Robert Crothers Named ANERA’s New Middle East Representative

Washington, DC, January 7, 2008 – Today, Robert Johnston Crothers starts as the new Middle East Representative for ANERA in the West Bank and Gaza, a change occasioned by the retirement of Thomas Neu.
Mr. Crothers comes to ANERA with over 20 years of international development experience throughout east and west Africa, central and southeast Asia, and the Pacifi c islands. He was educated in Ireland, fi nished his research studies in Greece, and worked for 16 years in treasury and economics in Canada.

For five years. Mr. Crothers worked with the UNDP in Palestine, based in Ramallah with offices in Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus and Gaza. In that position, he managed a $33-million dollar project with a 22-person team, assisting the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government in its decentralization efforts.

As ANERA’s Middle East Representative, based in Jerusalem, Mr. Crothers will supervise 60 staff and volunteers and provide overall leadership in all of ANERA’s activities – totalling, in 2007, over $50 million – throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

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Media Contact: Ms. Liz Demarest
Director of Communications
ldemarest@anera.org
1-202-842-2766, extension 12