WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Gary C. Juste was sworn in as the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Mission Director for Mali. In this capacity he will oversee a complex program that provides lifesaving assistance in health and food security, as well as elections support in anticipation of polls later this year.

A member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Counselor, Mr. Juste joined USAID in 1993 and has served as the Director of Acquisition and Assistance for USAID/Haiti since 2010. Prior to that posting, Mr. Juste served as Acting Deputy Director for Accountability, Compliance, Transparency, and Support for USAID’s Office of Acquisition and Assistance in Washington, D.C., and as the Deputy Mission Director for USAID/Southern Africa. He also served briefly as Deputy Mission Director in Kabul, Afghanistan.

During August 2003 to June 2007, Mr. Juste was based in Nairobi, Kenya, where he managed implementation of USAID procurement actions throughout the East Africa region. His responsibilities included an unprecedented level of funding of more than $1 billion for the U.S. President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), as well as funding for other high-profile projects, such as the Initiative to End Hunger in Africa and the President's African Trade Initiative. During the period of 1996 to 2003, Mr. Juste served in Côte d’Ivoire (also covering Mali), Senegal (also covering Benin and Guinea), and Russia.

Prior to joining USAID, Mr. Juste was a Contracting Officer for the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, taught American History at Queens Vocational High School in New York in the mid-1980s, and served in the U.S. Navy from 1976 to 1980.

Mr. Juste earned a United Nations Graduate Certificate with a focus on communication development in developing countries from New York State’s Long Island University and a undergraduate degree in Political Science/Pre-Law from Norfolk State University in 1983.

Mr. Juste was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and migrated to New York City in 1968. He is married and has three children.

For more information about USAID and its programs in Africa, please visit http://www.usaid.gov/where-we-work/africa.