We are thrilled to announce that Mark Lowcock will join CGD as distinguished non-resident fellow, effective tomorrow, June 20, 2021. He will contribute his wide-ranging expertise and wisdom to many facets of CGD’s work, but his initial focus on our Sustainable Development Finance and Migration, Displacement and Humanitarian Policy programs. We are very much looking forward to publishing his book [on accountability in the global humanitarian system, expected in Spring 2022].
Besides welcoming a distinguished colleague, Mark is a good friend of long standing. I have known him for many years, but we worked most closely together between 2003 and 2006 when we were both directors general at DFID (now FCDO). I was impressed then by his unwavering focus on what policies or programs would assure the best possible outcomes for people in the countries DFID was serving; that focus has been his guiding principle in the many roles he has had since that time.
Mark continued his distinguished career at DFID, in due course becoming Permanent Secretary at the time Britain’s aid budget grew by 40 percent as the UK reached the UN 0.7 percent of GNI target for development assistance. He ensured that during this remarkable expansion of activity, DFID remained a leader among in the world’s development community.
His unwavering commitment to helping the world’s less fortunate citizens led him in 2017 to the United Nations, where he served as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator between 2017 and 2021. In that role he was responsible for the coordination of responses to all the world’s major humanitarian crises. He chaired the Inter-Agency Standing Committee through which the UN, the Red Cross family and leading international NGOs coordinate the provision of help and protection to people caught up in disasters and emergencies.
It is not surprising that, given Mark’s renown, we will be sharing his time in the coming years with the London School of Economics, where he will be a visiting professor of practice.
Welcome Mark. My colleagues and I look forward to many fruitful years of collaboration to make the world a better place for all, especially its poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
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