WASHINGTON, D.C. – As South Sudan prepares for independence on July 9, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) swore in Kevin Mullally as the first mission director to the new country. Stationed in Juba, South Sudan, Mullally will oversee a development program that will focus on developing the promising agriculture sector; delivering essential services including health and education to citizens; strengthening governance that is effective, inclusive, and accountable; and helping to prevent or mitigate conflict. USAID Counselor Hilda M. Arellano administered the oath of office at the swearing-in ceremony.

With nearly 30 years in the Foreign Service, Mullally has extensive USAID experience in Africa. He recently served as mission director in Senegal from 2007 to 2011, as mission director in Rwanda from 2005 to 2007, and as deputy mission director in Mali from 2002 to 2005.

He also has extensive experience in agriculture assistance, which is a major focus of the South Sudan mission. He was director of the Food and Agriculture Office at the Bangladesh mission from 1992 to 1995 and deputy director of the Agriculture Development Office in Haiti (1989-1992) and in Niger (1984-1989).

Mullally also served as office director for Human and Institutional Development at USAID’s Ethiopia mission from 1997 to 2002 and as supervisory general development officer in Mali from 1995 to 1997. His first assignment for USAID was in 1982 in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), where he managed a forestry development project.

In June 2011, Senegal awarded Mullally one of the nation’s highest honors, Officier de l’Ordre National du Merite, for his leadership in supporting education in Senegal through a USAID program that repaired or built more than 100 middle schools, donated more than 2 million textbooks, provided Internet connections for more than 408 rural schools, improved curricula and school management by local administrators and parent associations, and promoted public-private partnership in education.

Prior to joining USAID, Mullally was a Peace Corps volunteer in Chad and Niger, where he worked in forestry. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and a Master of Arts in International Management Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Raised in Liberty, New York, Mullally is married with two children.

In addition, Peter Natiello will become USAID’s Deputy Mission Director for South Sudan this month.

For more information about USAID and its programs in South Sudan, please visit www.usaid.gov.