental awareness will be among Hilliard's priorities in her new job.

A seasoned international development expert, Hilliard brings nearly 20 years of management and agency experience to Jamaica, according Fore. "In Jamaica, a highly professional and dedicated staff is looking forward to your leadership," she said.

The agency provided more than $14 million in assistance in 2006 that included training for teachers in rural communities, loans for more than 44,000 small businesses to stoke the economy and create jobs and agricultural expertise aimed at preserving Jamaica's natural resources.

"We all know education is critical for the growth of any country as it generates the human resources needed to fuel competitive economies," said Fore.

Hilliard most recently served as director of strategic planning and budgeting in USAID's Bureau for Global Health in Washington, D.C. Before that, she was deputy regional mission director, USAID/Ukraine. Since 1993, Hilliard held supervisory positions with the agency in Haiti, Malawi and Nicaragua. Health, family planning, nutrition, education and democracy and economic development are among her USAID specialties. Before joining the agency, Hilliard taught public administration at Florida State University.

A former Fulbright scholar who speaks Spanish, French and Portuguese, Hilliard earned a doctorate in political science in 1986 and a master's degree in public administration and Latin American studies in 1984 from the University of Mexico. She earned her undergraduate degree in nursing and Spanish in 1979 from Northern Illinois University.

For more information about USAID's programs in Jamaica and around the world, visit www.usaid.gov.