Pretoria, South Africa - Cheryl Anderson was sworn in today as the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Mission Director for Southern Africa. In this capacity, she will oversee USAID’s regional activities in the Southern Africa region, country-specific activities in South Africa, as well as activities in countries in the region where there is no USAID mission.

As Mission Director, Ms. Anderson will be responsible for managing USAID’s program with the responsibility of addressing the changing development challenges of the sub-region.  USAID’s programs increase trade and strengthen regional economic ties, address the HIV/AIDS crisis, mitigate food insecurity, and support democratic processes.  In South Africa, she will support USAID programs that seek to strengthen small- and medium-sized enterprises, create employment, improve learning and job skills, promote basic education, combat gender-based violence, and promote HIV/AIDS care, prevention and treatment. 

Prior to this assignment, Ms. Anderson served as the Mission Director in USAID/Ghana, and she served as the director of the USAID East Africa Regional Mission in Kenya from 2006 to 2009.  

Ms. Anderson has over 20 years of development experience, mostly in Africa. Her experience in Africa began in Ghana as a Peace Corps volunteer. Since joining USAID as a Foreign Service Officer in 1988, she has worked in USAID missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Sudan, and East Africa.  She served as the deputy director in the East Asia Office in USAID headquarters in Washington DC.  Before her career at USAID, she worked as a program manager for Healthlink Worldwide, a UK-based non-governmental organization.  Ms. Anderson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, and a Master’s of Science in International Development Management from American University in Washington, DC.